The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station reported that blue mold was confirmed at a research farm in Windsor, Connecticut on August 15. Only a single blue mold lesion on one leaf was found, and this was removed. It is thought that this infection came from another undetected local source. According to that report, blue mold also continues to be severe in Pennsylvania. There are no predictions on the potential for spores from the U.S. to spread towards Ontario, because North Carolina’s Tobacco Blue Mold Forecast Centre is not issuing blue mold forecasts for the 2013 growing season.

As of today, there have been no reports of blue mold from Ontario tobacco, however growers should be monitoring their fields regularly for this disease, as blue mold can develop and spread rapidly. Any suspected cases of blue mold should be reported to the OMAFRA office in Simcoe at 519-426-4434 or 519-426-3823. More information on this disease can be found in OMAFRA Publication 298 – Flue-Cured Tobacco Production Recommendations or in the CTRF publication “Flue-Cured Tobacco Best Management Practices – Blue Mold” (September, 2004).