Heat Can Lead To Increased Disease Susceptibility

The heat is here for many growers across the Columbia Basin in Washington and Oregon. And while the upper 90s and triple digits are nothing new for many of the growers, the first blast of heat serves as a good reminder for growers to work on lowering stress in the plant. Washington State University’s Dr. Tim Waters said for those that irrigate, and have their entire water allotment, it's important to remember that water can help plant stay healthy and strong.

Water Will Help During Hot Weather

“If a plant is under stress, like we put our bodies under stress, the plant's going to get disease more readily," Water said. "And you know, there's loads of inoculum in the soil that we grow these crops in and the plants are always kind of at this little, at this race, I guess, against, you know, staving off diseases. So any stress we put on the crop, whether it's heat stress, drought, nutrient stress can result in a higher level of disease.”

Use Your Local Extension Office

He added in addition to proper watering, it’s key to actively scout your crop. And he encouraged growers to utilize the tools and recourses available through your local extension office.

“At WSU, we have our Potato Decision Aid System," Water said. "So if you're a potato grower and you don't, you're not part of that system, I'd encourage you to go take a look at that. Or take a look at our e-mail listservs. If you're not getting our emails on potato production, we even have some good ones for tree fruit. You'll have an irrigated ag e-mail listserv. Go look that up and sign yourself up and get some of those reminders. Like in our potato alert that Carrie Wohleb puts together, she sends out a weekly report. So, it's a good reminder for what you should be scouting for in your fields.”

Click Here for WSU's potato information.

Click Here for WSU's tree fruit information.