White Mold (Sclerotinia)
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When it strikes
About
White mold (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) attacks beans, lettuce, carrots and over 400 plant species in cool, moist, dense canopies, producing hard black resting bodies that survive years in soil.
Symptoms
Water-soaked stem and pod rot covered in dense cottony white mould, later embedded with hard black pellets (sclerotia); sudden wilting of branches above the rot.
Organic Treatment
Remove and destroy infected plants with the soil around them, improve airflow, avoid dense planting, and apply a Coniothyrium minitans biocontrol where available.
Chemical Treatment
Boscalid or fluazinam applied at early bloom, when most infections begin.
Prevention
Widen spacing, rotate with cereals or corn, avoid over-irrigation, and bury sclerotia deep with tillage.