Lexington, KY 40546
Online at: www.uky.edu/KPN
Number 1270
TOBACCO
-Disease Update for the Week of May 30
VEGETABLES
-Managing Bacterial Diseases of Tomato and
Pepper
SHADE TREES & ORNAMENTALS
-Bacterial Spot Diseases Are Active
TOBACCO
Disease Update for the Week of May 30
By Kenny Seebold
Current situation
Over the past week, I have gotten a good number
of calls about Pythium root rot, and I expect that
problem to ramp up this week because of the
warm weather that has settled in. It’s likely that
we’ll also see problems with blackleg (bacterial
soft rot), particularly in float beds that are running
high levels of nitrogen. At this point in the season,
growers need to keep a close watch on plants and
make sure that fertilizer levels are not so high as to
promote rapid, lush growth of plants. Steps should
be taken to keep air moving on plants to keep them
as dry as possible. Regular clipping will help keep
the lower canopy dry in float beds, but make sure
that this operation is carried out when plants are
relatively dry. When clipping, it’s important to
remove only ½-1 inch of leaf at a time to minimize
deposition of leaf matter on trays AND injury to
plants. Remove any trays affected by blackleg or
collar rot (Sclerotinia) before clipping, and replace
them with empty trays to avoid spreading disease
throughout the float bed. Sanitize mowers with a
10% bleach solution after each use. For Pythium
root rot, Terramaster 4EC can be applied up to 5
days before setting as long as the seasonal limit of
3.8 fl oz/100 gallons of float water has not been
exceeded.
June 1, 2011
DIAGNOSTIC LAB HIGHLIGHTS
INSECT TRAP COUNTS
For prevention, add .7 to 1 fl oz/100 gallons of
float water, and if the disease is active, use 1 to 1.4
fl oz/100 gallons. Hopefully we’ll be able to plant
a good bit of tobacco this week and get those
plants off the beds and in the ground where they
belong!
An issue that may be a problem for some after
tobacco has been set is damping-off caused by
Pythium spp. Given our wet soils and the warm
weather, we could see more of this problem than
normal. The best options for controlling Pythium
damping-off are to avoid transplanting into
excessively wet ground, and to apply Ridomil
Gold SL (or a generic equivalent) before or
immediately after planting. Thus, growers using
Ridomil for black shank control should see some
protection. The recently approved use for Ridomil
in setter water (4 to 8 fl oz/A) should provide
protection against Pythium damping-off as well as
black shank. Growers using the setter-water
method of application should use at least 200
gallons/A to set plants (or more) and need to have
a copy of the 24c label in their possession.
Blue Mold
Blue mold is still absent in the U.S as of May 30.
I’ll send an update if anything changes in the blue
mold arena.
 VEGETABLES
Managing Bacterial Diseases of Tomato and
Pepper
By Kenny Seebold
Unusually wet weather has been the norm this
spring, and we’re beginning to see a number of
disease issues cropping up on our vegetable crops
around the state. At the moment, the stage appears
to be set for widespread problems with bacterial
diseases on both peppers and tomatoes. Bacterial
spot, which is caused by Xanthomonas campestris
pv. vesicatoria, will affect peppers and tomatoes
and tends to be the most common bacterial disease
of these crops in Kentucky. We also tend to see
quite a bit of bacterial canker, caused by
Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis,
on tomato in rainy years and in fact have found at
least one case in the past week.
Control of bacterial diseases of tomato and pepper
can be difficult if nothing has been done before
symptoms are observed. Prevention is the best
defense! We recommend that growers use
certified, disease-free seed or transplants; in the
case of pepper, varieties resistant to the bacterial
leaf spot pathogen are highly desirable. Managing
bacterial diseases in the greenhouse goes a long
way in keeping these problems out of the field.
Once in the field, good management practices can
help reduce the threat posed by bacterial
pathogens. Irrigate early in the morning to
minimize the length of time that foliage is wet.
