Infected plants are usually scattered throughout fields rather than in patches and often go unnoticed. Seedlings have brown spots on coleoptiles, turn brown and may die, the root rot may follow. The result is a reduced number of heads, reduced seed size and reduced number of seeds.
Scouting
Test seed. Scout stand establishment early in the season throughout the field, looking for patches of missing plants. In later stages of emergence, scout for patches of infected plants and check specifically for brown lesions on the coleoptile, especially in hot dry weather. On more mature plants, symptoms appear on tissues near or below the soil surface that will extend up through higher plant parts as the disease`progresses. Dig up plants to see if root development has been damaged.
Control
No resistant cultivars. Use healthy seed and practice crop rotation. Both Raxil T and Vitaflo 280 seed treatments will protect against the Fusarium complex that attacks seeds and seedlings.
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