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News Filed Under Plant Diseases

Cotton harvester
October 29, 2024 - Filed Under: Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Corn, Cotton, Insects-Crop Pests, Rice, Soybeans, Wheat, Plant Diseases

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Agricultural producers and consultants are encouraged to register for the annual Mississippi State University Row Crop Short Course.

Hosted by the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the 2024 Row Crop Short Course will be held Dec. 9-11 at the Mill Conference Center in Starkville.

Emerging Viruses in Cucurbits Working Group logo.
July 3, 2024 - Filed Under: Commercial Horticulture, Other Vegetables, Vegetable Diseases

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Mississippi State University Extension Service plant pathologist Rebecca Melanson was recently recognized for her work to further the development and implementation of integrated pest management in the cucurbit industry. The Emerging Viruses in Cucurbits Working Group, or EVCWG, received the 2024 Friends of IPM Pulling Together Award. Melanson and Bill Wintermantel, a scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, co-chair the group that was established in 2022.

Green leaves are scattered with black spots.
June 18, 2024 - Filed Under: Fruit and Nut Diseases

Blueberry leaf rust has been identified on blueberries in Perry County, and everyone in the state with blueberries is cautioned to be on the lookout for this disease.
Alan Henn, plant pathologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said leaf rust is not a common disease of blueberries in Mississippi, but it has been identified occasionally in several Mississippi counties during the last 10 years.

A cucumber leaf with disease lesions rests on a hand.
April 25, 2024 - Filed Under: Agriculture, Crops, Soybeans, Sweet Potatoes, Plant Disease and Nematode Diagnostic Services, Vegetable Diseases, Vegetable Gardens

Did you know the Mississippi State University Extension Service has a laboratory that is designated to diagnose plant diseases and nematodes? Yes, it does! Learn how the Mississippi State University Extension Service Plant Diagnostic Laboratory and its scientists protect the crops that provide our food and fiber along with other home and garden crops.

MyIPM for Vegetables logo
December 7, 2023 - Filed Under: Agriculture, Crops, Commercial Horticulture, Other Vegetables, Tomato Pepper and Eggplant, Watermelon Cantaloupe and Cucumber, Pumpkins, Vegetable Diseases

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Commercial vegetable growers have a new mobile-based resource to help them manage pests and diseases in their crops. The MyIPM for Vegetables app is the latest in the MyIPM app series. MyIPM for Vegetables currently offers resources for tomatoes and cucurbits, which includes cucumbers, pumpkins, squash and watermelons.

Grass with brown spots.
June 28, 2023 - Filed Under: Lawn and Turf Diseases, Turfgrass and Lawn Management

A lot of time and energy is put into caring for your lawn: mowing, fertilizing, watering, and everything in between.

A collage of photos of hydrangeas, loropetalums and azaleas
April 6, 2023 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden, Flower Gardens, Landscape Design and Management, Landscape Plants and Trees Diseases, Christmas Trees

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The hard freeze that swept Mississippi on March 19 and 20 dampened some of spring’s early displays and left many landscape plants with unsightly cold damage. Now, homeowners are wondering what to do about their landscape plants that lost their leaves or have brown-tipped or brown, shriveled leaves.

A woman works in a laboratory.
March 23, 2023 - Filed Under: Sweet Potatoes, Soil Testing, Plant Disease and Nematode Diagnostic Services

Sweet potato growers in Mississippi can get free nematode testing of soil samples they send to Mississippi State University from now until Dec. 31, 2024. The samples can be submitted in nematode bags available at local county MSU Extension Service offices; samples are also accepted in quart-sized, sealed plastic bags.

Blue phlox.
March 10, 2023 - Filed Under: Landscape Plants and Trees Diseases

Native plants are talked about quite a lot in the gardening world. Everyone talks about what great plants they are to have in your landscape, but what exactly are they? 

A woman examines some brown bushes in the landscape.
January 6, 2023 - Filed Under: Landscape Design and Management, Landscape Plants and Trees Diseases

Plants across the state that suffered from the unusually cold weather just days before Christmas will need some help recovering from damage they suffered in the deep freeze. Mike Brown, state climatologist and Mississippi State University meteorologist, said Mississippi’s average late December temperature is 44 degrees on the coast, 38 degrees in central Mississippi and 34 degrees in north Mississippi.

golden rain tree
September 8, 2022 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden, Landscape Management, Landscape Plants and Trees Diseases

Pruning is one of the least understood gardening tasks and for good reason – it’s confusing. When, how, and if you should prune depends on the type of plant or tree you have and your goal for the plant. Check out these pruning tasks for the last one-third of the year.

A man uses small tools to work on a tree.
September 1, 2022 - Filed Under: Landscape Plants and Trees Diseases, Forest Pests

A few sassafras trees across Mississippi have started to show signs of dieback, and Mississippi State University is asking for help in identifying affected trees. The trees are suspected of having laurel wilt, a disease caused by a fungus that has already proven deadly to the state’s redbay trees. The fungus is carried by the redbay ambrosia beetle, an invasive species native to Asia.