Tag: disease management
-
Biologicals Made Easy: Grouping and Understanding Biological Fungicides
Johanna Wesche and Guido Schnabel, Clemson University Biologicals are gaining interest in modern agriculture for several reasons. They are used in organic farming to suppress pests and diseases and may have a place in spray programs used in conventional farming when disease pressure is low, when fungicide efficacy is threatened by resistance development, or when…
-
Good Progress on Breeding a Downy Mildew-Resistant Pickling Cucumber, 2024 Update
From Clemson Plant Pathologist Tony Keinath I am part of an exciting collaboration with Dr. Michael Mazourek from Clemson University to help him complete the breeding and selection process for a new pickling cucumber with high levels of resistance to downy mildew. Field work at the Clemson Coastal REC in Charleston started last fall. We…
-
Can Biological Products and Soil Amendments Help With Bacterial Disease Management in Peaches?
From Guido Schnabel, Hehe Wang, Juan Carlos Melgar, Ayodeji Idowu, Junaed Ahmed, Rongzhong Ye, and Michael Vassalos I think we can all agree that peaches produced in commercial peach orchards in South Carolina are special. They are sold locally at farm stands and many retail stores along the East Coast. You may not know that…
-
White Mold is Active so Spray Now
From Clemson Plant Pathologist Tony Keinath and Extension Associate Justin Ballew The freezing weather the week of January 21, 2025, was just what the Sclerotinia white mold fungus was waiting for. While cold temperatures discourage most animals from being active, freezing temperatures trigger Sclerotinia sclerotia (the survival structures in soil) to germinate, produce tiny mushrooms,…
-
And So It Begins…Neopest is Starting to Show Up.
By Guido Schnabel It is early October 2024 and as feared and expected, we are starting to see Neopestalotiopsis symptoms in strawberry fields. The leaf in Fig. 1 (left) displays leaf necrosis and was collected from a South Carolina farm October 4, 2024. Necrosis on leaves can be caused by many things, but if you…
-
Efficacy Trials with Biofungicide Howler EVO against Strawberry Diseases
By Guido Schnabel, Jeffrey A. Hopkins, and Johanna Wesche Recently, the article Fungus-Based Biological Control Agents: How Useful Are They for Strawberry Disease Management? was published. The article reported our first experience with yeast-based biological control agents (BCA) against Botrytis fruit rot (BFR) and Anthracnose fruit rot (AFR) of strawberry. The trials were conducted at the…
-
Recommendations for Fall Treatments in Strawberry Crops with Known Presence of Neopest
Guido Schnabel, Clemson University; Phil Brannen, University of Georgia; and Bill Cline, North Carolina State University Whether or not Neopestalotiopsis will substantially harm your strawberries this season depends on many things, including the cultivar, sanitation practices, initial inoculum levels, weather conditions, the fungicides you apply, and application timing. This article focuses on chemical management options…
-
Downy Mildew Found on Cucumber and Squash in Charleston
By Clemson Plant Pathologist Dr. Anthony Keinath Similar to 2023, cucurbit downy mildew was found at Coastal REC in mid-September, last Friday the 13th, on cucumber and butternut squash transplanted August 15. Interestingly, cucumbers transplanted about 2 weeks ago didn’t have downy mildew…yet. Symptoms on both cucumber and squash means that both strains of cucurbit downy…
-
Fungus-Based Biological Control Agents: How Useful Are They for Strawberry Disease Management?
From Guido Schnabel, Jeffrey A. Hopkins, Jim Faust, and William Gura Biological control agents (BCAs) are being promoted for disease management in fruits, nuts, and vegetables but very little data is available about their efficacy especially when it comes to preharvest field performance. The Schnabel lab has investigated yeast-like fungi and true yeast BCAs, namely…
-
Dramatic Neopestalotiopsis Disease in Strawberry Nurseries
From Phil Brannen (UGA Plant Pathologist) and Guido Schnabel (Clemson Plant Pathologist) Neopestalotiopsis fruit rot and leaf spot is already making headlines for this coming 2024-2025 season. As many strawberry producers are aware, some nurseries are already “ringing the alarm bells”. There is a major pass through to strawberry nurseries and producers through use of…
The South Carolina Grower 