Late Blight Detected in Maine
Jul 20, 2010 – AUGUSTA—Late blight was recently detected on tomato plants grown from seed in a home garden in Waldoboro. The Maine Department of Agriculture and University of Maine Cooperative Extension are encouraging home gardeners to check tomato and potato plants for symptoms of late blight, a highly destructive disease if left unmanaged.
Symptoms of the disease include irregular-shaped, water-soaked, greasy gray spots surrounded by white mold, which eventually turn into blackened areas on the stems and leaves. These blackened areas dry up, wilt, and die. If you see these symptoms contact Cooperative Extension to get it identified. Once positively identified, infected plants should be bagged and thrown out and not put on the compost pile.
For more information:
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• University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Pest Management Office, 800-287-0279
• www.gotpests.org
