This week’s blog is taken from our bi-monthly specialty crop grower email. If you are a producer in or around Madison County and would like to be added to the email list, let us know at ms3573@cornell.edu.

Hopefully folks did okay last week between the smoke and dry weather—this week’s rain should take that edge of drought off (but hopefully not overshoot and make things too wet)!

We’ve had a few questions about the smoke’s impact on plants. CALS’s Steve Reiners explains more about the impacts of smoke on veggies here. (TLDR: the crops are okay!)

However, many field plantings started last week with high levels of stress from a water deficit, so you may see some indicators of stress or environmental damage from excess heat, cold, and/or drought (we’ve really had it all this spring!). These stresses could show up in plant damage coincidentally timed with the smoke, but may be unrelated to it.

There is SO MUCH in the environment that can affect plants. Sometimes these environmental conditions trigger damage that looks like it might be from a pest or disease, when it’s really drought stress or excess heat or drowning roots. These are called “abiotic” disorders.

The first time you see a new-to-you abiotic issue can be disconcerting.

For instance, prior to the smoke arriving, we had two days with higher ground ozone levels in CNY. I didn’t see any ozone damage signs in fields personally this week, but if you have never observed ozone injury before, it is scary the first time you see it. My first summer farming in a high ozone region was a shock to come out to fields that looked like someone had run around the bean unleashing cans of bronze spray paint. Pictures of what this sort of damage looks like includes these from Maryland Extension or these from Purdue.

Some other common abiotic conditions we have reports of in recent weeks include:

Wind whip on freshly transplanted crops, especially those on black plastic. This is where you plant a tender young seedling and then get a blast of windy weather or even hot air (that warms up the plastic). Where the seedling rubs its stem along the plastic (or gets thrashed onto it), it can cause plant damage. MOFGA has some good pictures here (and also some nice sun scald images – another common early transplant issue).

Tip burn on seedlings or transplants. This happens for a number of reasons, from the plants getting too dry or too wet, or as in a few cases this week, from over-fertilizing or spraying pesticide oils on hot, sunny days. When plants are stressed, adding any added stressors (like applying oily soap to the leaves during a sunny day) can aggravate their stress and cause some areas of burning around the leave margins. Likewise, drought stressed plants can struggle to process heavy fertilizer application, which can also cause damage to the leaf margins.

Fortunately, in many cases the affected plants are able to recover given enough rest (and the removal of the stress factors). Hopefully this week is more moderate and takes off some of those environmental stressors off the plants!

Want to read more about abiotic plant issues, and see some pictures to bolster your identification and diagnosing skills?

• High Mowing Seeds has a good primer with pictures across a range of plant issues.
• For a deeper dive, including more discussion of fertility and nutrient issues, the American Phytopathological Society has a good article.
• If your yard trees or woody plants are looking sad, Michigan State has a perennial focus here.

Happy growing, Maryellen