September 13th

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vegetable Disease Update:

Powdery Mildew. Powdery mildew, caused by the fungus Sphaerotheca fuliginae, is in almost all pumpkin fields in Illinois. Since the season is rapidly coming to the end, control powdery mildew is no longer needed. However, if there are many late fruit set and the fruit are expected to ripe in October, and the foliage is still green, one or two sprays during September could be beneficial. At this time spraying the field with either Nova plus copper or Procure plus copper could provide control of powdery mildew and bacterial spot, which both of them have already observed in the fields. For more information on powdery mildew of pumpkin, click here.


Bacterial Spot of Pumpkin. During the past week, I observed bacterial spot disease in several jack-o-lantern pumpkin fields in central Illinois. In most of the fields that I visited, 2 to 5% of fruit were with bacterial spot symptoms. However, in one field, more than 30% of fruit were infected with this disease. For more information on bacterial spots of pumpkin, click here.


Plectosporium Blight (Microdochium Blight) of Pumpkin. During the past week, I observed Plectosporium blight (formerly Microdochium blight) in some of pumpkin fields in central Illinois. Less than 5% of the fruit were estimated to be infected. No serious yield losses to Plectosporium blight are expected in the fields visited. For more information on Plectosporium blight click here.