Late Blight Confirmed in Maine (Orono, Waldoboro: home, university, gated)

[Maine Writer]

Late Blight: Grower and Farm Stand Alert

Potato late blight, the disease that caused the significant crop losses for tomatoes and potatoes in Maine last year has just been confirmed at a sight in Waldoboro, and several other suspected sites are now being investigated. Typical symptoms will be a water-soaked grease spot on foliage with a fine white mycelium on the underside of the leaflet. A stalk infection will usually look dark brown, almost black.

The spores released by infected plants have the ability to travel 40 plus miles under the right conditions and infect potato and tomato plants. We are encouraging all commercial growers and home gardeners to be carefully inspecting their plants for disease. If late blight is found we are asking that the diseased plants be destroyed. They can be buried or simply bagged so that the spores can not escape and that the plant will die. Late blight is an obligate parasite and needs living tissue in order to survive. Applications of protective fungicides should be applied to tomato and potato crops if they have not been receiving regular applications up to this point.

The Pest Management Office in Orono will look at any samples that you may suspect have been infected. When sending samples, they should be placed in a plastic bag with a piece of moist paper towel to keep the sample fresh. For pictures of this disease visit the following websites:

www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/lateblight_tomato.htm
www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/lateblight_potato.htm

The Pest Management Office has copies of a home gardener alert, a late blight ID sheet for roadside stand producers and a poster for late blight identification that you can use to make your help and your customers more aware of this potentially devastating disease.

Please feel free to contact The University of Maine Cooperative Extension Pest Management Office with any questions.
Late Blight Hotline:
For the most recent information, call the IPM Hotline at 207-760-9IPM (207-760-9476).
Pest Management Office
491 College Avenue
Orono, ME 04473
1-800-287-0279


PMO@umext.maine.edu
David T. Handley, Ph.D.
Vegetable & Small Fruit Specialist
University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Highmoor Farm
P.O. Box 179
Monmouth, ME 04259-0179
207-933-2100
Fax 207-933-4647

[Maineah]

They had this in Vermont last year and it really ruined their tomato crop.

[Maine Writer]

It ruined a lot of tomatoes and potatoes in Maine. I pulled leaves this morning to send to the lab at UMaine.

[gigglesjs]

Thanks for the links

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

It ruined a lot of tomatoes and potatoes in Maine. I pulled leaves this morning to send to the lab at UMaine.

Do they know what starts it?? Excessive moisture? Lack of sun? foggy days? It's been real wet in the mornings with the high dew points around here. It usually dries up by 10:00 am or so though the dew has lingered here on the coast until afternoon lately. I'm sure Waldoboro has had a lot of fog this month.

[Maine Writer]

It's a fungus that travels up to 40 miles a day in the right conditions. Dampness, humidity, warm temps under 85* and a little breeze are prime conditions to spread late blight. Sporation usually stops at 85* but was still highly active at 88* last year.

[msina]

Ye Gads! Not again!!!! I hope your TowMaters are okay MW.

[Submariner]

What a pain

Thanks for the info.

[leolabeth]

Oy. Thanks for the info. No garden this year, but it'll be trouble for my neighbors and farmer friends.

[ekh32]

This ruined the majority of our tomatoes last year. We managed to get a few cherry tomatoes, but the rest were toast. Hopefully it won't travel to us again this year.