Re: White Foam,ooze
>>> "Ethan Jervis" <ejervis@mindspring.com> 08/04 2:03 PM >>>
Hello all. Once again I have the dreaded "White Foam" coming out of the stump and also about a foot down
the vive from the stump. Is it PHYTOPHTHORA? I'm not sure because the rest of the plant looks great!!
No wilting leaves etc.
To Ethan Jervis, Mark Pieta, and list
I had very similar symptoms with my best plant, It is still alive and kicking but lost over half the main stem from the midpoint out.
The ooze and foam started at the base. Thank you Robert Troy for some great advise! Leaving all human speculation behind
I overnighted some plant material to the Perdue University Agricultural lab. They have a great PDF file on most if not all the known
diseases that effect pumpkins, go to their site, {http://www.agcom.purdue.edu/AgCom/Pubs/menu.htm}
I have a few plans for next year to hopefully prevent a reoccurrence.
1)Plant rotation with a noncucurbit crop or a one year rest with a cover crop.
2)The use of competing fungi {root Boost}, Endomycorrhizol fungi that 'innoculate' the soil and out compete the disease fungi spores.
I have also heard of Soil Guard, Root Guard, Root Shield, T-22.
3)Apply more anti-fungal sprays like copper and Captan before any symptoms appear.
Here is the results from the lab:
HOST: Pumpkin
CULTIVAR: Atlantic Giant
SAMPLE CONDITION: Fair
INFO DESIRED: Problem ID; Control measures
NOTES:
The stem sample had decayed a bit during shipment, but most of it was intact. I examined the sample under the microscope, but did not see any diagnostic signs of Phytophthora or other pathogenic fungi. A more definitive test for fungal pathogens is microbial isolation, and I have cultured from portions of this stem to detect plant pathogenic fungi. This test takes a few days to complete, and I will contact you with the results as soon as I can. Karen Rane, Plant Disease Diagnostician
8-4-00 I recovered Rhizoctonia, Fusarium and Pythium from the discolored stem sections in the microbial isolation test. Any one of these fungi alone could cause stem rot. These are soil-borne fungi that are common inhabitants of Indiana soils, and they invade plant tissue when environmental conditions are less favorable for plant growth ( for example, when conditions are wet or stems are wounded in some way). There is no effective chemical control for these soilborne root and stem diseases. Crop rotation with noncucurbit plants can be beneficial by reducing the amount of inoculum (fungal spores) in the soil. An even moisture supply, or even running the plants slightly dry, should also help reduce these diseases. Karen Rane, Plant Disease Diagnostician
Most Purdue publications are available electronically at the following
address: http://www.agcom.purdue.edu/AgCom/Pubs/menu.htm
A hard copy of your response and any enclosures are being sent to you
via campus mail or US mail.
Identification No. 1
COMMON NAME: Stem rot
AGENT/FAMILY: Fungal
AGENT/SPECIES: Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, Pythium
CERTAINTY OF ID: Confirmed
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