Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri), a member of the "pigweed" family, is one of the most troublesome weeds in many southern row crops. Seed can germinate all season and plants can grow to over 6 feet in height. Plants have either male flowers that shed pollen or female flowers that can produce up to 600,000 seed per plant. One Palmer amaranth per meter of row can reduce soybean yield 32%.

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. Albizia spp. are the only known host of F. oxysporum'' f.sp. ''perniciosum''. 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.

Fusarium head blight (FHB), or scab, continues to impact small grain crops grown in Virginia. Caused primarily by the fungus Fusarium graminearum (also known as Gibberella zeae), this disease can negatively impact yield and grain quality.

The fall season is an important transition period of turfgrass growth and development, and the management of your warm- and cool-season grasses at this time of year means a great deal in terms of anticipated success in your lawn the following spring.

This fact sheet covers nozzle description, recommended use for common nozzle types, and orifice sizing for agricultural and turf sprayers. Proper selection of a nozzle type and size is essential for correct and accurate pesticide application. The nozzle is a major factor in determining the amount of spray applied to an area, uniformity of application, coverage obtained on the target surface, and amount of potential drift.

Plant Disease Diagnostic Form

A perennial with slender, twining stems that may reach 10 feet in length.

Perennial weed with persistent rhizomes that may be spread or transported by cultivation equipment or also in burlaped nursery stock infested with rhizomes.

A perennial from rhizomes with conspicuous spines on leaves and stems reaching 3 feet in height.

Perennial woody vine that may reach 40 feet or more in length.

The most effective form of plant disease control in the landscape is prevention. Disease prevention can be as simple as choosing the right plant for the right place at planting time. This fact sheet was developed as a guide to shrubs that generally experience few problems in Virginia landscapes. Using these species for new plantings should help you avoid troublesome disease and insect problems in your landscape.

Many of the tree species commonly planted in Virginia landscapes suffer from disease problems. Although some diseases can be cured, most must be controlled on a preventative basis. The best option for new plantings is to choose species that have a low risk of developing disease. Listed below, in alphabetical order, are some choices of problem-free trees for Virginia landscapes.

The spread of soybean rust northward through states along the Atlantic Coast began on soybeans in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The disease was first reported in South Carolina on 21 August, North Carolina on 14 September, and Virginia on 9 October. The epidemic of 2006 was far reaching in that disease outbreaks occurred on soybeans as far north as Illinois and Indiana and east to Virginia

Iris leaf spot (also called Heterosporium leaf spot) is the most common disease of iris in Virginia. It is caused by the fungus Cladosporium iridis (syn. Heterosporium iridis). Leaf spotting is most conspicuous on the upper half of the leaf following bloom. Although this pathogen is most common on bulbous iris, it can also cause severe damage to rhizomatous iris, and has also been reported on Gladiolus, Freesia and Narcissus species.

Botrytis blight is a common fungal disease that confronts the peony grower each spring. The fungus Botrytis cinerea blights stems, buds, and leaves and can cause plants to look unsightly, especially in wet springs. This fungus causes disease on a wide variety of herbaceous and woody ornamentals, as well as vegetables and small fruits. It is sometimes referred to as “gray mold” because of the conspicuous, fluffy, gray fungal growth that forms on infected plant parts.

Powdery mildew fungi attack a variety of ornamental plants grown in Virginia.

Leaf and flower gall is a disease that is common on azaleas and camellias in the spring. The disease has also been reported on other members of the plant family Ericaceae. It occurs in home landscapes and nurseries, and is often seen on flame azaleas in the forest in the spring. The disease is caused by species of the fungus Exobasidium.

Photinia, a shrub belonging to the plant family Rosaceae, is a popular landscape shrub in the southeastern U.S. Several species are grown, but the most popular is the hybrid Photinia ×fraseri, or “redtip”, so named for its bright red, immature foliage. The biggest drawback to growing photinia is a leaf spot disease caused by the fungus Diplocarpon mespili (syn. Entomosporium mespili) to which redtip is highly susceptible.

Gray leaf spot disease of corn caused by the fungus Cercospora zeae-maydis, poses a serious threat to corn production in many areas of the eastern United States, including Virginia, and more recently in large areas of the U. S. Corn Belt

Rose rosette disease (RRD), a disease believed to be caused by the recently identified Rose rosette virus, has been spreading through much of the wild rose population of the Midwestern, Southern, and Eastern United States for years.

Common smut of corn is caused by the fungus Ustilago maydis. The fungus causes gall formation on all aboveground parts of corn plant

Anthracnose is a major disease of the common snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and can occur on other legumes. It is caused by the fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum. When environmental conditions are favorable, crop losses can be as high as 100 percent on susceptible cultivars of snap beans.

Brown rot is one of the most destructive diseases of peach and nectarine in Virginia, and also occurs on other stone fruits such as apricot, cherry, and plum. When environmental conditions favor this disease, crop loss can be devastating.

Pesticide use affects the quality of human health, the environment, and nontarget organisms in the ecosystem. Therefore, any pesticide application warrants a careful assessment of the expected benefits and risks. Too often, however, homeowners use pesticides inappropriately or without careful consideration of alternatives. This fact sheet outlines general pest control tactics that can easily be implemented for home lawns and gardens, along with other information that home owners can use to make sound pest management decisions. The intent is to ensure that homeowners are aware of alternative control tactics and pesticide characteristics, and that pesticides are used properly and only when necessary.

Most trees and shrubs are susceptible to dieback and cankers caused by several species of the fungal genus Botryosphaeria. Botryosphaeria fungi are typically opportunistic pathogens. Opportunistic pathogens only cause disease on plants that are stressed. Therefore, avoiding plant stress, which predisposes plant tissue to infection and colonization by this fungal group, is the best strategy to prevent Botryosphaeria disease problems.

