Andy Wyenandt

This is an archive of Dr. Wyenandt's posts on the Plant and Pest Advisory.

April 10, 2015 and

Commercial Vegetable Twilight Meeting April 23, 2015

The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agents of Atlantic, Cumberland and Gloucester Counties invite you to the first commercial vegetable twilight meeting of the 2015 season to discuss early spring crop pest control, label updates and management topics. Feel free to bring plant, insect, disease, or weed samples to the meeting to have them identified, or perhaps you can stump the experts. Please bring samples in sealed plastic bags.
Pesticide Recertification Credits have been requested for this meeting.

Date: Thursday, April 23, 2015 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Location: East Vineland Fire Hall, Landis Ave. across from the Savoy Restaurant
(park behind the building and enter conference room door in rear)

Agenda

  • 7:00pm Weed Control – Review of the Basics
    –Rick VanVranken, RCE Atlantic
  • 7:30pm Economic Benefits of Maintaining Native Pollinator Habitat
    –Elizabeth Schuster, Environmental Economist, The Nature Conservancy
  • 7:50pm NRCS Programs Supporting IPM/Organic Transition/Pollinator Habitat
    –Nicholas Saumweber, District Conservationist, NRCS
  • 8:10pm Early Season Insect Pests and Insecticide Updates
    –Joe Mahar, Vegetable IPM Coordinator
  • 8:30pm Vegetable Disease Control Options for Spring Crops
    –Dr. Andy Wyenandt, RAREC
  • 9:00pm Pesticide Regs & Worker Protection Standards Update for the Coming Season
    –Michelle Infante-Casella, RCE Gloucester
  • 9:30pm Questions & Answers
Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
January 23, 2015 and

Confidence at your Fingertips:
Vegetable Production Recommendations

The new 2015 Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations guide is now available.

Every year horticulturists, plant pathologists, entomologists and weed specialists from Penn State University, Rutgers, University of Delaware, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland and West Virginia University meet to discuss what changes should be made to the guide based on new research results and changes in the vegetable industry.     ~Elsa Sanchez, PSU

At NJAES, we are proud collaborators in the pursuit of evidence-based, environmentally-sound agricultural practices. We sometimes refer to the Recommendations as the $50-million growers guide because of the cumulative effort, scientific wisdom, and practical experience found within its pages; make no mistake, its a stunning return on investment for anyone who grows or eats vegetables in the mid-Atlantic states (Rabin did the math).

The guide is available online @ Rutgers NJAES | Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations

For a hardcopy of the guide:

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops
January 21, 2015

Greenhouse Disease Management: Seed Treatment

Seed treatment and selected fungicides and bactericides labeled for greenhouse use tables can be found in the 2015 Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations guide.

Hot Water Seed Treatment Photo: Meg McGrath, Cornell

Hot Water Seed Treatment
Photo: Meg McGrath, Cornell

All seed used in transplant production, as well as any transplants brought into the greenhouse should be certified ‘clean’ or disease-free. Important diseases such as Bacterial leaf spot of tomato and pepper can cause major problems in transplant production if introduced in the greenhouse. Bacterial leaf spot of tomato and pepper can be seed-borne and infested seed can be a major source of inoculum in the greenhouse and cause problems in the field later in the growing season.

As a rule for any crop, any non-certified or untreated seed should be treated, if applicable, with a Clorox treatment, or hot-water seed treatment, or dusted to help minimize bacterial or damping-off diseases.

For more information on seed treatments for specific crops please see Table E-14 on page E45 in Section E of the 2015 New Jersey Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations Guide.
An updated table for selected fungicides and bactericides labeled for greenhouse use is available in Section E of the 2015 recommendations guide. The table includes a comprehensive list of fungicides and biological agents approved for greenhouse use. Table E-15 can be found on pages E46-48.

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops
January 21, 2015

Greenhouse Disease Management: Transplant Production

Proper greenhouse sanitation is important for healthy, disease-free vegetable transplant production. Efforts need to be made to keep transplant production greenhouses free of unnecessary plant debris and weeds which may harbor insect pests and disease.

  • All equipment, benches, flats, plug trays and floors should be properly cleaned and then disinfested prior to use and efforts need to be taken throughout the transplant production season to minimize potential problems.
  • Any weeds in or around the greenhouse structure should be removed prior to any production.
  • Any transplant brought into the greenhouse from an outside source needs to be certified ‘clean’, as well as visually inspected for potential insects and diseases once it reaches your location.

Remember, disinfestants, such as Clorox, Green-Shield, or hydrogen dioxide products (Zerotol – for commercial greenhouses, garden centers and Oxidate – commercial greenhouse and field), kill only what they come into direct contact with so thorough coverage and/or soaking is necessary. The labels do not specify time intervals for specific uses, only to state that surfaces be ‘thoroughly wetted’. Therefore, labels need to be followed precisely for different use patterns (i.e., disinfesting flats vs. floors or benches) to ensure proper dilution ratios. Hydrogen dioxide products work best when diluted with water containing little or no organic matter and in water with a neutral pH.

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
January 20, 2015

2015 Fungicide Resistance Management Guidelines Available

The 2015 Fungicide Resistance Management Guidelines for Vegetable Crops is now available. This free publication, targeted to New Jersey and the surrounding mid-Atlantic region, helps vegetable growers understand and manage potential fungicide resistance development on their farm.

FRAC 2015

Click Image to View | Download PDF (1.9 MB)

In order to understand and use fungicide resistance management strategies effectively, first learn how and why fungicide resistance may develop; a series of articles is available on this website.

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
October 13, 2014

Late Blight Still Active on Tomato

Late blight was confirmed in a homeowner garden today near Clementon, NJ (Camden County) and here at the Rutgers research station near Bridgeton, NJ (Cumberland County). This is a good reminder that as long as weather conditions are conducive, the threat of late blight in the state and region will continue until the first killing frost.

All abandoned tomato fields need to be destroyed either by mowing, discing under, or sprayed with a herbicide such as gramoxone to kill all living foliage. This is especially important if protectant fungicide programs have been discontinued. Homeowners can simply pull plants and put in their compost pile or discard in the trash.

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,