I received a question this week about spraying for spider mites and protecting honey bees. First and foremost, spider mite problems are frequently a result of repeated application of broad-spectrum insecticides. Don’t apply these products without a specific need. That said, spider mites have become a more consistent problem in the past decade and are…

Potential Options for Managing Frost-damage in Vegetable Crops (Coolong and Dutta) Because of the potential for an upcoming frost this week on newly planted vegetable transplants we are sure you are getting questions from concerned growers.  I have attached a link to a publication on frost and freeze protection https://secure.caes.uga.edu/extension/publications/files/pdf/B%201479_1.PDF  that, while heavily focused on fruit,…

Please see the link to access the extension bulletin: https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=b1534.

We have detected insensitivity of Colletotrichum sp. (causal agent of anthracnose of cucurbits) to FRAC group 11 fungicides (Quadris and Cabrio) in multiple commercial fields in GA. Further confirmation in our lab indicated that 70 to 80% of the isolates are either highly resistant or moderately resistant to Quadris and Cabrio. These observations suggest that managing anthracnose…

The outlook for problems with whitefly transmitted viruses does not look good for fall 2020 vegetable crops. Several viruses were reported at low levels at the end of the spring crops and have already been detected in early fall crops/experiments. This combined with rapidly increasing whitefly populations (and continued hot, dry weather) indicates we will…

I believe everyone knows that whitefly populations have been building dramatically the last few weeks. Whiteflies love hot dry weather and reproduce rapidly under our current conditions. While we are probably not as bad as we were in 2017 (maybe a month behind), we are far ahead of the last two years. Populations are higher…

Mr. Clarence Codod (Grad Student) has been scouting 18 commercial vegetable fields in Tift, Colquitt and Worth counties for whitefly and viral diseases. Here are some of the important details from our Spring scouting (Apr 7- Apr 21) Whitefly adults are more prevalent and occur in higher numbers in brassica (broccoli and cabbage) crops in Tift and Colquitt…

Downy mildew has been detected on cucumber in Echols County today by Mr. Justin Shealey. These observations indicate that inoculum of downy mildew is currently in southern GA counties and under favorable conditions potential disease outbreak in cucurbit crops can occur. I would suggest our cucurbit growers to look for the downy mildew symptoms in their fields and start applying protective spray of below stated fungicides. Watermelon: Rotation (foliar application) …

By Clint Thompson Vidalia onion producers have begun harvesting the early maturing varieties this year, and Chris Tyson is excited about the potential of this year’s crop. “The Vidalia onion crop definitely looks favorable this year. We are anticipating a quality harvest,” said Tyson, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension area onion agent at the Vidalia…