Archives for July 2018

Potato | Tomato Disease Forecast 7-3-18

Click to View | Download Report 7-3-18

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 NJ. An early season application of a protectant fungicide such as mancozeb (Dithane, Manzate, Penncozeb) or Bravo (chlorothalonil) as soon as the field is accessible is suggested. Please be vigilant and keep a lookout 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 choose 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.

Tomato Disease Forecasting Report

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.

Reports generated by Ryan Tirrell

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Sparganothis Fruitworm Degree-Day Update: as of July 02, 2018

Based on our degree-day (DD) model for Sparganothis fruitworm, first eggs hatched at about 900 DD (see chart). As of July 02, Sparganothis

Sparganothis degree-day model

Sparganothis degree-day model benchmarks

has accumulated 1,212 DD (using April15 as biofix). This indicates that most eggs should have hatched by now and fruit is susceptible to infestation. Most beds should soon be out of bloom. Thus, if trap counts have been high, then a post-bloom application might be necessary. Growers should consider treatment in the next few days (as soon as bees are removed) to prevent damage to berries. Your best post-bloom options are Diazinon, Altacor, or Delegate.

Cucurbit Downy Mildew ALERT – 7/2/18

Cucurbit downy mildew was confirmed on cucumber near Pedricktown in Salem County, New Jersey on 7/2/18. This is the first report of CDM in New Jersey this growing season. All cucumber growers are encouraged to add downy mildew specific fungicides to their weekly maintenance spray programs. All growers should scout cucumber plantings as well as all other cucurbit crops for symptoms. To track the progress of cucurbit downy mildew in the US through the CDMpipe website through NCSU please click here.