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Posts by Phil Brannen

About Phil Brannen

Phil Brannen is a Professor in the Plant Pathology Department at the University of Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia for his undergraduate degree in Plant Protection and Pest Management, where he also received an M.S. in Plant Pathology, followed by a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Auburn University. He has extensive experience with disease management programs in numerous cropping systems. He serves as the extension fruit pathologist for Georgia – conducting research and technology transfer for multiple fruit commodities. His efforts are directed towards developing IPM practices to solve disease issues and technology transfer of disease-management methods to commercial fruit producers. He also teaches the graduate level Field Pathology Course, the History of Plant Diseases and their Impact on Human Societies Course, team-teaches the IPM Course, coordinates the Viticulture and Enology in the Mediterranean Region Course (Cortona, Italy), and guest lectures in numerous other courses throughout the year.

Strawberry Disease Recommendations

Mar 27, 2020 | Written by

Guido Schnabel (Clemson University) just provided his recommendations for the remainder of the season concerning strawberry disease spray programs. See the strawberry IPM guide at www.smallfruits.org to supplement this information (especially FRAC groups), but I concur with his thoughts as we move forward this season. Guido writes. “In general, based…
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Strawberry Disease Surge

Mar 22, 2020 | Written by

As the coronavirus is wreaking havoc throughout the world, it is hard to get very excited about strawberry diseases – unless you make an income off strawberries.  Unfortunately, the mild temperatures and almost continual rainfall are making it very difficult to manage strawberry diseases at this time. Based on diseases…
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Anthracnose Outbreak

Apr 17, 2019 | Written by

Anthracnose is prevalent in strawberry plantings at this time.  As mentioned in the last post, I am concerned about resistance.  If you identify anthracnose in your planting, have it tested for resistance to the QoI (strobilurin) chemistry class (Abound, etc.).  While you wait for test results, apply Switch + Captan…
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Anthracnose Resistance Development

Apr 10, 2019 | Written by

We are observing significant anthracnose epidemics in Georgia strawberries at this time. Unfortunately, we have determined that the anthracnose fungus has developed resistance to the strobilurin (quinone outside inhibitor; FRAC 11) class of fungicides (e.g. Abound, Pristine). This is resulting in extensive disease, as spraying these materials provides no or…
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Fungicide Selection for Botrytis and Anthracnose Fruit Rot Management in Strawberry

Mar 21, 2018 | Written by

The following link should give you excellent, up-to-date information on selection of fungicides for management of strawberry Botrytis and anthracnose fruit rots.  If you observe Botrytis, this fungus can be tested for resistance development at Clemson University.  If you observe anthracnose, this fungus can be tested for resistance at the…
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Spider Mite Damage on Strawberry

Mar 1, 2018 | Written by

Shane Curry (Appling County Extension Agent) sent a photo of spider mites (see attached) on strawberry, and the numbers are tremendous.  Strawberry producers should be scouting for mites at this time, since the conditions have been warm enough for the mite population to explode in some areas, despite significant rainfall. …
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