Location: Horticultural Crops Disease and Pest Management Research Unit
Title: USDA-ARS Boxwood blight research in OregonAuthor
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Submitted to: Video
Publication Type: Other Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2022 Publication Date: 8/30/2022 Citation: Weiland, J.E. 2022. USDA-ARS Boxwood blight research in Oregon. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m75VEJQ00LE. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Oregon is the top producer of boxwood in the nation, producing almost 20% of this $141 million dollar crop. In 2011, an introduced fungal disease called boxwood blight was found for the first time in Oregon. Infected plants cannot be cured or sold, and thus represent a direct economic loss. Risks for a disease outbreaks are generally considered highest during rainy weather around 77°F. However, Oregon growers have noticed outbreaks occurring at much cooler temperatures, when disease risk is supposedly nonexistent or low. Growers have also noticed severe symptoms developing on boxwood varieties that are supposedly resistant to the disease. Our research addressed both issues and revealed that Oregon isolates of the boxwood blight fungus prefer cooler temperatures (59 to 68°F) than isolates from the southeast US and Europe (77°F), which were used to originally establish the disease risk model. We also demonstrated that Winter Gem, a resistant boxwood variety, develops severe disease at |
