CULT: Soft Rot (was Digest 14)
- To: i*@onelist.com
- Subject: CULT: Soft Rot (was Digest 14)
- From: "* a* C* W* <c*@digitalpla.net>
- Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 08:14:34 -0600
From: "Jeff and Carolyn Walters" <cwalters@digitalpla.net>
Carryl Meyer wrote:
> A yuckie, brown, mushy, smelly rot--which I rarely had before this
> year -what do I do to the rot to get it under control before I loose
> whole clumps to it?
and Phyllis Soine replied:
When I encountered this problem in the spring, I used a combination of
things: I poured 25% clorox (1 part clorox + 3 parts water) on the
affected plants. I used a knife and cut out the affected part of the
rhizome, and then poured Comet on the cut area. This sometimes had to
be repeated. I do have some part of each affected plant that has
survived. I have also sprayed with fungicides, before and after the
mushy rot occurred.Good Luck!
From Carryl's description it is obvious that her problem is soft rot,
caused by the bacterium Erwinia carotovora (the specific name means
"carrot-eater", and if you've ever had the carrots in your vegetable garden
turn to mush, it is the same stuff at work). Since the cause of the rot is
bacterial, not fungal, treating with a fungicide is not going to help cure
it (though it could help prevent secondary fungal infection). The
recommended treatment of cleaning out the infected tissue, disinfection (as
with clorox), and exposing the affected rhizomes to sunlight and better air
circulation usually works fine. If you are looking for something that will
specifically cure a bacterial infection, try a general purpose agricultural
antibiotic, such as Terramycin. Again, let me emphasize that this is
usually not necessary, and with all the overuse and misuse of antibiotics
that is taking place, probably should not be encouraged as a general
practice.
With the weather patterns this year, there is a lot more soft rot than
usual in evidence in northern Utah, just as it appears there is in western
Montana.
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (USDA Zone 4, Sunset Zone 2)
cwalters@digitalpla.net
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