By Clint Thompson
A disease that first impacted Florida strawberry fields in the 2018-2019 season is already causing trouble for next year’s crop.
Phil Brannen, University of Georgia (UGA) Cooperative Extension fruit disease specialist, is cautioning growers about the high potential risk for Neopestalotiopsis with plants originating from Prince Edward Island.
“As many strawberry producers are aware, some nurseries are already ‘ringing the alarm bells’ for Neopestalotiopsis,” Brannen wrote in the UGA Extension Strawberry Blog. “There is a major pass through to strawberry nurseries and producers through use of tips from Prince Edward Island. One of the major nurseries that provides tips sent out a letter on Aug. 19, 2024, associated with the problem, and other nurseries are following suit.”
Plant at Own Risk
Brannen noted that nurseries are canceling orders or advising plug plant growers and producers to take plants at their own risk. The disease levels currently observed in nurseries will likely impact the supply of tips, and therefore, plug plants for many strawberry producers.
“It’ll be one of those deals where they’re going to have to make a decision because it’s a high risk. I can’t really tell them to plant or not plant. For some of them, I know they’re going to decide not to plant,” Brannen said. “If it’s a smaller operation, this is not their main livelihood and they can do without it for a year, if they’ve got like an acre or two of U-pick and they just supplement their income with that, they may decide to hold off and wait another year.
“For other people, this is pretty much what they do. A lot of it is agritourism, but in the spring timeframe, a lot of these people depend on that for a major part of their income in some way. They’re going to have find plants if they can. In that case, they may have to take plants that are coming through from the plug plant producers where they know they came from Prince Edward Island and could have this disease.”
Disease History
Neopestalotiopsis causes leaf spots on strawberry plants. It develops quickly and produces spores on the leaves. It can cause severe leaf spotting and fruit rot under favorable weather conditions. The disease was first discovered during the 2018-19 season in five farms and was attributed to one nursery source in North Carolina.
More than 20 farms experienced the disease during the 2019-20 season. It was attributed to two nursery sources early in the season in North Carolina and Canada.
“As far as we are aware, this is the first year that there has appeared to be a direct and immediate link to Prince Edward Island, and that is a major concern for the industry as we move forward,” Brannen wrote. “With that said, we have to do the best we can with the hand we have been dealt.”