Late Blight Update

Posted by A. J. Bussan|July 25, 2012

To date, late blight has been found in North Carolina, New York, Massachussets, California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, according to the USAblight website.

Here are some pointers available on the USAblight website to help manage this disease of potatoes and tomatoes:

Brief Outline of Key Late Blight Management Steps:

1. Know symptoms on tomatoes and potatoes.
2. Destroy potato volunteers and cull piles.
3. Select resistant varieties when possible.
4. Implement preventive fungicide program.
5. Inspect crop weekly from planting.
6. Monitor occurrence reports.
7. Submit suspect samples to local or state diagnostic clinic (list at bottom of page).
8. Inform neighboring growers of outbreak.
9. Promptly destroy crop after harvest or when late blight becomes too severe to manage.