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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July 14, 2022

Crop progress, droughty conditions persist

Despite the thunderstorms that rolled through on Tuesday night, Salem County and others bordering the Delaware River have experienced 27 weeks of severly dry conditions according to the NJ DEP Drought Information website for Regional Water Supply Indicators for the 90 day stream flow reporting.  

Salem County: The National Integrated Drought Information System created by NOAA and the US Drough Monitor website have most of Salem County listed as abnormally dry but not yet in a declared drought situation.

Crop scouting observations (Salem County)

May planted corn is beginning to tassle with most fields exhibiting exceptional height, uniformity and color. Drought stress during pollination this week; along with moderate silk clipping pest pressure (june bugs, japanese beetles, grasshoppers) could impact kernal development.

Weed control in corn is generally good to excellent. Velvetleaf, cocklebur, jimsonweed, ivy leaf, common morning glory, giant ragweed, cocklebur and shattercane are noticeable along field edges.

Double cropped corn after small grains, and later planted corn is exhibiting water stress with many fields under three feet tall remaining curled at 7:30 am.

National Integrated Drought Information System, NOAA. July 14, 2022

The next brood of grasshoppers has hatched in alfalfa fields and looks as abundant as in 2021. The good news is the brood hatches in May and June did not appear to be as prolific as last year’s. Hay and soybean producers should monitor the grasshopper pressure in individual fields for signs the population is going to surpass economic thresholds. Corn fields planted in high infestation areas last year may also see some significant feeding as the drought continues. Effective control methods are only useful on nymph stage grasshoppers. Contact the Salem County office to let Melissa know if you are seeing significant grasshopper damage.

Green-redroot pigweed, spiny pigweed, palmer amaranth are outpacing soybean height in fields yet to be sprayed. Weed control in soybeans is noticeably better this year compared to conditions this time last year.

Filed Under: Field, Forage & Livestock, Vegetable Crops
July 14, 2022

Diagnosing important diseases in Pepper – Reference Guide

Phytophthora blight causing plants to wilt and die Phytophthora blight – crown rot Phytophthora crown rot. Note the blackish-brown necrotic tissue at base of the stem
Phytophthora sporulating on infected bell pepper fruit. Phytophthora fruit rot (L) and Pythium blight (R) Symptoms of Phytophthora blight on infected leaves. Under ideal conditions leaf infections can occur.
Anthracnose fruit rot Anthracnose fruit rot. Note the salmon colored spores being produced in the lesion of the lesion. Sunscald on pepper fruit (L) and Anthracnose fruit rot (R)
Bacterial leaf spot on leaves Bacterial leaf spot. Note the infected leaves falling off of plant. Bacterial leaf spot infection of pepper fruit. Note the irregular raised scabby spots on fruit.
Southern blight on infected stem. Note the numerous small fruiting bodies (sclerotia) developing on the stem White mold infecting pepper stem. Infected stems come brittle and hollow White mold sclerotia present on inside of infected stem
Blossom end rot Cucumber Mosaic Virus Cyclamen mite feeding injury. Symptoms resemble virus infection
Others:
Mefenoxam injury on a young pepper transplant Sunscald on stems of pepper recently transplanted into black plastic mulch. Cyclamen mite damage on immature pepper fruit
“Silvering” on mature bell pepper fruit. “Silvering” on the right and thrips feeding injury on the Left Edema on pepper fruit

Andy Wyenandt, Wesley Kline, and Kris Holmstrom

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With:
July 13, 2022

Vegetable IPM Update 07/13/22

Sweet Corn

European corn borer (ECB) moth catches continue to be extremely low around the state.   We are in between adult generations at this time.  ECB population maps will resume if second flight catches rise to high enough numbers.

The highest nightly trap catches of ECB for the week ending 07/13/22 are as follows:

Hillsborough   1 Port Murray   1
Milford   1 Sergeantsville   1
Milltown   1 South Branch   1
Oldwick   1

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Organic Production, Vegetable Crops
July 13, 2022

Collar Rot and Alternaria Stem Rot of Tomato

Collar rot (Alternaria linariae) or Alternaria stem rot (Alternaria alternata f. sp. lycopersici) of tomato are common in young tomato plants. Either can be particularly troublesome in seedlings that have been held in transplant flats for an extended period of time before transplanting in hot, humid greenhouses. Collar rot infections often start where a leaflet branch has been broken or pruned which allows a point of infection. Symptoms of Alternaria stem rot include brown circular to irregular lesions on stems with definitive concentric black rings (very similar to Early blight on infected leaves). Symptoms of Collar rot are similar and may or may not produce concentric black rings. Infections that start in the greenhouse may lead to losses in the field as stems become girdled causing the plant or branches to wilt and die. Most commercial tomato varieties have resistance to Alternaria stem rot. While resistance is lacking to Collar rot, growers should chose varieties with Early blight resistance. Fungicides used to control Early blight are also effective against Collar rot.

Symptoms of Collar rot in young tomato

 

 

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
July 12, 2022

Diagnosing leaf diseases in sweet (and field) corn in the mid-Atlantic region

Dr. Alyssa Koehler, Field Crops Pathologist from the University of Delaware, recently posted a great diagnostic guide for important fungal leaf diseases in corn. Click here for more information. If you want to follow what is going on in Delaware you can sign up for their Weekly Crop Update by clicking here.

 

Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: ,
July 11, 2022

Vegetable Disease Update: 07-11-22

  • White mold has been reported in tomato and Southern blight in pepper in southern new Jersey this past week. Click here for more information.
  • Early blight is being reported in tomato.
  • Rhizoctonia root rot has been reported in summer squash. Click here for more information.
  • Powdery mildew has been reported in cucurbit crops. For more information on the control of CPM please click here.
  • Cucurbit downy mildew has been reported on cucumber in southern and central New Jersey and Eastern PA. For more information on CDM control please click here.
  • Bacterial leaf spot has been reported in pepper. More more information on BLS control please click here.
  • Bacterial canker has been reported in tomato. For more information on diagnosing important tomato diseases please click here.
  • Early blight has been reported on potato.
  • Phytophthora blight has been reported on pepper. For more information please click here.
  • Dickeya dianthicola has been reported in potato in Virginia and Massachusetts.
  • The 2022/2023 Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations Guide is available for free online or for sale in hardcopy form at many County offices.
  • For a quick review on managing fungicide resistance development using tank mixes and fungicide rotations, and information on FRAC group 4, FRAC group 7, and FRAC group 3 and FRAC group 11 fungicides please click on hyperlinks.
Filed Under: Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,