Plant & Pest Advisory – July 11, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
In 2004, cucurbit downy mildew re-emerged in the US with a vengeance causing significant losses in cucurbit production. In most years prior to this, concern for CDM control was minimal, since the pathogen arrived late in the growing season (in more northern regions), or the pathogen caused little damage, or never appeared. After 2004, with […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 8, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
Cucurbit powdery mildew (CPM), caused by Podosphaera xanthii, is one the most important diseases ofcucurbit 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 die […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 10, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
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 […]
By Heather Cooper •
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)in New Jersey is now accepting FY2026 applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program(EQIP), the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) program and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). While NRCS accepts applications year-round, New Jersey producers and landowners should apply byOctober 17, 2025 to be considered […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 9, 2025
By Heather Cooper •
On July 3, 2025, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service released 3 new addenda to the Harmonizedand Harmonized GAP Plus+ Standards: Warehouse, Food Defense, and Integrated Pest Management.All of which will require additional records. Requirements in the existing Harmonized andHarmonized GAP Plus+ standards have not changed. These new standards, versions 3.1 and 5.1 respectively, are effective […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 11, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
As the summer heats up in New Jersey, the control of Phytophthora blight in cucurbit plantings canbe extremely difficult (even with the use of fungicides) as hot, wet weather has set in these past fewweeks. Mitigating losses to Phytophthora blight in cucurbit crops begins with long crop rotations,where recommendations suggest crop rotations longer than 5 […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 1 2, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
Verticillium wilt has been reported in eggplant this summer. It is a common soil-borne fungal pathogenthat once it has infested soil can remain for a very long time. Verticillium wilt is caused by eitherVerticillium albo-atrium or Verticillium dahlia and has a wide host range(over 200 plant species). Bothpathogens can survive (overwinter) as microsclerotia in the […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 1 2, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
Phomopsis blight is caused by the fungal pathogen, Phomopsis vexans. It survives between seasonsin the soil on infested plant debris. Although the pathogen can infect stems and older leaves, fruitinfections are most prominent. Cankers that develop on stems and branches can cause the entireplant to collapse and die. Circular, grayish spots may develop on infected […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 27, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
Symptoms usually begin to appear on random plants throughout the field as green fruit begins tomature. The bacterium (Pseudomonas corrugata) is ubiquitous to soils and develops when weatherconditions (cooler nights/very hot, humid days) and cultural practices (i.e., excess heavy N use) leadto favorable conditions for disease development. Symptoms include the development of irregulargreasy (at first), […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 23, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
Asparagus growers should consider scouting their fields regularly during the summer months for foliardisease development. Important pathogens that growers need to scout for on a regular basis includePurple spot, Cercospora, and Rust. These pathogens are easily diagnosed by the characteristicsymptoms they produce on infected plants. Purple spot lesions can appear on the spears during theharvest […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 23, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
Angular leaf spot, caused by the bacterium (Pseudomonas syringae pv. lachrymans), is common inNew Jersey and the region. Although it often shows up during cooler, wet weather; it can show upalmost anytime during the production season with favorable weather conditions for its development.Angular leaf spot will first appear in ‘hot spots’ as, small water-soaked lesions […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 13, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
There have been a few reports of Southern blight (Sclerotinia rolfsii) and Whitemold (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) on tomato and pepper in New Jersey. Southernblight is much more common in vegetable areas south of the statewhere summer temperatures remain hotter (above 90°F) for longer periods oftime. Like white mold, it can survive in the soil for many […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – July 7, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
Tobacco Streak Virus (TSV) was found on fresh-market tomato this past week insouthern New Jersey. TSV has a host range of close to 200 species, includingcranberry, tobacco, tomato, pepper, asparagus, bean, soybean, mustard, radish,a number of ornamental hosts as well as weeds such as thistle, field bindweed,and jimsonweed. Like Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV), the […]
Plant & Pest Advisory – June 10, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt
By Heather Cooper •
Calling all commercial basil growers, researchers, home gardeners, and basil enthusiasts! Our team atRutgers University, UMass Amherst, Bar-Ilan University, and University of Florida are asking for your help! Basil production is still threatened by the devastating Basil Downy Mildew disease and current methods of prevention and resistance are wavering. It appears that the pathogen is […]
Mark VanGessel, Extension Weed Specialist; mjv@udel.edu The June 13th, issue of Weekly Crop Update Volume 33, Issue 14 – University of Delaware Cooperative Extension
By Heather Cooper •
As we try to maximize the trips across the field, more and more products are being tank mixed together.Sometimes tank mixtures are not recommended due to a loss of efficacy when certain products are usedat the same time, and this is referred to as antagonism. An example of this is tank mixing glyphosatewith triazine herbicides […]