Disease profiles
Carrot Foliar Disease. Alternaria and Cercospora leaf blights are common fungal diseases of carrot leaves and petioles. While neither disease directly hurts the carrot root, yield loss occurs when petioles become so brittle that they break off during mechanical harvest leaving the carrot in the ground. In warm, moist weather, Alternaria leaf spots develop rapidly so that the entire field may appear to have been injured by frost or chemicals. Crop loss will be more severe when plants become infected early in the season.
Early Blight. Early blight is one of two common fungal diseases that can devastate tomatoes in both commercial settings and home gardens. Early blight can also be a serious disease on other popular Solanaceous vegetables including eggplants, peppers, and potatoes.
Potato Late Blight. Late blight is a disease that typically causes severe symptoms on flowering plants of the family Solanaceae. The pathogen that causes late blight, Phytophthora infestans, infects a variety of Solanum spp., including eggplant, pepper, nightshades, and petunia. However, it is most infamously known for its destruction of potato, S. tuberosum, and tomato, S. lycopersicum.
Tomato Late Blight. Late blight is a plant disease that affects a variety of Solanum spp., including eggplant, pepper, nightshade weeds, and petunia. However, it is most infamously known for its destruction of potato, S. tuberosum, and tomato, S. lycopersicum.
Disease modeling
Wisconsin Vegetable Disease and Insect Forecasting Network (VDIFN). This site uses gridded NOAA weather data and a variety of plant disease and insect development models to predict disease and insect pest pressure in Wisconsin with a friendly, map-based interface.
Network for Environmental and Weather Applications (NEWA). Run by Cornell, this site uses a network of on-the-ground weather stations and disease and insect models to provide a variety of forecasting and decision-support tools. Weather stations in the NEWA network stretch from the Northeast to Minnesota. This link is to the new interface currently under development. The old site is still available here.
Print/online grower resources
Commercial Vegetable Production in Wisconsin
- Our production guide is updated every October with release of a new guide in January. The book can be downloaded for free as a pdf from the UW Learning Store, or a paper copy can be purchased for a small fee.
Pesticide information
- Registered Potato Late Blight Fungicides in Wisconsin (2021)
- Label lookup: Crop Data Management Systems (CDMS)
- Label lookup: Agrian
- Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC)
- Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC)
- Herbicide Resistance Action Committee (HRAC)
Weed profiles
- UW-Extension Weed Science
- BioIPM Workbooks
- Wisconsin Pest Bulletin
- Seeded Dry Bulb Onion Weed Control – Jed Colquhoun, UW-Madison Horticulture
Projects
Potato Soil Health Project: The Potato Soil Health Project was established to identify reliable indicators of soil health and effective methods for increasing soil health in potato cropping systems, to learn what determines whether growers adopt good soil health management practices, and, ultimately, to improve soil health in potato cropping systems across the United States.
Wisconsin Clean Hops Program: The Wisconsin Clean Hops Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison maintains a collection of pathogen-free hop varieties as a resource for hop growers and gardeners. Stock plants are maintained in greenhouse facilities on the UW-Madison campus, and are tested for pathogens on an annual basis.
Wisconsin’s Annual Potato Meeting
Proceedings of Wisconsin’s Annual Potato Meeting can be browsed online at http://wpvga.conferencespot.org/, or on our Box file server.