Sweet Success with Cantaloupes

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

If plants become seriously infected, immediately remove all affected tissues from the garden — discard them and don’t use them in compost.

Bacterial wilt: Caused by Erwinia tracheiphila, a bacterium that is transmitted by striped or spotted cucumber beetles. It also affects cucumbers and occasionally gourds.
Symptoms: Leaves wilt a little more each day until vines die. When you cut an infected stem and touch the cut’s surface, threads of clear or milky bacterial ooze are often evident.
Control: Control cucumber beetles with row cover barriers or by collecting them with a cordless vacuum. As a last resort, spray plants with pyrethrum pesticide.

Fusarium wilt: Caused by Fusarium oxysporum, a soilborne fungus. Strains of the fungus are specific to melons. It thrives in wet weather and can survive in soil for years.
Symptoms: Plants of any age wilt rapidly and collapse completely within a few days. When an infected stem is cut, you’ll see a dark yellow or brown ring inside.
Control: Choose resistant varieties, use three-year rotations and grow melons in raised beds to improve drainage during wet weather.

Gummy stem blight: Caused by Didymella bryoniae, a fungus that can infect most members of the cucurbit family. It thrives in warm, wet weather.
Symptoms: Brown spots on leaves, soon followed by tan patches on stems that ooze drops of brownish sap. Vines slowly wilt and die.
Control: Use two- to three-year rotations for all cucurbit crops. In high risk areas, apply Serenade to melons every seven to 10 days to prevent disease outbreaks.

Powdery mildew: Caused by various races of the fungi Erysiphe cichoracearum and Sphaeotheca fuliginea, which thrive in dry weather.
Symptoms: Older plants develop white or powdery patches on leaves, which spread to stems and fruit, weakening plants and causing a loss of flavor. Powdery mildew fungi sometimes mutate in order to invade tissues of resistant varieties.
Control: Grow resistant varieties, which may become infected late in the season. At the first sign of infection, spray plants weekly with Serenade, horticultural oil or a mixture of one part water to two parts milk.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print