One of the biggest problems facing strawberry production in Virginia is disease management.

Cool temperatures and rainfall delayed planting of cotton and peanut until after 20 April in Virginia. Thereafter, rainfall was widely scattered and soil temperatures averaged above 60 ºF which allowed planting to proceed in a timely manner. Most crops showed good emergence after planting throughout Eastern Virginia, except for some stand losses in early plantings of corn.

Strains of the cucurbit downy mildew fungus resistant to QoI (also known as strobilurin) fungicides were detected in GA and NC in fall 2004 and in FL in spring 2005. The genetic mutation detected is the same as that in QoI-resistant cucurbit powdery mildew fungal strains.

Fusarium wilt is a common and lethal disease of mimosa (Albizia julibrissin)1, also commonly known as silktree. In the United States this disease occurs in the east from New York southward and also in Louisiana, Arkansas and California. Fusarium wilt is caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum forma specialis perniciosum. This pathogen causes Fusarium wilt on Albizia species and also on tree-ofheaven (Ailanthus altissima). Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. perniciosum colonizes and clogs the tree's vascular (water-conducting) tissue, and interferes with the movement of plant sap. This results in relatively rapid tree death.

A table of plant diseases.

Anthracnose symptoms on ripe strawberry fruit include typical sunken and round lesions with an orange discoloration within the lesion and brown spots on green fruit.

On the Eastern Shore of Virginia, potato growers plant potatoes in early spring for summer harvest. Fungicide dusts have been typically used to protect the potato seedpiece from infection when planted in cool, wet soil in the early spring.

Winter injury has left many dead leaves that will serve as a major source of Botrytis spores in the early spring season. Likewise, a number of plantings recently experienced freeze injury to emerged blooms. These dead flowers can become infected with Botrytis; the pathogen can grow down the peduncle and into the upper crown tissue to cause a Botrytis crown rot.