SC Fruit and Vegetable Field Report June 21, 2021

Coastal Region

Rob Last reports, “Given the rainfall and humidity levels, we are seeing increases in foliar and fruit diseases on a range of crops. This includes cottony leak in cucumbers, anthracnose in peppers, tomatoes, and cucurbits. Also, please be aware cucurbit downy mildew is very active now. As a result, it is going to be really important to maintain fungicide programs in both a timely manner and to be robust. That being said, we have some great quality melons, both cantaloupe and watermelons, coming to harvest, as well as good volumes of quality peaches, blackberries, and a host of other vegetable crops.”

Zack Snipes reports, “We had some heavy downpours this past week which has beat some crops up. Hopefully everyone got their fungicides out ahead of the rain. The CREC hosted its annual Field Day last week. A special thanks to all that attended. I learned a good bit about herbicide carryover damage and direct herbicide damage from Dr. Matt Cutulle. I think the cool weather this spring made our plants and herbicides have some unusual reactions.”

Plant specimens are showing herbicide carryover damage at the CREC Field Day. Zack Snipes, ©2021, Clemson Extension

Plant specimens are showing herbicide carryover damage at the CREC Field Day.
Zack Snipes, ©2021, Clemson Extension

Midlands Region

Justin Ballew reports, “After a pretty dry week, Tropical Depression Claudette came through over the weekend and dropped a lot of rain (a little over 3 inches at my house). More rain is forecast for this week, so again, be sure to stay on top of fungicide sprays. This past week we started seeing bacterial spot on tomatoes, anthracnose fruit rot on peppers, and Southern blight remains active on several crops. We’re getting close to the end of the spring brassica crops. Tomatoes, squash, zucchini are being harvested, and sweet corn will be coming soon.”

Anthracnose fruit rot on bell pepper. Justin Ballew, ©2021, Clemson Extension

Anthracnose fruit rot on bell pepper.
Justin Ballew, ©2021, Clemson Extension

Pee Dee Region

Tony Melton reports, “Thank goodness the rain was not as heavy as predicted for the tropical storm. We are fighting belly rot and downy mildew on pickles with all the possible controls. Hard to apply herbicides and fertilize sweet potatoes in wet conditions. Snap beans are doing and yielding well, but processors are having trouble keeping up because of labor problems. Bad thrips problems on peaches losing, 1/3 of #1 yield.”

Upstate Region

Kerrie Roach reports, “Things are looking pretty good in the ‘golden corner’ area. Heavy rains over the weekend have caused some ponding and erosion, but nothing major. Disease pressure continues to be high with the perfect conditions (humid and warm), so growers should continue to practice preventative control methods. Insect pressure has still been considerably low for this time of year, but we’ve seen a subtle increase in populations in the last 2 weeks. Monitoring is extremely important for management strategies to be successful; in general, nymphs or the juvenile form of most insects are much easier to manage than adults. Strawberries are just about done, with most growers doing some final pickings this week.”

A picture containing outdoor, tree, grass, sky Description automatically generated

Grapes are coming along nicely this season.
Kerrie Roach, ©2021, Clemson Extension

Andy Rollins reports, “Phytophthora can be a devastating disease of peppers. We have suffered extreme losses on one farm. The worst fields had been planted for 2nd year in pepper which is not recommended. Rotation is highly encouraged. The grower had treated with Ridomil twice and used phosphite repeatedly. It is believed there is resistance in this field to Ridomil, but testing hasn’t been completed yet. Dr. Tony Keinath has a complete description of this disease and control options in this article. We are mostly finished with strawberries at this point and preparing for next year. We are picking some peaches in the upstate, although picking is very light due to extreme cold damage from April 3rd.  We are picking some tomatoes in high tunnels. The early blueberry crop was observed last week, but picking is very light there also.”

Wilted pepper plants due to phytophthora. Andy Rollins, ©2021, Clemson Extension

Wilted pepper plants due to phytophthora.
Andy Rollins, ©2021, Clemson Extension

Discolored vascular tissue in pepper stem from phytophthora. Andy Rollins, ©2021, Clemson Extension

Discolored vascular tissue in pepper stem from phytophthora.
Andy Rollins, ©2021, Clemson Extension

If this document didn’t answer your questions, please contact HGIC at hgic@clemson.edu or 1-888-656-9988.

Factsheet Number

Newsletter

Categories

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This