Vegetable Crop Diseases

Bob Mulrooney, Extension Plant Pathologist; bobmul@udel.edu

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
Tomato spotted wilt virus was indentified and confirmed today by ELISA on tomato plants from across the line in MD. We don’t see this very often but the symptoms are pretty obvious most of the time. It can be a problem when tomato transplants are produced with ornamental bedding plants, which harbor the virus. The virus is often then transmitted to tomatoes by Western flower thrips. The virus can be transmitted from weeds and perennial ornamentals as well by nine species of thrips. Young leaves are bronze colored and later develop numerous small dark spots. Growing points may die and stems of terminals may be streaked.

 

Tomato spotted wilt on tomato

Bacterial Wilt in Cucurbits*
Symptoms of bacterial wilt will vary depending on the cucurbit crop. In general, plants may wilt during the day in hot weather and ‘recover’ during cooler parts of the evening and morning. Margins and interveinal areas of leaves become necrotic which cause leaves to appear ‘scorched’. Look for beetle feeding scars on cotyledons and stems of young plants. Healthy green plants will turn chlorotic (yellow) with time and infected plants will eventually collapse and die, exposing fruit to sunscald injury. Cutting through stem tissue at the base of infected plants often reveals a coppery-tan color where the bacterium causes the vascular tissue to ‘plug up’. Control of bacterial wilt begins with controlling striped and spotted cucumber beetles which vector the pathogen early in the growing season as plants emerge. Late-season beetle control will remain important as fruit begins to mature. Late-season beetle feeding may cause injury to stems ruining aesthetic quality. For more information on cucumber beetle and bacterial wilt control please see the 2008 Delaware Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations Guide.

Anthracnose of Pepper
Symptoms of anthracnose infection in pepper fruit include sunken, circular spots which develop blackish-tan to orange concentric rings as lesions develop. Lesions on stems and leaves appear as grayish-brown spots with dark margins and can easily be overlooked.

Control of anthracnose begins with using clean-free seed and/or transplants. A three-year crop rotation with non-solanaceous crops is recommended. After the harvest season, pepper fields should be disced and plowed under thoroughly to bury crop debris. Beginning at flowering and as small fruit begin to set, alternate maneb (M3) at 1.5 to 3 lb/A 75DF with one of the following FRAC code 11 fungicides:

azoxystrobin (Quadris at 6.2 to 15.4 fl oz 2.08F/A)
or
Flint (trifloxystrobin) 50WDGat 2 to 4 oz/A
or
Cabrio (pyraclostrobin) 20EG at 8 to 12 oz/A
or
Tanos (famoxodone + cymoxanil, 11 + 27) at 8 to 20 50WDG/A.

 

Anthracnose on pepper fruit

Bacterial Leaf Spot of Pepper*
Symptoms of bacterial spot on pepper leaves include small, brown water-soaked lesions that turn brown and necrotic in the centers. Spots may coalesce and form large blighted areas on leaves and premature defoliation can occur. On fruit, brown lesions can form which have a roughened, cracked wart-like appearance. High temperatures, high relative humidity and rainfall favor bacterial spot development. Loss from bacterial spot can be reduced somewhat by maintaining high levels of fertility, which will stimulate new growth. Applying a fixed copper (M1) at labeled rates plus maneb (M3) at 1.5 lbs 75DF/A or 8 to 10 oz Tanos (famoxadone + cymoxanil, 11 + 27) may help suppress spread. For more information on control of Bacterial leaf spot of pepper please see the 2008 Delaware Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations.

*From Andy Wyenandt, Rutgers University