This page was originally prepared for Vegetable MD Online in May 2001. The information continues to be important and relevant thus this page did not need to be updated.
Phytophthora blight continues to be a challenge to manage, with potential to cause total crop loss. Unfortunately it has been increasing in importance in New York, as well as elsewhere in the United States, as it spreads into new areas and frequently eludes control. Several important points have been learned in our efforts to control this potentially devastating disease:
- There is no ‘silver bullet.’ No single management practice will effectively control Phytophthora blight; thus, an integrated management program is essential.
- Management practices should be implemented before Phytophthora blight occurs on a farm because once it is present, continuing to grow susceptible crops without the pathogen reoccurring is challenging.
- Prevention is essential because Phytophthora blight is very difficult to suppress once it starts to develop in a field.
- Avoiding standing water in production fields, including driveways, following rain or irrigation is critically important. This was stressed by both growers and researchers who spoke at the Phytophthora Workshop on 27 March 2001.
- The pathogen (Phytophthora capsici) evidently can be easily moved between fields on a farm, based on the more common occurrence of Phytophthora blight in new fields on a farm with the disease versus farms where it has not yet occurred. Therefore, it is necessary to be scrupulous about cleaning equipment and boots after working in an infested field.
More information/prepared by:
Margaret Tuttle McGrath
Associate Professor
Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center (LIHREC)
Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section
School of Integrative Plant Science
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
mtm3@cornell.edu