Phytophthora infestans is the oomycete responsible for both Tomato Late Blight and Potato Late Blight and was the cause of the 1840 Irish Potato famine. Tomato Late Blightimage by Margaret McGrath, Cornell Bugwood[/caption] It also attacks other members of the solanacea family including petunia and nightshade affecting all above-ground portions of the plant. Symptoms appear first on the younger leaves as irregularly shaped lesions and white cottony growth on the underside of the leaf. Cool (nights in the 50s-60s and days in the 80s), wet weather and clouds provide optimal conditions for the disease. Tomato Late Blightimage by Gerald Holmes - Bugwood[/caption] Management Grow resistant varieties Plant early in the season Prevent water from staying on leaves Remove infected leaves, fruit, plants, and weeds .
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Phytophthora infestans is the oomycete responsible for both Tomato Late Blight and Potato Late Blight and was the cause of the 1840 Irish Potato famine. Tomato Late Blightimage by Margaret McGrath, Cornell Bugwood[/caption] It also attacks other members of the solanacea family including petunia and nightshade affecting all above-ground portions of the plant. Symptoms appear first on the younger leaves as irregularly shaped lesions and white cottony growth on the underside of the leaf. Cool (nights in the 50s-60s and days in the 80s), wet weather and clouds provide optimal conditions for the disease. Tomato Late Blightimage by Gerald Holmes - Bugwood[/caption] Management Grow resistant varieties Plant early in the season Prevent water from staying on leaves Remove infected leaves, fruit, plants, and weeds .
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Need answers to floriculture, vegetable, fruit, or weed questions? The Department of Horticulture invites you to try their powerful, but focused search engines designed to provide answers from the scientific literature, trade and association magazines/websites and NC State University, and archive (repository of literature dating back to the 1800s). Floriculture InfoSearch Fruit InfoSearch Vegetable InfoSearch Weed InfoSearch
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Extension Gardener Newsletters Extension Gardener Newsletters[/caption] Subscribe to the Extension Gardener email listserv to receive notification when new editions of the newsletter have been posted to the Extension Gardener Portal . Extension Gardener is a quarterly newsletter written by horticultural experts across the state with regional editions focused on the North Carolina coastal plain, mountains, and piedmont.
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Since 1979 North Carolina Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteers have been guiding homeowners in making environmentally sound decisions in their gardens, lawns and landscapes. Extension Master Gardener volunteers work with NC Cooperative Extension to provide gardeners with unbiased, research based information on gardens, lawns and landscapes. Under the guidance of Extension agents, volunteers complete a 40 hour training program, pass an examination, and complete a 40 hour internship. To remain active in the program volunteers must log a minimum of 20 hours of volunteer service and 12 hours of continuing education each year. Seventy three counties offer the Extension Master Gardener program and there are currently over 4,000 active Extension Master Gardener volunteers. Go to NCEMGV.org for information on how EMGVs can help you, how you can become and NC EMGV, and how you can support the program.
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A foliar, fungal like disease of cucumbers, cantaloupe, melons, squash and pumpkins, Pseudoperonospora cubensis generally arrives in North Carolina in May or June and escalates through fall. Cucurbit downy mildew, Top of leafimage by Gerald Holmes[/caption] Minimize cucurbit downy mildew damage by: Keeping leaves dry when possible: Water the soil rather than the plant Use drip irrigation Water early in the day Space plants to allow air circulation. Plant early in the season to harvest before fall when disease levels are highest in North Carolina. At present, no resistant varieties are available. More Information and Images
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Diane Currier, owner of Honeygirl Meadery, shares how a visit to Alaska motivated her to start her meadery and a how her award-winning mead is made. Listen to this interview to learn more MORE » – from 
Extension Gardener
The Plant Disease and Insect Clinic (PDIC) will conduct a hands-on workshop in plant disease diagnosis for NCCE Area Specialized Agents and County Agents. Date: Friday, October 7, 2016Time: 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Place: …
– from the PDIC blog
Three students at East Chapel Hill High School, Brooke, Julia and Danielle, and Environmental Science Teacher, Mr. Edward Kaybay, share their experience starting a pollinator garden at their school. Listen to the interview MORE » – from Extension Gardener
Vegetable Gardening, Chapter 16 of the Extension Gardener Handbook Now available for free on line Everything you need to know to grow vegetables in North Carolina. Selecting a Garden Site; Choosing a type and MORE »
New and improved and even better than before. “Butterflies in Your Backyard” has been updated and re-released with a beautiful new cover. Available for free online (PDF version linked), it has wonderful information on North MORE »
Massimo Iorizzo and Hamid Ashrafti, Research Scientists in the NC State Department of Horticultural Science, along with other scientists around the world recently published a paper describing the carrot genome sequence. These findings could MORE »
State Climate Office of North Carolina Climate Thresholds Tool – Calculate the average first and last frost dates for your garden. Step 1: Choose your location of interest by clicking on the map MORE »
An in depth look at how to effectively use cover crops in vegetable gardens, this 19 page document by Dr. Megan M. Gregory is free to download. More information on using cover crops MORE »
Learn to make and sell vermicompost. Understand the benefits of vermicompost to plants and soil. Check out the agenda and speakers Find out why one of our speakers was featured on TV’s Blue Collar Millionaire MORE »
