CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 10/14/10

Disease threatens gladiolus fresh cut market

By Sharon Dowdy

A University of Georgia scientist wants to keep an exotic disease from striking one of the most popular cut flowers: gladiolus.

Gladiolus rust is a fungal pathogen that attacks the leaves of gladiolus and a few other flowering plants. It was first found in the U.S. in 2006 when it showed up on plants in two Florida nurseries.

“This pathogen is not native to U.S. and [is] of quarantine significance. So the government quarantined these large 700- to 800-acre farms,” said James Buck, a plant pathologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Best control measure

Buck was asked to join an expert panel to evaluate the extent of the pathogen’s infestation and to develop a plan to control it.

“Like other rust fungi, it causes lesions and produces spores primarily on the foliage,” he said. “Basically, it makes the plant unattractive to everybody but a plant pathologist.”

Ugly flowers don’t sell well. When word of the disease got out, one Florida grower lost 30 percent of his business from a large supermarket chain, Buck said.

“We came up with different management options for the growers, they followed one, and eventually the pathogen was eliminated,” Buck said.

Florida is now free of this particular rust, but it’s now in California. “We haven’t found it in Georgia. Knock on wood,” he said.

Hurricane travel

No one knows how the rust reached the U.S, but experts speculate its spores hitched a ride from Central America or South America on hurricanes that moved over the Gulf of Mexico in 2005, Buck said. The disease is in Mexico, and some Mexican-grown gladiolus flowers are sold in the U.S.

“When a pathogen affects a crop that’s imported, it becomes a trade issue,” he said. “You can’t move plants around that have exotic diseases on them.”

To keep the disease from crossing the border into the U.S., Buck is working with Alberto Botin of the University of Guadalajara (in Mexico) and Steve Jeffers of Clemson University. They are testing fungicide treatments and evaluating varieties in fields south of Mexico City.

“Since it’s new to the U.S, we don’t have much management data,” he said. “The disease is down there, and we want to keep it down there.”

Dishonest tourists

But that can be difficult, he said.

Inspectors do search incoming plants at airports, shipping ports and border crossings. “Unfortunately, people sometimes fib when inspectors ask them if they are bringing anything into the country,” Buck said. “It’s a slippery slope.

"Tourists stop at a market, buy some beautiful inexpensive fresh flowers, hide them in the trunk of their car and don’t realize they are creating a huge problem. It definitely keeps my job interesting.”

Sharon Dowdy is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Authors:
Sharon Dowdy
Experts/Sources:
James W. Buck
Freshly cut gladiolus lay in a field south of Mexico City. A rust disease is threatening the popular flower used most often in cut flower arrangements. University of Georgia plant pathologist James Buck is shown meeting with a gladiolus grower in Mexico. Buck is working to learn more about a rust that causes lesions on the plant's leaves.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Download Image
HurricaneHeleneGreenhouseDamageCropped CAES News
UGA Extension supports resilience in Georgia farm communities after Hurricane Helene 12/19/24 Emily Cabrera
Hurricane Helene wrought sweeping devastation across Georgia’s agricultural sector in late September, leaving an indelible mark on both the land and the people who tend it, bringing focus to vulnerabilities in Georgia’s farming industry and the need for more robust safety nets. In addition to the physical destruction, the hurricane took an emotional toll on Georgia’s farmers. In response, UGA Extension has prioritized mental health support.
As a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialist in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Bob Kemerait is well known for his devotion to the agricultural community of Georgia. He is also known for his international work with colleagues and small-scale farmers around the world. Recently, Kemerait took a team from UGA Extension to the Philippines, where he serves as a Fulbright specialist and works with the faculty at Mariano Marcos State University and farmers in the northern Philippines to improve disease management and other production practices. CAES News
UGA plant pathologist works to improve crop management and empower farmers across the globe 11/05/24 Robert C Kemerait Jr
As a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialist in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Bob Kemerait is well known for his devotion to the agricultural community of Georgia. He is also known for his international work with colleagues and small-scale farmers around the world. Recently, Kemerait took a team from UGA Extension to the Philippines, where he serves as a Fulbright specialist.
Seth McAllister and farmer Mark Daniel discuss crop production and agritourism. CAES News
UGA Extension supports agritourism through expert advice and collaboration 10/24/24 Emily Cabrera
On a sunny day with bright-blue skies, I arrive at Mark’s Melon Patch in Sasser, Georgia, and immediately spot the familiar white University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pickup truck, the Terrell County Extension logo prominently displayed on the door. Seth McAllister, the Agriculture and Natural Resources agent for Terrell County, greets me with a broad grin and a firm handshake. Terrell County alone has 60,000 acres of row crops, half in cotton. But what McAllister loves most about his role as an Extension agent is the diversity of his work.
Combining data collection and analysis with plant pathology, precision agriculture and robotics, the UGA team will build a photographic library of the foliar symptoms caused by onion diseases and other physiological disorders, feed them into the AI software, and use machine learning to identify the diseases based on pattern and color recognition from the images. CAES News
UGA uses AI, robotics to improve Georgia’s Vidalia sweet onion crop 10/23/24 Jordan Powers
A multidisciplinary team of UGA researchers aims to enhance the competitiveness of Vidalia onion growers in Georgia by providing them with the ability to confidently detect onion diseases early, enabling them to make management decisions on their crop at a critical time. These abilities, researchers say, should result in increased yield and quality of marketable onions and an overall increase in efficiency and productivity.
Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium CAES News
Keep on the grass 08/29/24 Emily Cabrera, Scott Michaux
When the University of Georgia Bulldogs step between the hedges at Sanford Stadium, the grass on Dooley Field needs to look perfect. More importantly, though, it needs to help safeguard the health of athletes who compete on it. Gerald Henry plays a big role in the latter. The UGA Athletic Association’s endowed professor in environmental turfgrass leads a research team in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences committed to creating sports fields that look good and perform well to limit the occurrence of injuries.
Melissa Mitchum, CAES professor of nematology, and a multistate research team has identified the resistance-thwarting genes within soybean cyst nematodes, enabling new defenses and better resistance management. pictured are female soybean cyst nematodes on soybean roots. (Photo by Melissa Mitchum) CAES News
Breakthrough discovery opens new doors in soybean cyst nematode management 08/27/24 Julianne Johnston
Researchers have made a major discovery in the fight against soybean cyst nematode (SCN) by focusing on the genetics of the parasitic roundworms. Extensive genetic sequencing and mapping helped them identify a handful of likely genes behind the tricky pests’ ability to skirt soybean genetic resistance. Knowing how these SCN genes and soybean genes interact and evolve will help the industry identify the virulence of SCN populations so farmers can better use the genetic resistance currently available to fight the pest.