This 2018 Virginia Pest Management Guide provides the latest recommendations for controlling diseases, insects, and weeds for home grounds and animals. The chemical controls in this guide are based on the latest pesticide label information at the time of writing. Because pesticide labels change, read the label directions carefully before buying and using any pesticide. Regardless of the information provided here, always follow the latest product label instructions when using any pesticide.

New varieties and strains of vegetables are constantly being developed throughout the world and it is impossible to list and describe all of them, only those that are available and are adapted to the mid-Atlantic region are listed in this publication.

Plants can be defined as multicellular photosynthetic organisms with reproductive structures that are more complex than single cells. By this definition, algae are not considered plants because they are either unicellular or their reproductive structures are essentially unicellular, and fungi, too, are excluded because they are not photosynthetic.

Proper soil fertility management ensures sufficient nutrients for maximum cotton production. Obtaining and maintaining appropriate soil nutrient concentrations is imperative, as fertilizer inputs are the largest component of production budgets for Virginia cotton farmers. At the same time, excessive nutrient application wastes money, wastes natural resources, and can negatively impact yields and environmental quality.

Along with agronomic and grade information, data on kernel and pod quality are essential for release of new peanut cultivars to ensure acceptability by the entire peanut trade. The present report contains the quality data collected on 5 Virginia-type cultivars that currently are on the market and 31 advanced breeding lines tested in the Peanut Variety and Quality Evaluation (PVQE) small plots in 2015.

Due to suitability to the environmental conditions and existence of a strong peanut industry tailored to process primarily the large-seeded Virginia-type peanut, growers in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina generally grow Virginia-type cultivars. In the view of a common interest in the Virginia-type peanut, the three states are working together through a multi-state project, the Peanut Variety Quality Evaluation (PVQE), to evaluate advanced breeding lines and commercial cultivars throughout their production regions.

This Best Management Practice document is a set of guidelines for home growers of landscape boxwood to avoid introduction of the boxwood blight pathogen into a landscape or, if the disease is already present in a landscape, to manage the disease in the most effective manner and avoid spread of the disease to new locations.

To provide leadership in safeguarding and protecting the ornamental horticulture industry, historical gardens and landscape plantings from boxwood blight.

This Best Management Practice document is a set of guidelines for home growers of landscape boxwood to avoid introduction of the boxwood blight pathogen into a landscape or, if the disease is already present in a landscape, to manage the disease in the most effective manner and avoid spread of the disease to new locations.

This Best Management Practice document is a set of guidelines for home growers of landscape boxwood to avoid introduction of the boxwood blight pathogen into a landscape or, if the disease is already present in a landscape, to manage the disease in the most effective manner and avoid spread of the disease to new locations.

This Best Management Practice document is a set of guidelines for home growers of landscape boxwood to avoid introduction of the boxwood blight pathogen into a landscape or, if the disease is already present in a landscape, to manage the disease in the most effective manner and avoid spread of the disease to new locations.

This Best Management Practice document is a set of guidelines for home growers of landscape boxwood to avoid introduction of the boxwood blight pathogen into a landscape or, if the disease is already present in a landscape, to manage the disease in the most effective manner and avoid spread of the disease to new locations.

Best management practices for boxwood blight (also called “box blight”) for greenery producers are practices recommended to avoid the introduction and spread of boxwood blight, caused by the fungus Calonectria pseudonaviculata (syn. Cylindrocladium pseudonaviculatum). The recommendations in this document are designed to avoid spread of boxwood blight within a planting or to new locations when pruned tips are collected, sold and/or used for holiday greenery1. These recommendations are relevant to anyone involved in the greenery (“tipping”) industry, including small and large-scale greenery producers, home growers who sell boxwood tips, and people who tip-prune boxwood on other people’s property. Care must be taken at all levels of greenery production to prevent the spread of the boxwood blight pathogen and avoid economic losses associated with this disease.

Maintaining the right soil pH for each crop ensures optimal nutrient uptake by plants. For peanut, the recommended pH range is 5.8 – 6.2. If soil pH is higher than 6.2, manganese (Mn) or boron (B) deficiency may occur; if pH is less than 5.8, zinc (Zn) toxicity problems could be favored. Therefore, taking soil samples correctly is very important for correcting soil pH. A single composite sample should be taken for each 5 irrigated and 10 rainfed acres. This sample should be composed of 20 or more subsamples collected from an imaginary grid uniformly covering the land area. The subsamples should be well mixed together and only a small composite sample should be retained and sent to the soil lab.

Boxwood blight is caused by the fungal pathogen Calonectria pseudonaviculata (syn. Cylindrocladium buxicola). Boxwood blight was first described in the United Kingdom in the mid-1990’s and by 2002 was found in several other European countries and New Zealand. In September 2011 boxwood blight was discovered in North America. Symptoms of the disease include leaf spotting (Fig. 1), elongate, dark cankers on stems (Fig. 2), defoliation, and dieback (Fig. 3). The primary means by which the disease spreads is the inadvertent introduction of infected boxwood to existing plantings. The pathogen can also spread by spores, which readily adhere to equipment and work clothes, and by microsclerotia, which survive in infested soil and plant debris. This document outlines best management practices for landscapers and property managers to reduce the risk of spreading boxwood blight to landscapes and public and historic gardens, and to manage the disease if it is introduced.

In recent years, an increased number of cases of injury from herbicide residue in straw/hay, manure, and compost have been diagnosed in the Virginia Tech Plant Disease Clinic. Growers are surprised and dismayed to learn that manure, straw, mulch, or other amendments intended to improve their garden or landscape might have such unforeseen consequences. Of particular concern to organic growers are herbicide residues.