Rutgers University | New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station | Pesticide User Responsibility

July 10, 2025

Vegetable Disease Update – 7/10/25

There have been no reports of CDM in the region to date. Cucurbit growers should continue to focus on their preventative programs for powdery mildew control.

Early blight has been reported in tomato.

Bacterial leaf spot (BLS) has been reported in bell and non-bell pepper. For more information on BLS please click here.

Tobacco Streak Virus and Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) have been reported in southern New Jersey. For more information please click here.

Collar rot on fresh-market tomato has been reported sporadically around the state over the past week. For more information please click here.

White mold and Southern blight have been reported this past week on fresh-market tomato in both high tunnels and fields in southern New Jersey.

There have been no reports of CDM in the region to date.

Wet weather brings on the development of Phytophthora blight.

Preparing for Pepper anthracnose this growing season.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops
July 10, 2025

Phytophthora and Pythium control during wet weather

Most of New Jersey has been wet making current conditions ideal for pathogens such as Phytophthora and Pythium. Unfortunately, Pythium cottony leak and Phytophthora blight can be found on most farms in the southern part of the state. Poor crop rotations with susceptible hosts only make matters worse. The Phytophthora pathogen has an increasing host range that now includes snap and lima beans; and all crops, other than a few resistant bell pepper cultivars, lack any resistance to the pathogen. Under ideal conditions (hot, humid, and wet) Pythium cottony leak can develop on infected fruit.

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Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
July 9, 2025

Bacterial leaf spot, copper resistance, hot water seed treatment, and viruses

Copper resistance in bacterial leaf spot of tomato and pepper crops has been detected at a high level in New Jersey the past few summers. While not surprising, copper resistance has been known to develop for decades now. Copper applications for the control of bacterial diseases in many crops has been a mainstay for decades […]

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Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
July 9, 2025 , , and

New Addendums for the USDA Harmonized and Harmonized Plus Audits

On July 3, 2025, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service released 3 new addenda to the Harmonized and Harmonized GAP Plus+ Standards: Warehouse, Food Defense, and Integrated Pest Management. All of which will require additional records. Requirements in the existing Harmonized and Harmonized GAP Plus+ standards have not changed. These new standards, versions 3.1 and 5.1 […]

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Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
July 9, 2025

Preparing for Pepper Anthracnose in 2025

Pepper anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum spp. has become a significant problem on some farms in southern New Jersey. Unlike in tomato, where symptoms are only present in mature (red) fruit, pepper anthracnose can infect pepper fruit at any growth stage. Currently, there are no commercially-available bell or non-bell peppers with known resistance to anthracnose.

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Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
July 8, 2025

Cucurbit powdery mildew control in 2025

Cucurbit powdery mildew (CPM), caused by Podosphaera xanthii, is one the most important diseases of cucurbit crops throughout the world. The pathogen is an obligate parasite, just like cucurbit downy mildew, meaning it needs a living host in order to survive. In northern regions that have a killing frost in the fall the pathogen will […]

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Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,