Devastating plant fungus found in Plattsburgh

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June 29, 2009

By LUCAS BLAISE The Press Republican Mon Jun 29, 2009, 07:09 PM EDT

PLATTSBURGH — The fungal disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s has been found in Plattsburgh, with experts pressing for a quick reaction from local residents.

Late blight is a devastating fungal disease that spreads very quickly and affects plants of the solanaceae family.

“It affects eggplant, potatoes and tomatoes — with potatoes being the principle crop in this area,” said Anne Lenox Barlow, horticulture educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Clinton County.

It can also effect petunias, a relative.

“The last time that made it this far north was in the mid-1990s,” Lenox Barlow said. “But, this is the fist time that it’s been here this early.”

The disease moves quickly onto healthy plants and can kill an infected plant in as little as a week and half.

Spores also spread voraciously, traveling as far as four miles.

FOUND IN AREA

Late blight officially entered the region on Friday when it was discovered by Cornell Cooperative Extension at a local large retailer.

“(We) were alerted that a large vegetable transplant wholesaler had sold tomato plants to large retail stores up and down the East Coast that were infected by late blight,” Lenox Barlow said.

Local stores unknowingly sold the infected plants.

“They’ve since disposed of all their plants,” Lenox Barlow said.

She would not say which retail outlets sold the plants but did say they were major box stores.

GET RID OF PLANTS

Anyone who has purchased tomato plants of any variety, potato plants or eggplants is encouraged to move quickly.

“If someone happens to have bought a plant in the last week, they should take it back out of their garden, bag it and landfill it. Do not compost it,” Lenox Barlow said.

“If your plant wasn’t grown locally, you want to remove it.”

She also warns against burning the infected plant.

“The spores that aren’t burned will move through the air.”

Spores move effectively when there is moisture, so the weather on Monday, as well as that forecast for the rest of the week, increased concern.

Even if residents did not buy infected plants, they should be alert.

“If their neighbors bought them, they should be checking” their own plants, Lenox Barlow added.

WET, BROWN LEAVES

Cornell Cooperative Extension recommends examining your tomato and potato plants thoroughly at least once a week for signs of late blight.

“The lesions are olive brown, or a little purplish,” she said. “They may look wet. That doesn’t mean they are wet. It’s just the appearance.”

BIG-FARM FEARS

In an agriculturally based region, this disease is a major concern.

“Some people that make $20,000 a year ... on selling vegetables, you can look at $10,000, or half, of their income being in tomatoes,” Lenox Barlow said.

Home growers who count on their tomatoes and potatoes to supplement their grocery list can also be affected.

As a preventive measure, residents can utilize fungicides.

“There is one fungicide that you can apply as a protectant,” Lenox Barlow stressed. “But not one to combat it after an infection.”

Organic farmers are most at risk of an impact.

For them, there is nothing that can be applied.

TESTS AVAILABLE

Organizers of the new Plattsburgh Community Garden were warned by Cooperative Extension about the local presence of late blight.

“As far as I know, none of the locally grown plants are affected,” said Doug Butdorf, one of the garden founders.

If people want their plant tested for the disease, they can bring it by the Cooperative Extension office at 6064 Route 22 in Plattsburgh.

“In addition, we need to let residents know that if they think they have the disease they should contact the Cooperative Extension so that we can track the spread of this disease,” Lenox Barlow said.

WHAT TO DO

E Check your plants thoroughly on at least a weekly basis for late blight.

E Look for lesions of brown or purple. White fungal growth may also develop under moist conditions.

E If late blight is found, quickly remove plants from the garden, seal them in plastic bags and dispose of them.

E Avoid composting or burning infected plants.

E Alert Cornell Cooperative Extension of the infection. The Plattsburgh office can be reached at 561-7450.

For more information, visit Cornell Cooperative Extension of Clinton County at http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/clinton/ or go to the office at 6064 State Route 22, Plattsburgh.