By Heather Cooper •
Note: This article was written by Emmalea Ernest, Extension Fruit & Vegetable Specialist; emmalea@udel.edu at the University of Delaware. She has listed planting dates for Delaware which should be appropriate for South Jersey. The summer weather is just getting rolling but it is time to plan for vegetable plantings that will be harvested in the […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory – June 18, 2025 – Michelle Infante-Casella With higher temperatures increasing hatch times and spring grains like wheat and rye have dryingdown, thrips may be more prevalent in vegetable crops, especially when small grains are adjacent tovegetable fields. Thrips are very small and often missed if casually looking at a plant […]
By Heather Cooper •
(Supersedes original advisory #2025-05 issued on 05/06/2025) Compliance Advisory – New Jersey Department Of Environmental Protection #2025-07 Issued: 06/03/2025 WHO IS AFFECTED BY THIS ADVISORY?Commercial pesticide applicators and businesses involved in outdoor non-agricultural use of pesticides,including in the lawn and landscape, tree care, and golf course industries. Pursuant to P.L. 2021, c.386,found at N.J.S.A. 13:1F-4.2 […]
By Heather Cooper •
June 2, 2025 – Plant and Pest Advisory – Michelle Infante-Casella, Kate Brown, Stephen Komar and Bill Bamka Heat exposure for agricultural laborers should be a consideration when working outside and even innon-air-conditioned buildings. When a person’s ability to adapt to heat stress is exceeded, exposurecan lead to reduced productivity, mistakes in job performance, increased […]
By Heather Cooper •
This webinar will take place every second and fourth Tuesday from 12-1 PMfrom April to September and is free to attend.Registration is required at https://go.rutgers.edu/e64zfetw. The focus of this program is to provide timely updates on pest, disease, andweeds impacting commercial ornamental producers. The webinars will focuson the most important pests for a 2 week […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory – June 23, 2025 – Tim Waller Explore the Rutgers New Ornamental IPM Program website, your go-toresource for a variety of tools and information, including the Plant & PestAdvisory, the Rutgers NJAES Plant Diagnostic Laboratory, and insights onScouting with Growing Degree-Days. Additionally, the site features theUSPest Growing Degree Day Model and […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory – May 27, 2024 – Andy Wyenandt Septoria leaf spot (SLS) in Parsley can cause significant losses in fields where it has become established.Like other Septoria’s, the leaf spots produced on parsley look much like the leaf spots produced on tomatoes and other crops. Septoria leaf spot overwinters from year to […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory – June 4, 2024 – Andy Wyenandt Asparagus growers should consider scouting their fields regularly during the summer months for foliar disease development. Important pathogens that growers need to scout for on a regular basis include Purple spot, Cercospora, and Rust. These pathogens are easily diagnosed by the characteristic symptoms they […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory – June 9, 2024- Andy Wyenandt 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 […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory – May 27, 2025 – Andy Wyenandt Rhizoctonia root rot has been reported over the past week. Rhizoctonia root rot, caused byRhizoctonia solani, is an important soil-borne fungal pathogen with a very large host range.Thepathogen can survive saprophytically on living or dead plant material (organic matter) oras sclerotia inthe soil (for […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory – June 8, 2024 – Andy Wyenandt Pepper anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum spp. has become a significant problem on some farmsin southern New Jersey. Unlike in tomato, where symptoms are only present in mature (red) fruit, pepper anthracnose caninfect pepper fruit at any growth stage. Currently, there are no commercially-available bell […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory – May 31, 2024 – Andy Wyenandt Copper resistance in bacterial leaf spot of tomato and pepper crops has been detected at a high level inNew 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 […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory- May 15, 2024- Andy Wyenandt Collar rot (Alternaria linariae) or Alternaria stem rot (Alternaria alternata f. sp. lycopersici) of tomatoare common in young tomato plants. Either can be particularly troublesome in seedlings that havebeen held in transplant flats for an extended period of time before transplanting in hot, humid greenhouses. Collar […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory – June 7, 2024 – Andy Wyenandt Anthracnose and Alternaria leaf blight can become problematic in cucurbit crops during long periodsof wet, humid weather. Both can cause significant losses if not controlled properly. With the productionseason in full swing, now is a good time to review a few of these important […]
By Heather Cooper •
Plant & Pest Advisory- May 20, 2024- Andy Wyenandt Since 2011 the vegetable working group has teamed up with Cornell University’s NEWA to bringtomato and potato late blight and early blight forecasting to vegetable growers through out New Jersey.Over 50 weather stations from Sussex to Cape May County now offer disease as well as insectforecasting […]