Managing Tomato Bacterial Diseases? Biopesticides Could Help.

Amara Dunn, NYS Integrated Pest Management Program
Chris Smart, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University

Are you using copper to protect your tomatoes from bacterial diseases? Research from Cornell suggests that you could replace some of those copper applications with a biopesticide.

Reminder on Calculating Fertigation Rates for Plastic Mulches

Attention to detail during transplant production will reward you with quality transplants and optimal results in the field.

Pathogens -There are numerous diseases that can impact your crop, and a good number of these can be seedborne.  A first line of defense is to ensure you are planting clean seed. Buy disease indexed seeds when available. To reduce bacterial seedborne diseases in crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and brassicas, seeds can be hot water treated. Chlorine treatment can also be useful on some seeds as a surface treatment but will not kill pathogens inside the seed.

We conducted a beefsteak tomato variety trial in Columbia County, NY with 13 varieties.

Transcript of Teresa Rusinek's podcast entry for 7.29.20: "Stink Bugs in Vegetable Crops".  Photos included.

Creating New York-adapted Tomatoes with Resistance to Multiple Fungal and Bacterial Diseases

Martha A. Mutschler, Plant Breeding and Genetics Section, SIPS, Cornell University

Margaret T. McGrath, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, SIPS, Cornell University

This is a recording of an hour long webinar held by Amy Ivy of the Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program, Judson Reid of the Cornell Vegetable Program and Mike Davis of the Cornell University Willsboro Research Farm on Nov 29, 2018.

A copy of the PowerPoint is included in the 'read details' section below. With funding from the Northern NY Agricultural Development Program.

Here is the final report on our 2017 research in high tunnel production of cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers and a winter spinach fertility study at the Cornell Willsboro Research Farm with funding from NNYADP (Northern NY Ag Development Program).

Fresh market vegetable production is on the rise throughout Northern NY. In past years Northern New York Agricultural Development Program-funded vegetable research has addressed various topics and issues related to growing vegetables at a profit, but new information, better methods, and new varieties continue to be developed and are of interest to regional growers.

In 2017, the project team focused on three areas of high tunnel vegetable production:

1) Increasing production and profitability of colored peppers in high tunnels
2) Extending last year's cherry tomato training and pruning trial, tracking labor and yield.
3) Assessing nitrogen availability in cold soils for late fall-winter spinach and its effect on
yield.

For a chart of conventional and organic spray options for Colorado Potato Beetle:

The fierce storm that hit much of the Eastern New York region south of Albany on Wednesday, May 15, 2018 caused tremendous wind, water, and hail damage. For growers wondering how to respond to hail damage to young plants, read more about how to best protect your crops.

If you have struggled with bacterial diseases in the past few years, start managing for success now! Growers are better able to control bacterial diseases with a combination of sanitation, environmental management, and regular sprays that starts now and continues through harvest. Read on to learn about alternative sprays to copper, and how to eliminate disease lingering in your stakes from last year. 

As the weather warms up and plastic mulches are being laid, the next question is, what to do about weed control in the beds and between the beds?

A product called LandSpring was labeled in NY back in July of 2017 and may help reduce transplant shock of certain crops.  Learn more about what it is and how it works.

A little time spent pruning and training young high tunnel tomatoes now will pay off later this season; not only in greater yields but in labor efficiency during harvest.

Southern Blight (Sclerotium rolfsii) was found on golden storage beets this winter in Dutchess County. The fungal pathogen is fairly new to New York and poses a threat to a wide range of vegetable crops. Early detection and proper diagnosis are key to managing this disease.

This week a few growers reported serious damage and loss of first flowers in their early, heated high tunnel tomatoes. We suspect the hives came with too many bees for the number of flowers and over-pollination by the hungry bees is causing the blossoms to drop without setting fruit. Is anyone else seeing this kind of damage?