Occurrence of leaf blight on Petunia caused by Phytophthora infestans in Maryland.

In April 2001, late blight was detected on petunia (Petunia × hybrida Hort.) in a glasshouse in central Maryland. Symptomatic plants had extensive light gray, irregularly shaped, slightly sunken lesions up to 3 cm long on upper leaves and branches. Stems were distorted or dead above points where lesions had coalesced to cause stem girdling. Disease initially occurred as scattered foci but rapidly spread through the crop causing significant loss. The disease reappeared in the same and adjacent greenhouses in 2002. Phytophthora infestans Mont deBary was observed sporulating on leaves and stems of plants in both years. Isolates PE-01, PE-02, and PE-03 were isolated on rye medium from symptomatic stem and leaf tissue (1). To confirm pathogenicity, leaves and stems of 6-wk-old petunia (cv. White Madness) were sprayed with water or with aqueous suspensions of 105 sporangia per ml. Plants were placed in plastic bags in a growth chamber at 20 to 22°C. Bags were removed after 3 days. Five to seven days after spray...