Tom Melton, Extension Plant Pathologist, NCSU
Blue mold has been confirmed from a greenhouse near Reno, GA and a plant bed near Stantenville, Georgia. This is early to have blue mold this close to us. Please begin monitoring blue mold forecasts at http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/bluemold/. It is also a good time to remind growers about NOT bringing in plants from Georgia/Florida. For growers who will not pay attention to your advisories based on the blue mold warning system, preventive sprays with Dithane DF in the greenhouse are advisable. Those who are more attentive can wait until you notice the blue mold forecasting system forecasting moderate to high risk for your area. Remember that the environment in greenhouses is almost always favorable for blue mold development.
Dithane DF can be sprayed at 0.5 lb/100 gal (1 tsp/gal) of spray. Make spray applications on a 5 to
7 day schedule starting when plants are at least the size of a dime and continue until the threat of
disease is gone or plants are transplanted. Use about 10 gal of spray for a 100 ft greenhouse
when plants are small up to 17 gal as they get larger. DITHANE SHOULD NOT BE
ALLOWED TO GET INTO FLOAT WATER - INJURY CAN OCCUR.
Web page last updated on March 12, 1999 by Stephen J. Toth, Jr..