Downy Mildew Confirmed in Henderson County!

Downy mildew has been confirmed at 2 locations in Henderson County, NC.

• July 20 - The first incidence of cucurbit downy mildew in WNC was reported from the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in Mills River. The hosts were butternut squash and cucumber. Disease incidence and severity is very low at that site.

• July 24 - Cucurbit downy mildew was confirmed this morning in Zirconia (just south of Hendersonville, NC). This was a larger planting, about 8 acres. Spaghetti squash is the most severely diseased, about 65% of plants are showing early (top picture) - more advanced (second picture) symptoms. Sporulation (noticeable on the underside of the leaf) was very heavy on the spaghetti squash (third picture). Cucumber (cv. Jackson) is also affected, though less severely overall (bottom picture). The summer squash (cv. Destiny III) is showing only very early and mild symptoms.

Moral of the story, cucurbit downy mildew is in WNC and growers need to start treating now!

Review a previous post for control recommendations.

Visit the Cucurbit Downy Mildew Forecasting site for more updates.

If you feel you have downy mildew on your cucurbits, bring a sample to your local county cooperative extension office for positive identification. It is important that the outbreaks get reported to the forecasting site.