Managing Impatiens Downy Mildew with Variety Selection and Production Practices
Starting in May 2021, AFE will be hosting new monthly webinars on production areas and topics that directly impact growers.
Webinar presentations will be presented on a Tuesday each month and are 30-40 minutes in length plus a 15-minute question and answer period with the researchers. This is unique in that the audience gets to ask questions directly of the researcher for any issues you may be experiencing around the topic. For efficiency, the presentations are pre-recorded followed by a live Q&A.
Impatiens was once one of the most popular bedding plants until Impatiens Downy Mildew (IDM) devastated landscape plantings around the world. Plants often looked good in production but died once planted in the landscape. After a decade of breeding and technology, impatiens are back with two new series offering a high degree of resistance to IDM. Margery Daughtrey, plant pathologist at Cornell University, will discuss the attributes of Beacon® (PanAmerican Seed) and Imara® XDR (Syngenta Flowers) series and share practical tips to optimize performance of these plants from propagation to planting in the landscape. You will learn that using protectant fungicides during production is a good idea, even when impatiens are highly resistant to downy mildew.
About the Speaker: Margery Daughtrey is a Senior Extension Associate with the Section of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology of Cornell University. She has conducted a research and extension program on the management of diseases of ornamental plants since 1978, at Cornell’s Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead, NY. She educates growers on management of greenhouse and nursery crop diseases, runs a diagnostic laboratory and investigates controls for boxwood blight, impatiens downy mildew, and other terrible diseases. Daughtrey holds a B.S. degree in Biology from the College of William and Mary and an M.S. in Plant Pathology from the University of Massachusetts. She is coauthor of several books, including the recent Compendium of Bedding Plant Diseases and Pests.