Vegetable growers in western North Carolina: Be on the lookout (BOLO) for late blight on tomato and cucurbit downy mildew. Recent weather conditions (frequent rainfall, cloudy skies, and high humidity) are conducive for both diseases.

The pathogens that cause these two diseases do not survive in North Carolina, but instead are carried up the east coast by air currents as the season progresses. High humidity and heavy rain events drive both diseases. Also, both diseases can progress rapidly if plants are unprotected during heavy rain events such as we have had recently.

Tomato late blight has not yet been detected in NC (as of 7-21-2023), but cucurbit downy mildew has been found in Lenoir County, NC (but not yet in western NC).

If you think you have either (or both) diseases, please reach out to your local county or area agents to confirm these diseases. Regardless, growers are advised to make sure preventative fungicides have been applied. These can be found in the links at the top of the page.