By Clint Thompson
Neopestalotiopsis (Neo) management has taken center stage in recent years for Southeast strawberry growers. Producers must still be mindful of other disease issues that could arise this production season.
Phil Brannen, University of Georgia (UGA) Cooperative Extension fruit disease specialist, highlighted phytophthora during an interview with AgNet Media.
“We’ve gotten so concentrated on Neopestalotiopsis, we forget about phytophthora, and sometimes phytophthora root rot will be a problem. Making sure that you’re putting in the correct materials through the drip for phytophthora root rot will also be important. Ridomil Gold and those types of things will be absolutely important as well,” Brannen said.
Brannen said phytophthora root rot causes the strawberry plant to collapse. It destroys the root system, and the plant will actually collapse in the field. Brannen said because of phytophthora’s similar appearance to neopestalotiopsis, growers need to submit samples for diagnosis through the proper channels.
“You’ll have a lot of decline really rapidly, and the leaves will wilt and turn brown. It looks a lot like neopestalotiopsis as well. That’s why it can be problematic. We have to identify what we have in order to know how to address it,” Brannen said.
“The thing right now that producers need to be aware of, if they have anything on their plants, whether it be a leaf spot or declining plant, it’s very difficult for us to say if it’s neopestalotiopsis or some of these more traditional diseases we’ve had. It would be important to contact their county agent and send off samples and let us confirm for sure what they have.”