Wheat in the Eastern Shore of Maryland has finished flowering. Wheat in the Northern and Western parts of the state is flowering. The weather in Maryland has been a roller coaster this spring, and plants have been under stress due to late frost damage in the beginning and now due to record high temperatures this week.

The FHB risk map shows moderate levels of FHB resistance. If you have planted a susceptible variety which has just flowered last week or is flowering right now, and you have not sprayed FHB fungicides, you can still do so, as fungicide application 4-6 days after flowering is also known to provide some control. The recommended stage for application of fungicides on wheat is at flowering (50% of the main tillers showing yellow anthers) or within 4-5 days of that.

The fungicides effective for FHB are Miravis-Ace/Prosaro/Prosaro-pro/Sphaerex. These products will also control other fungal foliar diseases being observed sporadically in the fields, such as powdery mildew and rusts. These fungicides do not need to be tank-mixed with another product for spraying. The fungicide products should be applied at the full rate recommended by the manufacturers. Strobilurin-containing fungicides should not be sprayed at this stage.

If you have planted a resistant variety, the FHB risk does not seem particularly high at this moment.

--Nidhi Rawat, Small Grains Pathologist, University of Maryland