Early Season Water Requirements for Peanuts

Here are a few notes from Dr. John Beasley on water requirements for peanuts:
- Peanuts have low water requirements the first 30-50 days of the season.
- The root system of a peanut can usually go deep enough to capture water deeper in the soil profile to sustain the plant during early season drought, unless a hardpan restricts the root system.
- With the increased cost of irrigation due to increased cost of energy/fuel, save irrigation when peanuts most need water. This is when plants begin to peg and fill out their pods.
- Research by Dr. Craig Kvien has shown no yield difference when peanut fields were watered during the 20-50 days after planting and those that received no water during the same time.
- Once a field enters the reproductive growth stage of peanut by flowering and pegging, the water demand begins to increase sharply. At that time it is best to use either Irrigator Pro or UGA EASY Pan to trigger irrigation.

- R.J.

Rust on Blueberries

Dr. Phil Brannen has found a small amount of rust on some blueberries. Read below for his comments.

Within the last few days, we have found at least one significant blueberry rust site in south Georgia. You might want to encourage your producers to scout for this disease at this time. The rust spores can be easily observed in spots on the underside of leaves, but in the early stages, the same spots on the upper leaf surface might possibly be confused with Septoria leaf spot or chemical damage. I have never personally observed rust this early in the season (normally found in late July or August), and this disease can defoliate plants, resulting in subsequent yield losses in the following year. Fungicides which are active against rust include chlorothalonil products (Bravo), DMI products (Indar, Orbit, Tilt), and strobilurin-containing products (Cabrio and Pristine); encourage producers to apply these according to the label, and rotation between classes of chemistry will help to prevent resistance development.

For more info on blueberry dieseases, check out UGA's publication here.

What about the Bees?

Almost half the bee colonies in the United States died last winter. Many were the result of a disorder that causes the colony to literally collapse. Using a $4.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, scientists at the University of Georgia hope to find solutions to the problem that is killing bees in 36 states.
To read more, visit the link - http://georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu/storypage.cfm?storyid=3437