IDENTIFICATION, ELUCIDATION, AND DEVELOPMENT OF DISEASE AND
NEMATODE RESISTANCES IN VEGETABLE CROPS Location: Vegetable
Research Title: Outbreak of powdery mildew on watermelon fruit
caused by podosphera xanthii in southwest Florida Submitted to:
Plant Disease Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: August 26, 2011 Publication Date:
September 7, 2011 Citation: Kousik, C.S., Donahoo, R.S.,
Webster, C.G., Turechek, W., Adkins, S.T., Roberts, P.D. 2011.
Outbreak of powdery mildew on watermelon fruit caused by
podosphera xanthii in southwest Florida. Plant Disease. 95:1586.
Interpretive Summary: Watermelon is an important crop grown in
forty-four states in the US. Every year, Florida grows about
26000 acres of watermelons, valued at over $112 million. In late
2010 (November-December), we observed that the skins of many
watermelons from several farms in southwest Florida were
severely afflicted by an unknown disease. Surprisingly, tests
showed that this disease was powdery mildew, whic