Row Crop Disease – Bob Kemerait
My air conditioner is kicking on at 5 AM, weather across much of Georgia (warm muggy nights, hot humid days, sporadic rainfall and irrigation) is perfect for white mold gone wild in our peanut fields. I can remind you, again, just how perfect conditions are now for diseases- especially white mold and the leaf spot sisters.
Proof- pic below from Grady Co; he stumbled across a vibrant outbreak of white-mold-gone-wild yesterday. Don’t think a “1994-bargain-basement-teb-bravo” is what this grower needs now. He or she needs Elatus or Excalia or Convoy or Umbra. Maybe Vantana. But “I’m gonna hit that white mold outbreak with a shot of Teb-bravo” will come back to haunt.
The row crop disease assessment for today is pretty much what it will be for the rest of the week and was last week-
Weather conditions continue to favor fungal infection and disease and spread of disease. Now? In Tifton? 79F and not yet 6 AM. White mold weather.
Roll call: Southern corn rust- wide-spread and growing across SE and SW districts. Corn not yet tasseling….
Tar spot of corn- At least in Pulaski and Wilcox Counties
Fusarium ear rot of corn- very much widespread; can’t do anything about it
Peanut rust- confirmed in Seminole Co; where rust occurs, tighten spray intervals. Recognize that Miravis is an excellent leaf spot material but not for rust management.
Peanut leaf spot- simmering now wherever peanuts are grown in Georgia. Stay timely and aggressive. If leaf spot gains a toe-hold, consider calling a fungicide audible at the line of scrimmage.
White mold on peanuts- the current situation in many fields is white mold paradise. Where the disease is suppressed, you have flexibility in your fungicide program; where white mold has ignited- use all tools (fungicide selection, rate, timing, irrigation, spray volume, etc) to quench it.
Areolate mildew- building in cotton across SE and SW districts- significant defoliation will result in significant yield loss. A single well-timed application of Miravis Top or Priaxor should do a good job. Sadly, resistance to azoxystrobin is real.
Target spot- much like areaolate mildew above, but Headline is also effective for this disease.
Soybeans…. So far quiet on soybeans. But remember- a maintenance fungicide application at R3 early pod set, especially in combination with Dimilin, is a good thing.
