Dan Egel

Clinical Engagement Associate Professor
(812) 886-0198 egel@purdue.edu
Dan Egel's website
SWPAC

134 articles by this author

Article List

Tomato Leaf Mold Diseases

August 16, 2018 - From Issue:
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Cercospora leaf mold symptoms on the upper leaf surface. Note distinct chlorotic lesions.

In the fall of 2015, I wrote an article for the Hotline about Cercospora leaf mold of tomato since this disease had been observed twice in the 2015 season. I wrote that Cercospora leaf mold was normally a subtropical disease. There have been several observations of Cercospora leaf mold on tomato in Indiana this year. I’m still not certain of the importance of this disease, but this article will compare Cercospora leaf mold and leaf mold of tomato. Leaf mold of tomato is caused by Passalora fulva and is common in Indiana, especially in high tunnels where the high relative humidity favors this disease. Cercospora leaf mold is caused by Pseudocercospora fuligena and is more common in the warm, humid climate of the tropics or subtropics than in the Midwest. Both diseases cause chlorotic (yellow) lesions which are visible on the upper side of the leaf. The chlorotic area caused by[Read More…]

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Cercospora blight of Aspragus

August 16, 2018 - From Issue:
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Lesions of Cercospora blight of asparagus are gray to tan and may have red borders.

This disease was confirmed in Indiana recently. Cercospora blight initially causes small, oval, gray to tan lesions with red borders (Figure 1). If a 10X hand lens is used, dark flecks within the lesions may be observed; these flecks are where the spores of the causal fungus are produced. Severe infections may cause entire ferns to turn yellow or brown. Cercospora blight may cause reduced vigor and yield of spears the next spring. The causal fungus overwinters on fern residues left on the soil. When weather in the late spring or summer becomes favorable, spores on this debris may cause disease on the ferns. High humidity in the fern canopy of 95% or higher and average temperatures of 77 to 86°F favor infection. Splashing water from rain or irrigation is important in spread of this disease. Any practice that minimizes fern debris will help to lessen the impact of Cercospora[Read More…]

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Cucurbit Downy Mildew

August 7, 2018 - From Issue:
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Cucurbit downy mildew has been observed on cucumber in La Porte County and LaGrange Counties, Indiana. Downy mildew of cucurbits has also been reported in southern and central Kentucky. All cucurbit growers in Indiana should be scouting and managing for downy mildew. The organism that causes downy mildew of cucurbits doesn’t overwinter in Indiana. It has to be blown in every year. It is common for downy mildew to start the season in the Gulf States and migrate north with the cucurbit crops. Downy mildew apparently overwinters in northern Michigan/southern Ontario in greenhouses where cucumbers are grown year round. Therefore, downy mildew is often found in Michigan before it is found in Indiana. Many cucumber varieties have some resistance to downy mildew. For susceptible cucumber varieties or other types of cucurbits, specialized systemic fungicides will help to reduce the severity of downy mildew. Unfortunately, many of the most effective systemic fungicides for downy mildew are not[Read More…]

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Spray Pressure and Nozzle Type

August 2, 2018 - From Issue:
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Many years ago, I was told that to successfully use fungicides on vegetables, one must use high spray pressures and hollow cone nozzles. However, I had trouble finding any research on this topic, just rumors. So, I did my own research. Dennis Nowaskie, Superintendent at the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center (SWPAC) built a single row sprayer that could be used to vary nozzle types between flat fans and hollow cones and spray pressures from 30 to 150 PSI. We used the sprayer to conduct experiments on Alternaria leaf blight of cantaloupe during three years of field tests. The fungicide we used to try to manage this disease was the contact product chlorothalonil (trade names include Agronil®, Bravo®, Echo® and Terranil®). Phillip Harmon, now a professor at the University of Florida, was my co-author on this paper. Try as we might, we could not find any statistical differences in disease severity[Read More…]

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10 Useful Rules for Fungicide Applications

August 2, 2018 - From Issue:
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Since there is an article about the application of insecticides in this issue, below I list 10 rules that will help vegetable growers apply fungicides effectively and safely. Apply fungicides prior to the development of disease. Although many fungicides have systemic (“kick back”) action they will not completely eradicate diseases after they have started. And by the time a single disease lesion is observed in the field, many more lesions too small to observe are already working at your crop. Most systemic fungicides move less than an inch toward the tip of the plant or may just move from the upper to the lower side of the leaf. Use shorter spray intervals during weather conducive to plant disease. Each plant disease has its own “personality” and thus prefers different weather. However, most plant diseases require leaf wetness. Therefore, during periods of rain and heavy dews, more frequent fungicide applications are[Read More…]

