Phytophthora Blight
This fungal disease can be found world-wide and is a widespread issue in cucurbits and peppers throughout much of the vegetable producing areas in the United States. This disease can impact every part of the plant from the roots to the fruit. In this instance the disease showed itself as a crown rot which is a dark, water-soaked lesion that eventually turns light brown (see the lesion in the photo to the left) right above the soil surface. Other symptoms of the disease include rapid wilting of the plant with root infections, dark-green, water-soaked lesions on the fruit which eventually shrivels but doesn’t drop off. Phytophthora blight is a soil born disease that needs warm, wet soils to infect the plant. Control of this issue can be difficult but usually involves discarding any diseased plants as soon as you can, crop rotation to non-susceptible plants such as cereal crops (corn), and the use of a fungicide to help prevent the fungal infection. It is also recommended to plant varieties that are resistant to the disease in areas where there is known to be a problem.
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