Strawberry growers across the country aren’t just tending fields – they’re often running a quiet race against fast-moving plant diseases. When trouble strikes, their first call is often to the plant pathologists at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC), the mighty hub where suspicious leaf spots and wilting plants are treated like high-stakes mysteries.
The latest culprit has entered the scene in the form of Fusarium wilt disease, which is popping up along the East Coast.
Fusarium wilt can survive in soil for years and spread through infected plant material and equipment, said Natalia Peres, professor of plant pathology at GCREC. Current strawberry varieties show limited resistance to the disease, and there are few effective fungicides, making the disease especially difficult to control…