From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Pataskala,OH

There are sunflowers 2000 feet away from my pumpkin patch that developed a type of mosaic virus can it spread to my pumpkins?

6/3/2009 5:08:17 PM

Ohio

Gasp!! they sure can, but only if they was 1,997 feet away, so you should be fine. Just get rid of em somewhere not close to your patch.

6/3/2009 8:37:29 PM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

I bet those sunflowers got sprayed with something like an herbicide....Our sunflowers are 50 feet from the field pumpkins...they got touched by the Pumpkin Herbicide..It looks like mosiac..its not.

6/3/2009 10:05:44 PM

Pataskala,OH

Nope no herbacide

6/4/2009 9:39:50 AM

West Amwell, NJ

Are you sure it's not sunflower downy mildew? If the leaves are yellow around the leaf veins and white powder on the underside of the leaves then it's sunflower downy mildew

6/5/2009 12:36:43 AM

Owensboro, Ky.

S,I...can this downy mildew transfer to pkns? Peace, Wayne

6/5/2009 2:46:08 AM

Northern Cambria, Pa.

I agree with sun, probably downey mildew. Very common this time of year on sunflowers.

6/5/2009 8:30:58 AM

[email protected]

I'm inclined to agree with the DM. Plus; most viruses are host specific.

6/5/2009 11:55:50 AM

Pataskala,OH

Yes it was downey mildew there was fuzz on the undersides of the leaves. The infected sunflowers have been terminated.

6/5/2009 1:25:49 PM

West Amwell, NJ

If you see seedlings with it, then it's the kiss of death. They have no chance of getting big. However, I've seen plants that are larger (in the range of 2 to 4 feet) that get it, but I gather they can pick it up during heavy rains from rain splattering up on the underside of leaves. I've found these plants do recover. The older a plant gets, the more resistant it is to sunflower downy mildew. I believe there are 3 or 4 strains of sunflower downy mildew. Some are worse than others. I took a break from sunflowers in my garden last year, which, so far, looks like it has helped me tremendously. I haven't seen any sunflowers with sunflower downy mildew. I've read it can be in the soil for up to 5 years or so, but a break from sunflower one year has seemed to do the trick.

6/6/2009 2:34:23 AM

Pataskala,OH

It only affected 3 out of about 10 plants.

6/6/2009 9:15:47 AM