A boxwood per day helps keep the doctors away! All of us here in the Plant Diagnostic Lab must be pretty healthy then–since the boxwood blight outbreak in 2013, we get a dose of dead boxwood almost every day.
Archives for June 2015
Potato | Tomato Disease Forecast 6-9-15
Click to View | Download Report 6-9-15
Potato Disease Forecasting Report
We will be tracking DSVs for Late blight development and calculating P-days for initiating the first early blight fungicide application.
The first late blight fungicide application is recommended once 18 DSVs accumulate from green row. Green row typically occurs around the first week in May in southern New Jersey. An early season application of a protectant fungicide such as mancozeb (Dithane, Manzate, Penncozeb) or Bravo (chlorothalonil) as soon the field is accessible is suggested. Please be vigilant and keep a look out for suspect late blight infections on young plants. No late blight has been reported in our region to date.
Remember the threshold for P-days is 300! Once 300 P-days is reached for your location early blight fungicide applications should be initiated. Growers who are interested in using this model should chose the location above that is closest in proximity to their farming operation and should regularly check the Cornell NEWA website (http://newa.cornell.edu/) where this information is compiled from. Click on Pests Forecasts from the menu, select your weather station, and click on tomato diseases, set accumulation start date and a table of daily and total DSVs will be generated.
Disease severity values (DSVs) for early blight, septoria leaf spot, and tomato anthracnose development are determined daily based on leaf wetness (due to rainfall, dew) and air temperature.
On a daily basis DSV values can range from 0 to 4 where 0 = no chance for disease development to 4 = high chance for disease development.
DSVs are accumulated during the production season.Fungicide applications are based on an individually determined DSV threshold. The first fungicide application for the control of these three diseases is not warranted until 35 DSVs have accumulated from your transplanting date. After that, growers can base fungicide applications on different DSV thresholds.
Audit Ready: Tank Cleaning Procedures
Do not forget to include your cleaning procedures for irrigation water tanks and pesticide application tanks in your food safety plan. Auditors will be looking for this information during the audit process. The cleaning and maintenance of these tanks falls under standard 2.8 Vehicles, Equipment, Tools and Utensils. Auditors will look for the following:
1. Equipment and other items or materials used in farming operations that may come in contact with produce are identified
2. Equipment is in good repair and pose no food safety risk
3. Cleaning and sanitizing procedures do not pose a risk of product contamination
4. Tanks are cleaned at a sufficient frequency so as not to be a source of contamination
Veg IPM Update: Week Ending 6/3/15
Sweet Corn
Cold temperatures and rain this week have prevented catches of European corn borer (ECB) from rising, and much of the activity represented in the map occurred over the weekend. Areas of highest activity include parts of Hunterdon, Morris and Burlington counties (see ECB map). Low level ECB infestations are present in early sweet corn plantings, and will become more significant with the return of drier weather.
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Basil Downy Mildew Reported: Southern New Jersey – 6/3/15
Basil downy mildew (Peronospora belbahrii) has been found in a field near Vineland, New Jersey. This is the first report of downy mildew in field-grown basil in New Jersey this year. All basil growers need to scout on a daily basis and initiate a preventative fungicide program.