Blue mold breaks out in Pennsylvania

Blue mold was found this week in two greenhouses near Oxford, Pa., not far from Lancaster. The plants from one were destroyed, but not those from the other, which showed fewer lesions but were nevertheless infected. “The farmer took a chance, which is not what we want to see with this disease. But the air movement around these little plants is good, and we can hope the blue mold will dry up,” says Jeff Graybill, Pennsylvania Extension Educator. There's no reason to think the disease has gone systemic on these plants, he adds. The disease appears to have overwintered in the houses.

Editor's note: In the past, Tobacco Farmer Newsletter would refer you to the “Tobacco Blue Mold Forecast Webpage” at http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/ bluemold for a forecast on where blue mold might be going and what to do about it. Unfortunately, the forecast aspect has been canceled, at least for this year, due to lack of funding, though a frequently updated blue mold map will be maintained, so you can still see where outbreaks have occurred.