Potential Botrytis Leaf Blight Symptoms of Botrytis leaf blight were found on garlic at all scouting locations this week – Buxton, Monmouth, Topsham, and Washington, ME. Samples of symptomatic plants are being sent to the UMaine Plant Diagnostic Lab for confirmation. Conditions certainly have been favorable for development of this pathogen, as discussed in last […]
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Disease Forecasting Cool, wet weather this week has slowed down GDD accumulations for insect pests and instead favored the development of fungal diseases. Three major fungal pathogens of garlic are combined into one onion diseases tool on NEWA, which is helpful because controls for all three are similar. This issue will break down how to […]
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Disease Forecast Alert: Conditions in Bangor, Lewiston, and Milton, NH may be favorable for onion downy mildew and Botrytis leaf blast development in coming days. See NEWA onion diseases for details – more on these in a future newsletter. Onion Maggot Onion maggot (Delia antiqua) can be a serious pest of allium crops. Overwintered pupae […]
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Managing Garlic Fertility Garlic is a moderate to heavy feeder, and careful nutrient management will aid plant development while mitigating the risk of foliar infections. The first step in any fertility program is testing your soil before planting. You can find more information about soil tests and their interpretation in this bulletin. The table below, […]
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Garlic Season Begins Garlic in southern and midcoast Maine is emerging and it is time to prepare for managing pests in your crop. Here are the basics: Anticipate potential problems by considering the pests or diseases you encountered in previous years. Most garlic diseases persist, and several insect pests overwinter, in soil and crop residues. […]
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