The Plant Doctor

Suzanne, being the Commercial Horticulture Agent for three counties, spends a lot of her time traveling. When I can I always try to go with her, because I love getting to interact with growers and I always learn something new, gaining social and technical skills.

Today was one of those days where we were on the road practically the entire day. We started by going to visit with a man from Henry County at the Patrick County office. He is having some problems with his hops. He had emailed Suzanne some pictures, but she wanted to see a sample in person to tell if it was a virus or a downy mildew problem. After careful inspection, Suzanne informed the client that his hops have the early stages of downy mildew. Though downy mildew is one of the major problems associated with growing hops, it is a much less serious issue than if it were a virus. She gave recommendations to spray with copper and manage the problem.

Later that day, we ended up in Cana to visit with some fruit tree growers. The first grower we visited took us out into his orchard to show us some issues he had been noticing. Several of his trees were dying. Suzanne determined these trees have bacterial canker, and showed him what to look for and how to identify it. There is a certain way you should spray and prune affected trees. Before the winter, growers should paint the tree trunks white with latex paint. This keeps the trunks from cracking with the expanding and contracting of the trunk due to the weather.

This grower was also noticing some dying peach trees in his peach orchard. After we rode out there to see, Suzanne found peach borers which were the culprits.

We spent the rest of the evening riding around and checking on growers in the area. I made the joke that Suzanne is the plant doctor, since she spends so much time helping identify diseases, pests, etc. and finding control methods for them.

Often times, Extension only receives calls if something is going wrong. Suzanne also likes to visit with growers to see what is going right as well.  I believe this is very important when working to build relationships with growers. Extension is based on partnerships. This includes partnerships with universities, partnerships with growers and producers, and partnerships with the community. Agents must be willing to go out and see what needs there are so that they will know the best ways to help.

Cherry Leaf Spot at one of the orchards we visited in Cana