In Fall 2001, target spot was again very severe, causing an average of 70% defoliation in control plots a full month before the final harvest (Table 3). Fruit damage from target spot was severe with an average of 42% of fruit culled because of target spot lesions. There was no
difference detected in the amount of target spot fruit damage among treatments. The SAR activator, acibenzolar-S-methyl, provided excellent protection whether used throughout the crop or only sprayed in the middle of the crop cycle. On 28 November, defoliation from target spot
was reduced 42% in plots where acibenzolar-S-methyl was sprayed weekly from the time of transplanting with the addition of weekly applications of copper hydroxide and mancozeb 5 weeks after transplanting.