06/19/08 Stripe rust update; scleritinia recommendation

Washington Ag June 19, 2008 In his latest update Agricultural Research Service plant pathologist Xianming Chen at Pullman says stripe rust inoculum is low in eastern Washington. Chen says winter wheat is generally past the stage where stripe rust will do much damage or the planted varieties are resistant. He does say spring wheat is still vulnerable to infection, especially susceptible varieties and those fields should be checked in a week or so. There has been no potato late blight reported in the Columbia Basin so far this year and Washington State University plant pathologist Dennis Johnson says on the Late Blight Hotline that they are not recommending additional applications of fungicides for late blight at this time. Johnson did however have this recommendation; Johnson: "Fields in areas of the basin with a history of scleritinia stem rot should be treated with a fungicide for sclertinia when the field is in full bloom of primary flower clusters. Primary flower clusters are flower clusters on the primary stems of the potato plants." Johnson says fungicides for scleritinia include Endura, Omega and Topsin M. I'm Bob Hoff.