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Blue Mold in Connecticut

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CT Tobaccoman

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Blue Mold in shade tobacco being grown by Altadis Shade Inc., division of Altadis USA in Somers, Connecticut

Blue mold was reported from shade tobacco in Somers CT August 20, 2014
Blue mold was reported on August 20, 2014 on shade tobacco in Somers CT. Disease was limited in distribution to a small area that was destroyed but there were at least two generations of lesions present in the field. This is the first report of blue mold from CT. This is late in the season and dry conditions may limit spread of the pathogen. However, be aware that undetected blue mold may be present and report any new finds to the Experiment Station.
 

CT Tobaccoman

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The report says that a "small area was destroyed". Any idea what a "small area" is? 10 plants, 1 acre, 10 acres?

A small area would be up to 4 or 5 "bents."

A bent is the square made from 4 poles of the tent. Every pole is 33 feet from each other pole near it. Fourteen bents makes an acre.

This tobacco is being raised by Altadis. Their shade fields in Somers, CT are their largest ones they have this season, 15-20 acres. Altadis is raising more broadleaf than shade this year for the first time, even using fields that have the poles and wire skeleton permanently constructed. I estimated that Altadis is growing less than 200 acres of shade this year. Not really a surprise, since only their Montecristo Classic still has a USA shade wrapper. The other Montecristos of the Connecticut wrapper type have been switched to an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper.

They have taken down the tent infrastructure in other towns. Broadleaf, after 120 years as number 2, is coming back again, and far surpasses shade acreage.

Broadleaf seems to be less susceptible to blue mold. The infections in the Conn. Valley have been in shade tobacco only, as is usually the case. Broadleaf can get blue mold but not as easily as shade does.

The picking of the shade is so close to being finished that these small blue mold outbreaks are not a problem.

Well, you got more than you asked for. Just rambling on.

CT
 

deluxestogie

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Interesting. The blue mold that I detected was specifically on my CT Broadleaf. It was self-limited, damaging a small number of leaves, but not spreading on the same plant or nearby plants, and having no effect on other varieties. And it's been fairly wet for the past two weeks. I don't have CT Shade growing this year, though I do have two related varieties (Metacomet and Magnolia), which have not been effected.

My squash, pumpkins and cucumbers are clobbered by downy mildew each year. I'm wondering if the blue mold on my CT Broadleaf may be the same fungus that effects the squash. Which would suggest that it's a different species--so not specialized to tobacco, and therefor not as damaging.

Bob
 

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Interesting.My squash, pumpkins and cucumbers are clobbered by downy mildew each year. I'm wondering if the blue mold on my CT Broadleaf may be the same fungus that effects the squash. Which would suggest that it's a different species--so not specialized to tobacco, and therefor not as damaging.

Bob

It could well be the case, I think. When I began to work on the shade farms in the 1960s the employees were permitted to grow personal gardens here and there, even in the seedbeds (no greenhouses or cube trays then) after all the plants had been pulled. When I returned 30 years later there was strict separation of tobacco from vegetables of any kind, especially potatos and tomatos.

However, there is one independent shade grower who does grow squash and pumpkins on unused land right on the farm. So, who knows? Tobacco can get downey mildew, is it possible your plants had that? The easy way to identify blue mold is that there are what appear to be little "hairs" in the lesions.

I notice some people are raising "Scantic," which is an old type of CT Broadleaf that had not yet been bred to have some resistance to blue mold, or TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus, which was raising hell during my most recent stint on the farm.) TMV was not even evident until the leaves were curing in the sheds--little balck spots and worse all over--but that is another story. But given its apparent prevalence and the ease by which TMV spreads, some of us might see apparently healthy leaves get spotty during curing.

Blue mold comes to the Conn Valley every year. This year it has been light, Farmers spray against it aggressively all season. Probably there were a lot more spores in the air but the spraying limited the pathology to small areas that maybe didn't receive proper spraying.

CT
 

deluxestogie

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The easy way to identify blue mold is that there are what appear to be little "hairs" in the lesions.
Unfortunately, the "downy" in the name, "downy mildew" refers to the little fungal "hairs" that appear on the affected plants. It's also referred to as "blue mold" among some vegetable growers. I believe the entire group of downy mildews of different plant species are from the same fungal genus, but only differing in species. Each seems to be specialized for particular plants, but can cause minor damage to plants other than their preferred plant variety.

Bob
 

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Unfortunately, the "downy" in the name, "downy mildew" refers to the little fungal "hairs" that appear on the affected plants. It's also referred to as "blue mold" among some vegetable growers. I believe the entire group of downy mildews of different plant species are from the same fungal genus, but only differing in species. Each seems to be specialized for particular plants, but can cause minor damage to plants other than their preferred plant variety.

Bob

I see. The only fungal pathology I ever saw was blue mold. I noticed that the Tomato Wilt Virus is the scourge of the southern states these days. Do you know if it is the same pathology attacking BOTH tobacco and tomatos?

CT
 

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I see. The only fungal pathology I ever saw was blue mold. I noticed that the Tomato Wilt Virus is the scourge of the southern states these days. Do you know if it is the same pathology attacking BOTH tobacco and tomatos?

CT

tomato spotted wilt is the scourge of everything in the south. it even infects peanuts. a quote said it infects over 800 species in 70 different countries.
 
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