By Clint Thompson
Strawberry growers who suspect phytophthora or have had a history of it in their fields should consider a fungicide application a few weeks after planting. That’s the advice shared by Jeff Cook, University of Georgia (UGA) Cooperative Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Peach and Taylor counties, on the UGA Strawberry Blog.
Producers must be sure that transplants have rooted to get better uptake of any fungicides that they apply.
Phytophthora root rot causes the strawberry plant to collapse. It destroys the root system, and the plant will actually collapse in the field.
Phil Brannen, University of Georgia (UGA) Cooperative Extension fruit disease specialist, discussed the disease and what management options must be considered.
“What we have traditionally said, especially if you’re watering in plants like you have to do, if you have the cutoff or the standard plants that we bring in that are not plugs, those need to be watered in a lot. I mean you almost have to drown them in order to get them to go,” Brannen said. “But one of the producers told me you need to keep moisture in the little hole where the plant is basically all the time for about two weeks. That’s a lot of moisture.
“By doing that, if phytophthora is in those plants or in the soil, and if the fumigant didn’t do what exactly what it should do, you set up a situation where that water can spread pretty rapidly and cause damage. As you get a root system established, it really starts to grow, so probably about two to three weeks in those situations, I would consider putting out a material light Ridomil Gold or something like that. It would have activity on phytophthora as a preventative just in case insurance.”