By Cheryl Trueman, University of Guelph – Ridgetown Campus
Scouting for downy mildew in pickling cucumber fields in Norfolk County began on June 13 (3 of 5 sites) and will begin in Kent County on June 19.
You can track sightings of downy mildew in North America on the IPMpipe Cucurbit Downy Mildew website.
More information:
2017 Downy Mildew Control Strategy for Cucumber Crops
2016 Fungicide efficacy and fungicide program results.
We have a squash acreage in Harrow. Would the North America tracking be beneficial to us? Terry Wright l
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
Hi Terry, Downy mildew is less common and less aggressive on squash. Usually we are more concerned with powdery mildew. However, there are strains that impact squash and pumpkins too. I like follow the ipmPIPE site to take note on which crops it is being reported in other areas. If they are reporting it in squash, then we know to keep a close eye out for it in our fields. For the most part in squash and pumpkins we do not need to use the downy mildew targeted products, unless we do start to hear reports of it being in those crops.