Plant Bacterial Diseases

Selected Fungicides and Bactericides Labeled for Greenhouse Use NOTE: Some states define pesticide applications in high tunnels as greenhouse applications, others define them as field applications. Check with your extension educator or state department of agriculture for correct application. If any information in this table is inconsistent with the label, follow the label.

Southern bacterial wilt of tomato, which is caused by the soil-borne bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum Race 1, has been found in a couple of tomato fields in the past week. This pathogen affects many solanaceous crops and is found throughout the southern United States.

By now almost all growers have started transplant production or have hired someone else to grow their transplants. With all of the important things that go into transplant production one of the sanitation factors that is somewhat neglected is weed control. Figure 1 shows the outside edge of a high tunnel production house in February. The grower was getting ready to drop seed in just a few days after they cleaned up the house from the fall growing season. This particular grower had been having intermittent problems with thrips (and consequently tomato spotted wilt virus) and two spotted spider mites in their production house.

Bacterial Canker of Tomato

Striped cucumber beetles (Acalymma vittatum) (SCB) are the most important insect pests of muskmelon and cucumbers in our area. They overwinter as adults and emerge when temperatures reach 54–62°F at which time they begin searching for cucurbit hosts. Volatiles produced by the plant attracts SCB to cucurbits initially, then male SCBs produce an aggregation pheromone attracting more beetles. The beetles tend to mass on small plants where they eat, mate and defecate (fig 1).

Photo Credit: Dr. Chris Walsh

Southern bacterial wilt of tomato, which is caused by the soil-borne bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum Race 1, has been found in several tomato fields just recently. This pathogen affects many solanaceous crops and is found throughout the southern United States.