Basil downy mildew has been confirmed in a home owners garden in Atlantic County in southern New Jersey. This is the first report of BDM in the state and region this growing season and about three weeks earlier than last year. All basil growers are encouraged to scout their fields or greenhouses on a daily basis. [Read more…]
Vegetable Crops Edition
Seasonal updates and alerts on insects, diseases, and weeds impacting vegetable crops. New Jersey Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations updates between annual publication issues are included.
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June 2, 2021 Andy Wyenandt
Understanding and controlling angular leaf spot in strawberries
Often considered a minor pathogen, angular leaf spot caused by the bacterium, Xanthomonas fragariae, can cause serious leaf and calyx infections ruining the marketability of fruit if left uncontrolled. [Read more…]
June 1, 2021 Andy Wyenandt
Recognizing cold injury
If the erratic, hot then wet weather wasn’t enough, temperatures have fluctuated the past few days with night time temperatures becoming much cooler in some parts of the state and region. With this comes the potential for cold injury on spring planted crops. Cold injury can take may different shapes on affected plants and developing fruit.
In some cases, symptoms may show up on the newest growth as a result of non-lethal injury to meristematic tissue, in pepper and tomato, new growth may be distorted with misshapen leaves. In some cases, new leaves may have a mottled, or mosaic look much like a plant infected with a mosaic virus. In these instances, plants will grow out of the problem.
In cucumber, symptoms on maturing fruit appear as brownish-tan areas on the epidermis of fruit. The fruit will also show cracking as if it has a dry rot. The effects are physiological where areas of young developing fruit got chilled by the cold night time temperatures.
We have collected a few images below of cold injury from crops from this spring.
Cold injury on cucumber fruit. The initial damage was done a few weeks ago while the fruit was very young.
Cold injury on young cucumber plant (Photo: M. Casella)
Cold injury on young cauliflower plant (photo: K. Holmstrom)
Frost damage in strawberry (photo: T. Besancon)
Cold injury on sweet corn under low tunnel. (photo: M. Casella)
Cold injury on cucumber seedling (photo: M. Casella)
Cold injury in emerging asparagus spear (photo: Rick VanVranken)
Freezing of young potato plant (photo: Rick VanVranken)
Cold injury on snap bean. (photo: Jack Rabin)
Freeze damage caused by ice crystal formation in veins of snap bean (photo: Jack Rabin)
June 1, 2021 Andy Wyenandt
Controlling basil downy mildew in the field
For over a decade, basil downy mildew (BDM) has caused significant losses in basil grown in organic and conventional field and greenhouse production across the United States. At the time of its introduction, there were very few fungicides labeled for its control making it nearly impossible to grow a successful crop in many areas of the country. [Read more…]
May 31, 2021 Andy Wyenandt
Cucurbit downy mildew forecasting website up and running for 2021
For cucurbit growers who have been using the CDMpipe website the past few years to track the progress of cucurbit downy mildew in the US, a new website was relaunched for the 2020 growing season. Anyone can visit the new website by clicking here. Please take the quick survey to help our colleagues out! To receive alerts please click on the Alerts tab at the top of the page!
May 30, 2021 Andy Wyenandt
With rainfall, so comes Phytophthora and Pythium
Most of New Jersey has finally gotten rain and pop-up thunderstorms making conditions ideal for pathogens such as Phytophthora and Pythium on spring-seeded and transplanted crops. Unfortunately, Pythium 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. [Read more…]
