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Hi All,

Can you all take a look at the disease pic's in my diary. I also have all the info and symptoms etc on there to.

Thanks so much!

Martin

7/20/2009 7:00:56 PM

Mt.Pleasant,Iowa

Yes Martin I know it well. I have had it for 5 years here. It is a root disease (Rhizoctonia) There is no cure but can be managed with fungicides to a degree. I am still fighting it with drenches of Cleary's 3336. Other stuff is Banrot and Cavalier,Heritage.I have been drenching about every 10 days and not sure If I have done enough. It is activated by warm soil and imbalanced soil with high nitrogen. Do not mulch soil with straw or grass. I have seen it in the same patch as last years but have not drenched like I should have because plants were mangled and mostly dead. Now they are growing everywhere but I have seen the bad stuff and have sprayed to see if I can control it. I will wait a week to see if it gets better or pumpkin grows. If pumpkins abort then will pull plants. It is hard to drench several plants.They say you can use composted bark chips as mulch can reduce the pathogen. So I will be going to the compost center this fall.

7/20/2009 9:55:27 PM

Minnesota([email protected])

Marty could be right.
Another disease to consider is Yellow Vine Decline.

7/20/2009 11:54:49 PM

derry n.h u.s.a.

Hi Martin.
this link may help
Westernfarmservice.com/NewsLetters/Turf/Rhizoctonia

7/20/2009 11:57:17 PM

Thnaks guys. Would moving to a brand new patch next year help, Or would the disease be in the new soil to? Also is the any fungicides that will help prevent/ stop it??

Thanks again!

Martin

7/21/2009 8:06:32 AM

Wi

Martin, I've had root disease bad the last 3 years. My particular disease has been pythium. Leaves look identical to yours. My neighbor last year was wiped out by root disease also. His lab diagnosis was pythium, phytothphora and rhizoctonia...all 3 diseases in one root sample!

I'd HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend sending root samples to a pathology lab. You can't prevent a mystery disease. It's not expensive to do this at all. Blind applying useless fungicides is expensive.

The best preventative is to move locations and never grow there again...ever. 2nd best would be to replace the soil as best you can and hit it hard with fungicides / biologicals next season. It's only a matter of time or one big soaking rain before the diseases re-colonize.

Don't look into chemicals or biologicals until you know for sure what you are dealing with.

7/21/2009 9:10:37 AM

Mt.Pleasant,Iowa

Yep get a sample, I finally did and this is what it was. The other levels were not as high as Rhizoctonia was. I tried fungicides before trying to figure it out and was shooting in the dark. Good Luck!

7/21/2009 9:39:05 AM

Anamosa, IA [email protected]

Martin, I had a similar problem cause problems in 2006 and wipe me out in 2007. I didn't have the bucks for a lab analysis, so I treated it like pythium. I dug drainage ditches to get better soil drainage. I pulled out the sprinklers and now only water by hand and only when they really need it. I quit mulching for weed control. I started on a regular schedule of Aliette treatments. Last year was very wet, but the 2 plants I concentrated on did OK. The ones that didn't look good didn't get the full Aliette treatment and showed some disease signs. And this year I rotated to a different spot, used Espoma starter plus with micorrhizae and beneficial bacteria. So far there is no sign of the problem.

7/21/2009 10:09:05 AM

Ok will do guys.
Chris, do you know were I can find A pathology lab on the web thats well know so I can get there address to send a sample to. Also how do you take the sample and from what part of the plant?? Thanks for all of your help!

Martin

7/21/2009 10:17:38 AM

Wi

Martin, try your state extension agency. I did mine right from the University of Wisconsin. You can use the UW also, but it will cost you more because you don't live in WI.

All you need to do is send a quart baggie full of some of the roots from the crown. Send some nice looking ones and some of the brown shredded roots. The brown ones are the ones that are full of disease.

7/21/2009 10:49:14 AM

Nashville, TN

I agree with switching plots if you can. About every third year I have to move mine. I'm sure that there's a rotation crop that could be used to lower incidence of the pathogen - maybe a local Ag agent would have a recommendation? I personally just seed turf that doesn't actively 'assist' the pathogen. Haven't reused any of the old patches for 'kins though, so don't know if the pathogens were reduced.

I did notice that the three that hit me in '07 did not affect the C.pepos that were next to affected C.maxima. Didn't seem to affect any of the gourds either. Haven't looked into it much further than that though.

7/22/2009 6:51:59 AM