Stow Agricultural Commission

07/12/2013

UMass Vegetable Notes reports confirmation of late blight on tomato in Franklin County. https://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/alerts/pest-alerts-july-11-2013

Late blight (LB) was confirmed in Franklin County, MA on tomato July 11th, in Erie County, NY on tomato July 10th and on potato July 9th. Previous reports in (FL, WV, LA, TN, MD, KY, VA, NC, WI) have been confirmed as Phytophthora infestans strains US-23 and US-7. Track disease progress at USA BLI...

08/24/2012

Late Blight has appeared on two farms in Stow. Home gardeners should be vigilant and look for signs of this destructive disease. See links on http://stowagcom.org, including photos of late blight to aid in identification.

08/18/2012

The recent rains have increased the spread of late blight in tomatoes in Middlesex County and elsewhere in Massachusetts. Tomatoes that are not protected by fungicides are at high risk.

Also, the Spotted Wing Drosophila has made an appearance in Stow. For more information on both these problems visit http://stowagcom.org/.

The Stow Agricultural Commission is the representative of agriculture in Stow

07/06/2012

Alert: Spotted Wing Drosophila confirmed in Western Massachusetts [from UMass Extension VegNotes]

First capture of both male and female spotted wing drosophila in western Massachusetts July 3, 2012. More information on this insect can be found by at the following

https://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/insects/spotted-wing-drosophila

Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii), SWD, is a recently introduced new species of fruit fly in the United States. It was first found on the west coast in 2008, but has rapidly colonized many fruit producing regions of the country. It was found in New England in late summer 2011 shortly afte...

07/06/2012

Late Blight found on tomato in Middlesex County [from UMass Extension VegNotes]

On July 3, 2012, late blight was confirmed on tomato in Middlesex
County, MA. The proximity of this inoculum source in Massachusetts raises the risk of late blight spores reaching surround areas of New England. It also indicates that conditions have been favorable for development of late blight and disease may have developed at other locations as well.

We are fortunate that weather conditions have generally been hot, sunny and dry. Late blight spores can travel a long distance in cool cloudy weather, but are killed easily in hot sunny weather. However, the period of rainfall on Tuesday night plus the cool, moist nightime conditions with long leaf wetness periods allow late blight to develop -- especially in areas of the field that are shady or slow to dry. Tomato and potato crops should be protected with fungicides on a regular basis, at least at weekly intervals, using a material with activity against late blight.

For details on materials to use see the New England Vegetable Management Guide potato and tomato sections.

http://www.nevegetable.org/index.php/crops/potato

http://www.nevegetable.org/index.php/crops/tomato-outdoor

Continue to scout potato and tomato crops especially in low-lying and shady areas.

For details on symptoms of late blight and othr leaf blights visit the
UMass Extension late blight webpage

If you suspect late blight is present at your farm or garden it is very important to send a sample to the UMass Disease Diagnostic Lab or another diagnostic lab in your state for confirmation. This disease affects farmers and gardeners across the region, and accurate identification and reporting of the county where late blight has occurred is key to preventing crop loss. The UMass Disease Diagnostic Lab
can be reached by phone or email.

See also http://usablight.org/map forlate blight reports and information nationwide.

03/09/2012

The Stow Conservation Trust is planning a "Raising Backyard Chickens" program at Mistletoe Farm on March 31st followed by a Coop Loop (tour of coops) on April 29th. For more information check http://www.stowconservationtrust.org/ or email [email protected].

02/26/2012

A new fruit pest appeared in New England in 2011. The Spotted Wing Drosophila is a fruit fly that lays its eggs in fruit. The larvae then destroy the fruit. We are used to fruit flies that lay eggs in over-ripe fruit, but this one will attack ripe and under-ripe fruit. This means the pest is attacking fruit that is not yet harvested, and the result is infested fruit and significantly reduced yields. The fall raspberry crop was severely reduced in 2011 after this pest appeared in the area.

While this pest will attack almost any fruit with a moderately soft pulp, it appears to prefer brambles such as raspberries, blackberries. It also attacks blueberries and strawberries and cherries. It may attack peaches and plums. There are indications it could attack tomatoes if the skin is broken or split but this does not seem to have been a problem in 2011.

The Extension services in all New England states are working on the problem and some controls may be effective. We will post updates here as information is available.