Avoid working tomatoes and peppers when foliage
is wet, as bacterial diseases can easily be spread by
handling or application of pesticides. Tomatoes
and peppers should be rotated 2-3 years away to
non-Solanaceous crops. Applications of fixed
copper plus maneb (if it can be found) or
mancozeb are effective against bacterial spot when
used as part of a preventive disease management
program; however, these materials have little
effect against bacterial canker of tomato. For
those using bell pepper varieties with no resistance
to bacterial leaf spot, or those who are growing
non-bell types, a fungicide/bactericide program is
absolutely necessary. Growers should be aware
that 2011 could be a big year for bacterial diseases
on peppers and tomatoes if rainy conditions
continue. Refer to ID-36, the “Vegetable
Production Guide for Commercial Growers” for
more information.
SHADE TREES & ORNAMENTALS
Bacterial Spot Diseases Are Active
By John Hartman
Frequent and heavy rainfall favors bacterial
diseases in the garden. Based on recent
observations bacterial spot is appearing on many
landscape plants such as lilac, English ivy and iris.
Diagnostic laboratory samples have recently
shown that flowering Prunus (e.g. flowering
cherry, flowering plum) and oak-leaf hydrangea
are susceptible to bacterial spots caused by species
of the plant pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas.
These diseases also appeared in 2009, another year
in which rainy weather was prevalent.
Bacterial spot of Prunus appears as small, angular
lesions on leaves near the tips or leaf margins
(Figure 1). Numerous lesions cause yellowing and
leaf fall. Some lesions may drop out leaving a
shot hole symptom. Frequent long wet periods
early in the growing season favor epidemics. In
addition to flowering cherry or flowering plum,
bacterial spot can also be found on commercial
and backyard peaches during rainy seasons.
Bacterial spot of hydrangea first appears as water-
soaked spots which turn dark as they coalesce and
enlarge (Figure 2). Coalescing lesions can kill
portions of infected leaves or entire leaves.
Disease management. Pick up and destroy
affected leaves to help to reduce spread of the
bacterial pathogen to new leaves. Avoid use
overhead sprinklers while watering the plants
during dry periods. Applications of antibacterial
chemicals will do little good now.

Figure 1. Peach bacterial spot, an example
of a bacterial spot disease on a Prunus
species. Note angular lesions and a few
"shotholes".
Figure 2. Hydrangea bacterial leaf spot. Note how
lesions coalesced along the vein. (P. Bachi photo)
DIAGNOSTIC LAB HIGHLIGHTS
By Julie Beale and Paul Bachi
Agronomic samples this week have included
stinkbug injury and smut on corn; wheat spindle
streak virus and take-all on wheat; and target spot
on tobacco.
On fruits and vegetables, we have seen
anthracnose and black rot on grape; common leaf
spot and Botrytis gray mold on strawberry; cedar-
apple rust on apple; leaf curl on peach and
nectarine; bacterial leaf spot on cherry;
anthracnose on walnut; common bacterial blight
on bean; Alternaria leaf blight on cantaloupe;
Pythium root rot on pepper, squash and onion; and
Pythium root rot, Botrytis blight, timber rot, early
blight and Rhizoctonia stem rot on tomato.
On ornamentals and turf, we have seen rust on
hollyhock; Sclerotinia blight on lobelia and
euonymus; bacterial leaf spot on oakleaf
hydrangea; Botryosphaeria canker on magnolia;
black spot, powdery mildew and rosette disease on
rose; downy spot on hickory; anthracnose on
maple; Stigmina needle blight on spruce; and
brown patch on tall fescue.
INSECT TRAP COUNTS
May 20-27
Location Princeton, Lexington,
KY KY
Black cutworm 18 0
Armyworm 8 127
Corn earworm 8 0
European corn 0 1
borer
Southwestern 0 0
corn borer
Fall armyworm 0 0
Graphs of insect trap counts for the 2011 season are available
on the IPM web site at -
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/IPM/ipm.htm.
View trap counts for Fulton County, Kentucky at -
http://ces.ca.uky.edu/fulton/InsectTraps
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criticism implied of similar products that are not
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