Browse Plant Pests and Diseases Stories - Page 3

While aphids aren’t a direct threat to cotton plants, they can carry a persistent virus that is difficult to control and can cause significant losses in one of Georgia’s most important crops.

The hot, humid climate in the Southeast lends itself to nearly year-round insect, weed and disease pressure, and growing is especially tough if you’re an organic farmer.

As warm-season turfgrasses continue to green up, diseases are rearing their ugly heads. The main culprit this time of year is a fungus, Rhizoctonia solani, that causes large patch disease in lawns. Large patch can infect all warm-season turfgrasses, but centipede, St. Augustine, and zoysia are particularly susceptible.

If you're seeing brown areas in your landscape trees or hedges where you should be seeing green, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension can help. Wet winters and severe weather have been causing disease and other issues in landscape plants, especially Leyland cypress and boxwood.

Fusarium wilt, caused by a soilborne fungus, is one of the most damaging diseases of watermelons worldwide. Since it was discovered in 1894, it’s been a battle for producers to manage through crop rotation and chemical fungicides.

With the fall migration underway for monarch butterflies through November, gardeners should soon start seeing the colorful creatures on their travels south. It's also time to be on the lookout for pests of common milkweed (Ascelpias tuberosa), the most popular milkweed plant grown in Georgia butterfly gardens.

Come August, the state's peanut growers will either see the payoff of their spring efforts to control for tomato spotted wilt virus, or they will be planning ways to preventatively manage this persistent virus with recommendations from University of Georgia scientists.

Research entomologists in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are using three grants to study ambrosia beetles in an effort to prevent future attacks and preserve more fruit and nut trees.

Researchers from three research institutions are using a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fight whiteflies on vegetable crops.

Georgia farmers need to be wary of peanut rust disease after it was discovered in a field in Tift County last week, according to University of Georgia plant pathologist Albert Culbreath.