Margery Daughtrey

My research focuses on improving management of diseases that are currently problematic in greenhouses and nurseries in New York. In recent years, I have been concentrating attention on the foliar diseases powdery mildew and downy mildew, and the root diseases caused by Pythium, Phytophthora and Thielaviopsis. I also participate on national teams that address the threats of boxwood blight and impatiens downy mildew to the ornamentals industry.

Outreach and Extension Focus

Improving disease management for ornamental crops is the purpose of my program, with the emphasis on developing new information to benefit the floriculture industry of New York. Greenhouse flower businesses are often located in highly populated areas, and thus have many neighbors who are concerned with environmental safety. Increasingly, growers are challenged with the need to control diseases with minimal chemical input—and yet reliable information on cultural and biological methods of control and reduced-risk chemicals still needs to be developed for practical application. Hundreds of new crop species and cultivars are introduced annually, so that there are also many new diseases to study each year. One important new trend is that the cuttings for many vegetative annual crops are now produced off-shore, increasing the chance for introduction of exotic pathogens (e.g. the new downy mildew seen on coleus since 2005 and the new downy mildew that began affecting impatiens in NY landscapes in 2009) that represent a threat to US horticulture, and sometimes to US agriculture. Providing timely guidance to producers both off-shore and at home is essential for reducing disease losses and pathogen spread within the greenhouse industry. New culture methods (i.e. recirculating subirrigation in flood-floor or ebb/flood systems) designed to reduce run-off from production facilities have increased the opportunity for pathogen spread within greenhouses, and thus new control systems must be implemented to cope with these new challenges. The information that I collect through disease diagnosis, research and networking with other plant pathologists is delivered to growers, industry tradespeople and extension educators at conferences and individually. On the national level, I work closely with AmericanHort and the American Phytopathological Society to improve communication of disease management information. I aim to disseminate current knowledge of disease management techniques (IPM) to greenhouse and nursery growers, arborists, landscape gardeners and Master Gardeners. My objectives include improving the utility of biocontrols and cultural controls for management of Pythium, Phytophthora, Fusarium and powdery and downy mildew diseases. Helping the green industry to cope with the new boxwood blight and the new findings of oak wilt disease in New York State are additional priorities.

• Webster, C., Frantz, G., Reitz, S., Funderburk, J., Mellinger, H. C., McAvoy, E., Turechek, W. W., Marshall, S. H., Tantiwanich, Y., McGrath, M. T., Daughtrey, M. L., & Adkins, S. (2015). Emergence of Groundnut ringspot virus and Tomato chlorotic spot virus in vegetables in Florida and the southeastern U.S. Phytopathology. 105:388-98.
• Daughtrey, M. L. (2015). Laboratory assessment of boxwood blight susceptibility of Buxus accessions from the United States. Acta Horticulturae. 1085:231-234.
• Shishkoff, N., Daughtrey, M. L., Aker, S. M., & Olsen, R. T. (2015). Evaluating boxwood (Buxus spp.) susceptibility to Calonectria pseudonaviculata by inoculating cuttings from the National Boxwood Collection at the U.S. National Arboretum. Plant Health Progress. 16:11-15.
• Kenaley, S., Daughtrey, M. L., O'Brien, D., Jensen, S., Snover-Clift, K. L., & Hudler, G. W. (2012). First Report of the Pear Trellis Rust Fungus, Gymnosporangium sabinae, on Pyrus calleryana (ÔBradfordÕ and ÔChanticleerÕ) and P. communis in New York State. Plant Disease. 96:1373.

Book Chapters

• Daughtrey, M. L. (2011). Diseases of Gerbera. p. 4 Sakata Gerbera Manual Sakata Seeds, Morgan Hill, CA.
• Daughtrey, M. L. (2011). Managing diseases. p. 121-130 Ball Redbook J. Nau (ed.), Ball Publishing, W. Chicago, IL, USA.
• Cloyd, R., & Daughtrey, M. L. (2011). Resistance mitigation. p. 137-142 Ball Redbook J. Nau (ed.), Ball Publishing, W. Chicago, IL, USA.

Conference Proceedings

• Keach, J. E., Daughtrey, M. L., Bridgen, M. P., & Salgado, C. (2016). Susceptibiiity of impatiens species to downy mildew caused by Plasmopara obducens. Proc. Northeast. Plant, Pest, Soils Conf. . A. Gover (ed.), 106 p.
• Daughtrey, M. L. (2014). What turned the bedding plant industry topsy-turvy: impatiens downy mildew. Proceedings of the 30th Annual Pest and Production Management Conference. Society of American Florists. San Diego, CA. February 22, 2014. Palmer et al. (ed.), 3-13 p.
• Daughtrey, M. L. (2013). Invasives of Concern: Boxwood blight. Proceedings, Pest and Production Management Conference, Society of American Florists. C. Palmer (ed.),, Alexandria, VA USA 26-43 p.

Presentations and Activities

• Expanding the Phytophthora ramorum sample processing: searching for Phytophthora kernoviae, identifying Phytophthora species, and evaluating a test method. Annual Meeting. June 2015. American Phytopathological Society. Pasadena, CA.
• Diseases of Woody and Herbaceous Ornamentals. Horticulture Class. April 2015. Farmingdale State College. Farmingdale, NY.
• Diseases Happening This Spring. Twilight Meeting. June 2012. Long Island Arborists Association. Cornell University LI Hort Research & Extension Ctr.
• Sudden Oak Death: What East Coast Growers Need to Know About a West Coast Disease. Phytophthora Ramorum Training. March 2012. NYS Agriculture & Markets. Cornell University LI Hort Research & Extension Ctr.
• Diseases of Ornamental Plants. Certified Nurserymen's Training. March 2012. NYS Nursery and Landscape Assn. Hicks Nursery.
• Pear Trellis Rust: A New Challenge for Ornamental Pear in the East. Webinar. March 2012. Great Plains Diagnostic Network. www.
• Diseases of Perennials. Shade Tree Conference. February 2012. Iowa State University. Ames, Iowa, USA.
• New Diseases of Ornamental Crops. Pest and Production Management Conference. February 2012. Society of American Florists. Orlando, FL, USA.
• Hot Diseases. Hudson Valley Bedding Plant and Nursery Conference. February 2012. Cornell Cooperative Extension - Hudson Valley Region. Middletown, NY.
• Diseases of Bedding Plamts. Capital District Bedding Plant School. January 2012. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties. Latham, NY.