What is ALS?

What is ALS?

I'm going to assume angular leaf spot?

Correct, Angular Leaf Spot. I should have mentioned that in my OP for those unfamiliar with the disease that decimates cukes, squash, zucchini, and others.

The bacteria that causes it in cukes and such is a different one from the cause in strawberries. It is bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. lachrymans and is much more resistant to treatment so prevention is the goal.

It can be seed-borne and can over-winter on any infected plant material left in the soil - leaves, compost, stems, mulch, etc.

Only effective treatments are pre-planting fumigants (things like Telopic and similar tank-mixes, heavy turning/plowing of the soil or replacing it is possible, and heavy mulching of the plants with fresh mulch as soon as they are planted to avoid splash-up (avoid over-head watering too).

It also helps to grow them vertically up a trellis to avoid all leaf contact with the soil and strip off any and all lower leaves leaving several inches of bare stem.

Notice that all the controls are PRE-planting or immediately as planting. Once it starts on the plant it is too late in most cases. Some claim that diluted peroxide sprays can slow it down some but that is debated.

Dave

I've never had that happen down here in Georgia. Would rotating your crops help? We trellis our cukes. Otherwise we miss the hidden ones.

I've never had that happen down here in Georgia. Would rotating your crops help? We trellis our cukes. Otherwise we miss the hidden ones.

I guess the only thing that I can realistically do is nothing. I already grow them on trellises and I've tried rotating them amongst my raised beds. Last year I even try grown some from seed mid-season in a fabric container with 5-1-1 mix. It started out great then went the same route as the cukes I had started earlier in the season.

Realistically you can plant an ALS resistant variety. Not foolproof , but usually gives you sufficient edge to harvest cukes. For slicers varieties include Speedway, Dasher II,Thunder, Talledega etc. Ther are sevral pickler varieties Arabian, Calypso, Carolina etc. Don't kow of any burpless types with ALS resistance but they are probably out there. Belay that, Sweet Slice has ALS resistance.