Polly thanks I am not on facebook yet but as it gets colder I will get more active I did reach out to the Rick and Rich when this first started and they have had very little problems with it I don't think it affects Oregon or California it seems to stick to the midwest and there are very few that have had experience with it besides Mid America, I sent pictures to everyone I could think of that I have bought from some of the guys thought I might have a fungal disease called (Botrytis) which is another monster and from what it sounds like maybe worse because not only does it affect the plant it will stay in the dirt they both look similar but from what I could take from it (Botrytis) will leave a black mold on the Bulb and Scorch does not they both leave the plant leaves with mold streaks and root rot but they are different.
As far as it not affecting the bulb Paul told me the year before they moved they mowed there plants to the ground that had it and mounded soil over the top and they still grew back with it, I am not going to take any chances with it because it spreads to fast If it looks sick I tossed it, it has a very distinctive look to it and if caught right away I think I can control it from spreading now that I know what it is , my first battle has been with leaf hoppers trying to kill them is difficult they move fast and when you get within a few feet they fill fly away but I think I am winning that battle to as I am seeing less and less every day and hopefully I have killed the ones that were hosting the disease but I guess time will tell. It has just been a horrible summer for plants in general, I have a whole new respect for the larger growers after fighting the scorch,and digging every plant and trying to till, all the berms and field bed in 100 plus degree weather for weeks on end I do not want that job full time.It quickly went from enjoyment to Work and I have plenty of work
Paul I have never had any previous problems here with anything other than leaf spot,My dad has grown these for 30 years and has never seen anything like it before He has on occasion fought Borers but nothing to this magnitude that is happening this summer I think it has something to do with our winter. I was planting Maple trees on New Years day this year there was no frost in the ground, in Iowa thats unheard of so I have no proof of course but my gut feeling is it comes from that some bug that should of froze in January did not and I am paying the price for those 60's in January.
Sassafrass it's important that you remove what you have if it's scorch, It made me sick to my stomach when it finally figured out that I could not fix this with a spray or chemical I too walked around looking at it trying to come up with a way to fix it you just have to try and save what is not affected with it and move on if you can pull it out of the ground by hand with little effort you should discard it and start to watch for the yellow look and the middle leaf starting to turn brown thats the sign that it is affected start to pay attention to the leaves if there are dime sized bite holes in your leaves you have leaf hoppers spreading it the Aphids leave small pinsize holes but they have a yellow ring around them similar to leaf spot but you will see a hole in leaf.I think its also important to look at the bulb to see if it has Mold all over it if that is the case then you may have (Botrytis) and you will have to ammend the soil to get rid of it.
