Vegetable Press

Vol. 99 No. 8
August 24, 1999

Fall Flower & Garden Fest - Coming Soon

Dr. Rick Snyder, Vegetable Specialist

With a new name and new logo for 1999, the Fall Flower & Garden Fest is being planned for October 15 & 16 (Friday and Saturday) at the Truck Crops Experiment Station in Crystal Springs, Mississippi.

Formerly called Fall Garden Day, the new name and logo reflect the broader emphasis on all types of gardening. In addition to the extensive vegetable garden and herb beds that we have showcased for 20 years now, the 3 acre garden includes thousands of flowers - annuals and perennials - for our visitors to enjoy.

The popular wagon ride tours for the Experiment Station will be continuous all day, both days. Look for the boarding area

Also, be sure to check either of the two Garden Seminar locations to participate in the educational, informative lectures on various gardening and home related topics. There will be 12 seminars each day, from 9:30 am to 1:45 pm.

The last page of this newsletter contains a summary of the program for Fall Flower & Garden Fest. Hope to see you in Crystal Springs on October 15 or 16. For more information, call (601) 892-3731 or your local Mississippi county Extension office.

Confirm® Insecticide New Registrations

Dr. Pat Harris, IPM Specialist

Rohm and Haas Company has received U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registrations for the use of Confirm insecticide in leafy vegetables, cole crops, and fruiting vegetables, for control of numerous lepidopterous pests.

The new registrations encompass all leafy vegetables, such as lettuce, celery, and spinach; all cole crops such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and brussels sprouts; and fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, and egg plants.

Confirm, common name tebufenozide, is a new insecticide that controls target larvae (worms, loopers and other caterpillar pests) by initiating a fatal, premature molt. Larvae controlled with Confirm include cabbage looper, imported cabbage worm, beet armyworm and various other kinds of armyworm, alfalfa looper, black cutworm, European corn borer, tobacco hornworm and tomato hornworm.

Confirm is considered to be one of the "softer" insecticides that many of today's growers are choosing to use. Confirm is not harmful to beneficial insects or other arthropods, and does not harm honeybees or insects such as predatory mites, wasps, spiders, lacewings, and beetles that naturally control other insect pests.

Confirm poses minimal risk to human health and to the environment, and is active only on Lepidoptera. As a result, EPA has classified Confirm insecticide as a reduced risk pesticide. Read label for usage and precautions.

Quadris® Flowable Fungicide Label Additions

Dr. Frank Killebrew, Extension Plant Pathologist

Commercial vegetable crop growers should be aware that Zeneca Ag Products recently announced the addition of the following cucurbit crops to its Quadris Flowable Fungicide label: cantaloupe, cucumber, gourd, melons, honeydew, muskmelon, watermelon, pumpkin, squash, and zucchini.

Target diseases for these crops: anthracnose (Colletotrichum lagenarium), belly rot (Rhizoctonia solani), downy mildew (Pseudoperonospora cubensis), gummy stem blight (Didymella bryoniae), leaf spots (Alternaria spp., Cercospora spp.), and powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca fuliginea, Erysiphe cichoracearum).

The rate to use, in fl. oz. of product per acre, is 11.0 - 15.4 (formulated), which is 0.18 - 0.25 fl. oz. active ingredient (ai) per acre.

Growers who plan to use this relatively new, and highly effective disease control fungicide, should plan to incorporate its use into a comprehensive disease management program, including such practices as selection of varieties with disease tolerance, optimum plant populations, proper fertilization, plant residue management, crop rotation, as well as other practices.

Important: for resistance management - do not apply more than 2 sequential applications of Quadris before alternating with a fungicide that has a different mode of action. Do not make more than 6 applications of Quadris per crop per acre per year.

Application directions: Refer to the product label for important use instructions, e.g., Quadris should not be tank mixed with malathion, kelthane, thiodan, Phaser, Lannate, Lorsban, M-Pede, or Botran. Quadris should not be applied within 1 day of harvest.

Note: Pumpkin growers are currently at crop risk from powdery mildew and/or downy mildew. This product, while not inexpensive, will provide excellent control of either race of powdery mildew of this as well as other cucurbit crops.

For specific questions regarding the use of this fungicide, consult your Zeneca sales representative, farm supply dealer, or please feel free to contact me (662) 325-4535 or via email at frankk@ext.msstate.edu).

Note: Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended against other products that also may be suitable. 

Greenhouse Tomato Disease Control Reminders

Dr. Frank Killebrew, Extension Plant Pathologist

Some growers have already installed transplants into greenhouses. The following "after crop installation" tips should be followed as part of an overall disease management program to reduce chances for build up of diseases later this season.

• Have a "clean-up" room, e.g., place to disinfect hands, clean soil from shoes, and use other techniques to prevent introduction of disease inoculum into the greenhouse. This is particularly important if you also produce field tomatoes, since many greenhouse tomato cultivars are also susceptible to the same pathogens as those affecting field tomatoes. It should be one of your production rules that field tomatoes SHOULD NOT be grown in the general vicinity of the greenhouse tomato operation.

• Frequently disinfect tools and other equipment with sodium hypochlorite (bleach) at the rate of 1:9 (1 part bleach to 9 parts water). Dip for 5 to 10 seconds, drain, and use without rinsing.

• Keep a weed -free "clean strip" around the perimeter of greenhouses to reduce populations of thrips, aphids, and other insects which could be sources of virus introduction. This is a very important step in management of tomato spotted wilt -- a virus disease responsible for severe yield reduction in several south Mississippi greenhouses this past season.

• Consider using insect- barrier screens to cut down on movement into the greenhouse of thrips and other potentially viruliferous insects. Tomato spotted wilt "suspect" plants should be checked by sending a sample to the Plant Pathology Laboratory, Box 9655, Mississippi State, MS 39762 (do not moisten the sample), or growers who wish to perform their own analysis for this disease should consider investing in a "Tospovirus Test Kit," available through Agdia, Inc., 30380 County Line Road 6, Elkhart, Indiana 46514 (for information on the kit, call 1-800-62-AGDIA). I used this kit to locate the source of tomato spotted wilt virus inoculum (viruliferous weeds close to several greenhouses), and the kit is user-friendly and accurate.

• Observe plants constantly for any evidence of disease development. Promptly remove diseased plants and destroy or carry them far enough away from the greenhouse so they will not be a source of inoculum for reintroduction into the greenhouse.

Calendar of Coming Events

Dr. Rick Snyder, Vegetable Specialist

September 14 - Leake County Farm-City Festival, at Sasser Park in downtown Carthage. 3 to 7 pm. For information, call Michael Tucker at 601-267-9907.

October 15-16 - Fall Flower & Garden Fest; at Truck Crops Experiment Station, Crystal Springs, MS. Friday & Saturday, 9 am to 2 pm. For information, call (601) 892-3731 or your Mississippi County Extension Office.

Dr. Richard G. Snyder, Vegetable Specialist
Truck Crops Research & Extension Center
Mississippi State University
P.O. Box 231
Crystal Springs, MS 39059
PHONE: (601) 892-3731
Fax: (601) 892-2056
Internet: RickS@ext.msstate.edu

New Web Page for Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/cmrec/

NOTE: email addresses and web pages have changed!

Greenhouse Tomato FAQ: http://ext.msstate.edu/anr/plantsoil/vegfruit/tomato/ghtomato/faq.html/

Vegetable Resource Page: http://www2.msstate.edu/~ricks/

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