Environmental conditions favorable for northern leaf blight development on maize

Abstract

Airborne conidia of Setosphaeria turcica, the pathogen causing northern leaf blight (NLB), were trapped in a Durham’s sampler after nights that had relative humidity ≥90% for 10 or more hours and temperature ≥15°C. When conidial dispersal was followed by another warm, humid night favorable for infection, the number of NLB lesions increased rapidly after a latent period of a few weeks.