For many vegetable growers, the season is in full swing. All that hard work in season preparation, planting and maintenance is paying off with harvest. One of the on-going season maintenance issues is applying fungicides. In other articles, I have described how and when to spray. In this article, I want to address when to stop. To limit the scope[Read More…]
Dan Egel
I have received several calls about pumpkins recently. This article will outline a few steps growers should think about to prevent diseases in pumpkins. Virus diseases – There are several virus diseases that affect pumpkins in the Midwest. The most important diseases include: papaya ring spot, watermelon mosaic and zucchini yellow mosaic virus. Aphids transmit all these[Read More…]
Southern blight of tomato thrives under hot, dry conditions. Usually, such conditions are more common in August than early July. However, 2016 has been relatively hot and dry in southwest Indiana. Perhaps for this reason, I have observed this disease in my own tomato plots. This article will discuss the symptoms, biology and management of southern blight of[Read More…]
This disease is more likely to develop during periods of heavy rains in relatively poorly drained soils. June started out dry for many areas of Indiana, however recent rains increase the likelihood of Phytophthora diseases. Phytophthora fruit rot of watermelon causes large, soft areas to develop on mature watermelon fruit. These lesions can be several inches[Read More…]
Below, I will briefly discuss four diseases that I have observed on tomatoes recently. White mold of tomato – Perhaps the most common symptom of white mold of tomato is the light brown area on the lower stem (Figure 1). This brown area is essentially dead and will result in the wilt and death of the[Read More…]
The vegetable extension team at Purdue University is always looking for innovative ways to get information to clients quickly. For this reason, we are trying out a new program called veggie texts. The idea is that if we have your mobile phone number and the name of your phone carrier, then we can send you text[Read More…]
This disease has been observed in the southern part of Indiana. To identify bacterial wilt, look for the characteristic wilt and beetle feeding on the leaves and stem (Figure 1). The bacterium that causes this disease, Erwinia tracheiphila, is spread by the striped or spotted cucumber beetles. Once bacterial wilt is observed in the field, there[Read More…]
Individuals who have visited Dan Egel’s blog will notice a new look when they next visit. All articles have been migrated to a new site that will be maintained on the Vegetable Crops Hotline site. There is no need to change your bookmark and the same URL veggiediseaseblog.org will work. However, the site is new and improved. All of the articles that[Read More…]
If you visit the Vegetable Crops Hotline on-line, be sure to visit our new addition: Veggie Extras. The articles that you’ll find when you click on the Veggie Extra link include brief observations, photos, research updates or in-depth subjects that we hope the vegetable professional might find interesting. Articles that are in the Veggie Extras[Read More…]