By Clint Thompson
Southeast strawberry producers must be wary that spider mites could make the neopestalotiopsis disease problem worse, says Phil Brannen, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension fruit disease specialist.
“I think growers need to be looking for spider mites more aggressively, scouting and definitely you need to be aware of that. They could exacerbate or increase the problem,” Brannen said.
Neopestalotiopsis (neo) has been a danger to strawberry plants every year since it was first discovered during the 2018–19 season on five farms in Florida. The disease’s initial discovery was attributed to one nursery source in North Carolina. More than 20 farms experienced the disease during the 2019–20 season after it was attributed to two nursery sources early in the season in North Carolina and Canada.
It can lead to severe leaf spotting and blighting under favorable weather conditions, specifically during extended periods of wetness.
If left uncontrolled, spider mites can make a bad problem much worse.
“It’s anecdotal information, but I’ve seen where people have had flareups of spider mites and they have neopestalotiopsis, they have a tremendous problem,” Brannen said. “If you put down a row cover, it creates a warm environment, and that’s going to be good for the neopestalotiopsis, and it’s going to be good for spider mites.
“In some cases, I was talking to a producer about this, they left their row cover on for a month. I understand why they don’t want to take them off, put them on and do that kind of stuff, but it’s a real nice environment for the disease and spider mites. They can walk around, get right in those spores and keep going. They can poke into the leaf or fruit or whatever they’re on and that would make a nice inoculation for neo.”