onspecialtycrops

Due to the heavy rains, especially in the northern and western portions of the ginseng-growing region, Phytophthora is the biggest issue in ginseng now. Most other pest issues have been relatively minor or highly localized this year. Now is also a good time to remind growers of some problem weeds to look out for.

How Wet Has It Been?

Much of the ginseng growing area is in the Exceptionally High 95^th to 100^th percentile above normal for precipitation over the past 60 days (Figure 1). Much of Norfolk is in the lower end of this range, but the Strathroy area, Oxford County and the extreme north and south of the area have had higher amounts. This equates to over 300 mm of rain in these areas, with the bulk of that occurring in July into early August. That is roughly double normal rainfall for this period. Even more problematic than the total rainfall for disease management is that the rain came in many separate events.