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Bacterial Spot of Tomato

July 19, 2018 - From Issue:
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Bacterial spot of tomato has been observed across Indiana this summer. Leaf spots are usually 1/16 inch, and dark. Where lesions are numerous upon a leaf, the tissue may be chlorotic (yellow) (Figure 1 & 2).  (In contrast, each lesion of bacterial speck is often accompanied by chlorosis whether lesions are numerous or not.) Lesions of bacterial spot on fruit are dark, raised and up to 1/3 inch in diameter (Figure 3). The disease prefers warm, wet weather. Overhead irrigation will also spread this disease. Although much of Indiana has been dry recently, rainy weather earlier in the year has increased the severity of bacterial spot. Bacterial spot is much more common in field tomatoes than in greenhouse or high tunnel tomatoes. This is because bacterial spot requires leaf wetness for infection to take place and rain to spread the bacteria from leaf to leaf and from plant to plant.[Read More…]

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Not All the Watermelon and Cantaloupe Leaf Symptoms are caused by Pests

July 18, 2018 - From Issue:
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Watermelon harvest is in full swing in southern Indiana. At this time, we frequently see many types of leaf symptoms. Some of them are caused by foliar diseases, such as anthracnose, Alternaria leaf blight and gummy stem blight. These diseases require special attention, normally in the form of fungicide sprays, to slow spread of the disease. However, the appearance of a moderate amount of foliar disease in mid-season doesn’t necessarily need an immediate fungicide application. Other leaf symptoms may not be caused by diseases or insects. Here are some examples of leaf symptoms that are not associated with a pathogen. It is important to correctly identify the source of the symptom to prevent unnecessarily pesticide spray. In the article When a yellow leaf is just a yellow leaf, Dr. Dan Egel discussed general rules for determining if the symptom is a disease or not. If you are not certain whether the symptom[Read More…]

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Powdery Mildew of Cucurbits

July 5, 2018 - From Issue:
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The bottom pumpkin leaf has the disease powdery mildew. The top leaf is healthy and has a variegated pattern

Powdery mildew is a common disease of cucurbits in Indiana. This disease is more common on cantaloupe and pumpkin. However, we have observed powdery mildew more frequently on watermelon in recent years. We have also observed this disease on cucumber in high tunnels. If left uncontrolled, this disease can cause loss of foliage, loss of yield and lower quality fruit. This article will discuss the biology and management of powdery mildew of cucurbits. Powdery mildew is relatively easy to recognize; talc-like lesions occur on both sides of the leaf (Figure 1). The fungus that causes powdery mildew, Podosphaera xanthii, does not require leaf wetness for infection of leaves, only high humidity. The optimum temperature for disease development is 68 to 81°F. P. xanthii may survive for a period in crop residue as a resilient fungal structure, but the disease is so easily windborne, that crop rotation is not always a practical control measure. The fungus[Read More…]

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Spider Mites on Cucurbit Crops

July 5, 2018 - From Issue:
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Figure 3. Webbing produced on heavily infested cucumber leaves by two-spotted spider mite.

Despite the wet start to the summer that we are experiencing, we have some growers reporting spider mites in field watermelons (Figure 1). This pest is typically associated with hot, dry weather and can be especially problematic in crops grown under protection, such as in high tunnels. Spider mites often move into a field from an adjacent fencerow or rye strip. Two-spotted spider mites (Figure 2.) are most commonly a problem on watermelon and cucumbers in high tunnels, but also affect muskmelons. They can be detected by observing the yellowish discoloration on the upper side of the leaves or using a 10x hand lens and scouting on the underside of the leaf for the pest. Alternatively, you may use a white sheet of paper and tap the leaves above the paper to dislodge the mites; you will see them moving about on the sheet of paper. Because mites often migrate[Read More…]

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Black Root Rot of Watermelon

June 21, 2018 - From Issue:
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The wilted and dead leaves of the watermelon transplants in Figure 1 could have several causes. Above ground symptoms such as wilts and leaf death may be caused by problems underground.  When I investigated the plants in Figure 1, I found that many of the plants had a root rot. The dark area at the base of the stem (technically, the hypocotyl) is caused by a fungus that is growing in the plant (Figure 2). The fungus also can be found on the roots of the plant. This disease is known as black root rot of watermelon. The fungus that causes this disease is Thielaviopsis basicola. This fungus causes a similar disease on carrot, tobacco, pansies and many more crops. The dark area on the base of the stem is actually a ‘sign’ of the disease since the fungus that causes the disease is visible. The wilting and decline of[Read More…]