When nearing the ship date , it is especially disappointing to encounter garden mum wilt issues when nearing the ship date. With the 3 weeks of hot and dry conditions, followed by over a week of heavy rain, problems are bound to pop up. While both Fusarium spp. and Pythium spp. root rots can commonly plague a mum crop, during the past week several situations have occurred. This Alert aids in the process of diagnosing the differences between these two diseases.
Both Fusarium spp. and Pythium spp. wilts can occur on garden mums (Fig. 1). Preventative fungicide applications are the primary method of control before problems appear. A few excellent fungicide rotation articles have been written by Dr. Emma Lookabaugh and Jen Browning of BASF and Dr. Nancy Rechcigl of Syngenta that provide roadmaps to follow at the beginning of the season.
Read the full e-GRO Alert at e-gro.org