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By Mary Beth Breckenridge
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 09:48 a.m. EDT, Jul 01, 2009
Ohio's farmers and vegetable gardeners are urged to be on guard against a disease that has the potential to destroy tomato and potato crops.
This week's wet, cool conditions are ideal for the spread of late blight, Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster Township reported. It's the disease that caused the Irish potato famine of the 1840s.
The disease is a fungus spread by spores that can be carried by wind, rain, irrigation or equipment. It has been found in Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia and was confirmed in Ohio in a tomato sample June 25.
''It is not a big problem yet in Ohio,'' said Nancy Taylor, director of OSU's C. Wayne Ellett Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic in Columbus.
However, she said the disease can spread quickly under the right conditions and can devastate crops.
Late blight thrives when temperatures are in the 50s at night and the 70s during the day, accompanied by rain, fog or heavy dew.
Left unmanaged, the disease could wipe out backyard and commercial crops, said Sally Miller, a plant pathologist and vegetable crops specialist with the OARDC and the OSU Extension.
The disease first appears as pale green, water-soaked spots on leaves, often beginning at the tips or edges. The lesions can be circular or irregular and are often surrounded by a pale, yellowish-green border. The lesions enlarge rapidly and turn dark brown to purplish-black.
In wet or humid weather, growth of a cottony white mold usually follows soon after the lesions appear.
The university's plant-disease specialists are urging anyone who grows tomatoes or potatoes to protect their plants against infection, both to save their crops and thwart the spread of the disease.
The only way to protect plants is to apply a fungicide containing containing chlorothalanil or copper while the plants are still healthy, Taylor said. Several brands are available, including Ortho Multi-Purpose Fungicide (Daconil 2787), which contains chlorothalanil, and Bonide liquid copper fungicide.
Chlorothalanil is more effective than copper in controlling late blight, the OARDC said, but only copper-based fungicides can be used by organic growers.
Read and follow the instructions carefully, Miller cautioned. She recommended washing tomatoes from fungicide-treated plants with a small amount of a mild detergent and rinse with plenty of water before eating them.
If your plants become infected, OARDC recommends pulling them out of the ground and disposing of them in a plastic bag that's been tied or knotted closed. Do not compost the plants or leave them lying about.
The fungus does not survive winters in Ohio, so it must be reintroduced through infected plants or spores, Taylor said. The spores can travel five to 10 miles on the wind, she said.
Some infected plants were found at a Lowe's store in New York, the OARDC said, and it's possible plants from the same supplier were distributed elsewhere.
More information on the disease is at http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3102.html.
Samples of plants suspected of infection can be brought to a county extension office or sent to the diagnostic clinic. Information on sending samples to the clinic is at http://ppdc.osu.edu.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com.
Ohio's farmers and vegetable gardeners are urged to be on guard against a disease that has the potential to destroy tomato and potato crops.
This week's wet, cool conditions are ideal for the spread of late blight, Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster Township reported. It's the disease that caused the Irish potato famine of the 1840s.
The disease is a fungus spread by spores that can be carried by wind, rain, irrigation or equipment. It has been found in Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia and was confirmed in Ohio in a tomato sample June 25.
''It is not a big problem yet in Ohio,'' said Nancy Taylor, director of OSU's C. Wayne Ellett Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic in Columbus.
However, she said the disease can spread quickly under the right conditions and can devastate crops.
Late blight thrives when temperatures are in the 50s at night and the 70s during the day, accompanied by rain, fog or heavy dew.
Left unmanaged, the disease could wipe out backyard and commercial crops, said Sally Miller, a plant pathologist and vegetable crops specialist with the OARDC and the OSU Extension.
The disease first appears as pale green, water-soaked spots on leaves, often beginning at the tips or edges. The lesions can be circular or irregular and are often surrounded by a pale, yellowish-green border. The lesions enlarge rapidly and turn dark brown to purplish-black.
In wet or humid weather, growth of a cottony white mold usually follows soon after the lesions appear.
The university's plant-disease specialists are urging anyone who grows tomatoes or potatoes to protect their plants against infection, both to save their crops and thwart the spread of the disease.
The only way to protect plants is to apply a fungicide containing containing chlorothalanil or copper while the plants are still healthy, Taylor said. Several brands are available, including Ortho Multi-Purpose Fungicide (Daconil 2787), which contains chlorothalanil, and Bonide liquid copper fungicide.
Chlorothalanil is more effective than copper in controlling late blight, the OARDC said, but only copper-based fungicides can be used by organic growers.
Read and follow the instructions carefully, Miller cautioned. She recommended washing tomatoes from fungicide-treated plants with a small amount of a mild detergent and rinse with plenty of water before eating them.
If your plants become infected, OARDC recommends pulling them out of the ground and disposing of them in a plastic bag that's been tied or knotted closed. Do not compost the plants or leave them lying about.
The fungus does not survive winters in Ohio, so it must be reintroduced through infected plants or spores, Taylor said. The spores can travel five to 10 miles on the wind, she said.
Some infected plants were found at a Lowe's store in New York, the OARDC said, and it's possible plants from the same supplier were distributed elsewhere.
More information on the disease is at http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3102.html.
Samples of plants suspected of infection can be brought to a county extension office or sent to the diagnostic clinic. Information on sending samples to the clinic is at http://ppdc.osu.edu.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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akron, oh
Posted 10:21 AM, 07/01/2009
the headline should have read.... "The Fungus Amung Us" LOL
NE, Oh
Posted 10:53 AM, 07/01/2009
LOL was just going to post that! :>
Canton, OH
Posted 09:25 PM, 07/01/2009
Fungi is NO FUNNY !!!!!!!!!!!!
Norton, oh
Posted 10:07 AM, 07/02/2009
Wow, I hope my tomato crop makes it. I better go get the fugicide in case something gets started. Anyone know how much it costs for the copper version???
Minerva, Oh
Posted 09:22 PM, 07/30/2009
Well I was away for three days this week and come back today and go check my garden. I Fungus hit all 54 of my tomato plants. No fresh salsa this year I guess.
