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    Home » How to Identify and Manage Soft Rot in Lettuce
    Garden

    How to Identify and Manage Soft Rot in Lettuce

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    How to Identify and Manage Soft Rot in Lettuce
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    A vertical photo of lettuce plants in a garden bed. Green and white text span the center and bottom of the frame.

    Some plant illnesses are worse than others. You’ll be able to fairly simply dispatch powdery mildew when you catch it early.

    However others, like mushy rot, haven’t any identified treatment and infrequently lead to a lettuce crop that’s completely inedible.

    A horizontal close up of a lettuce leaf with soft rot on the edges of the leaf.
    Photograph by Kristine Lofgren.

    We hyperlink to distributors that will help you discover related merchandise. For those who purchase from one among our hyperlinks, we might earn a fee.

    Sorry to start out out on a downer, however I’m not going to sugarcoat issues. Mushy rot sucks.

    When it assaults, there isn’t a complete lot that may be finished and it’d consign your homegrown veggies to the rubbish bin.

    Don’t throw your fingers up in despair – although I perceive the impulse. There are issues you are able to do to stop this illness in your backyard.

    And also you additionally need to make certain your crops don’t have one of many different illnesses with similar-looking signs that can be handled.

    That’s the place this information can assist. Coming proper up, right here’s what we’ll go over:

    That salad isn’t going to make itself. Let’s work out what’s happening along with your lettuce!

    What Is Mushy Rot? 

    Mushy rot is a illness that infects lettuce and lots of different species. It’s attributable to the micro organism Erwinia persicina, Pectobacterium carotovorum, and P. polaris.

    These micro organism dwell in residing and useless plant tissue and soil, and they are often carried on instruments, clothes, containers, water, soil, crops, or by bugs.

    A horizontal close up of a lettuce leaf that has water soaked lesions along the edges.
    Photograph by Kristine Lofgren.

    When temperatures are between 65 and 95°F, the pathogens quickly multiply.

    As soon as temperatures climb above 95°F, or in the event that they dip beneath 35°F, the micro organism cease reproducing altogether.

    The pathogens usually infect a plant via wounds created by pest or mechanical injury, however they will additionally soak into the stomata, that are the pores of the plant, when carried by water.

    In some areas, that is probably the most harmful illness of economic lettuce.

    And along with lettuce, these pathogens can infect different veggie patch crops like cabbage, celery, chilis, tomatoes, potatoes, and squash.

    Signs

    Seeds contaminated with mushy rot will fail to germinate, however it’s unattainable to inform whether or not this was the trigger with out sending them to your native extension for testing.

    At any charge, there’s nothing you are able to do at that time besides take preventative measures subsequent time you sow.

    Additionally, in case your seeds fail or your seedlings are symptomatic, toss them out. It’s probably the entire packet is contaminated.

    A horizontal shot of a lettuce plant in a garden with soft rot along the edges of the leaves.
    Photograph by Kristine Lofgren.

    Mushy rot causes seedlings to fully collapse. For those who study the younger plant carefully, you may normally see intensive rot on the base.

    In older crops, this illness causes water-soaked brown spots to kind on the leaves, in addition to rot within the middle of the crown. Because it progresses, this may trigger the plant to die.

    The injury normally begins on the older, outer leaves and ultimately makes its strategy to the middle of the plant.

    To make issues worse, you may assume your greens escaped this dastardly illness, solely to seek out that they begin rotting after you’ve harvested.

    Mushy Rot, Lettuce Drop, or Backside Rot?

    Lettuce drop is a illness that appears extraordinarily much like mushy rot. It causes brown, rotten decay on the leaves and stems, and may also be accompanied by a fetid odor.

    As well as, you may additionally see wilted patches with a cotton-like mildew rising on them on the underside of the leaves. It’s this latter symptom that units lettuce drop aside.

    Attributable to Sclerotinia minor, signs are usually solely famous on elements of the plant which can be touching the soil.

    Backside rot is usually confused for mushy rot as effectively, not as a result of the signs look the identical however as a result of their names are related. Backside rot is attributable to Rhizoctonia solani, which lives within the soil and infects quite a few species.

    On leaves that make contact with the soil, rusty brown spots kind alongside the decrease midribs. Stems don’t grow to be symptomatic till your entire plant collapses.

    Positive that mushy rot is what you’re coping with? Let’s speak about treating it.

    Therapy

    This part left deliberately clean.

    I child, however there isn’t any efficient therapy as soon as your plant is contaminated with mushy rot. It’s one of many causes this illness is so devastating.

    All you are able to do is pull the plant and eliminate it in a sealed rubbish bag to stop the an infection from spreading.

    Prevention

    To start out with, prevention is all about good gardening practices, like solely utilizing sterile potting media and all the time cleansing your pots and instruments earlier than utilizing them.

    A horizontal photo of a gardener's hand in a glove digging in rich garden soil with a wooden-handled gardening trowel.

    When planting, maintain your lettuce effectively spaced to enhance air circulation, and apply straw mulch across the base of the crops to scale back water splashing.

    Don’t water on high of the foliage. Be sure to’re watering on the soil stage.

    Subsequent, do your finest to maintain pests away as they create openings for the pathogens to enter via. You must also take care when pulling out weeds to not injury your crop.

    When harvesting, be tremendous cautious to not trigger any injury to the foliage. Do your harvesting within the afternoon when the leaves are dry.

    After harvest, retailer your greens between 35 and 39°F within the fridge to stop the micro organism from reproducing if it’s current.

    Lastly, selecting resistant cultivars to start with is your finest wager at prevention.

    Resistant Cultivars

    There are lots of mushy rot-resistant cultivars and new ones are coming available on the market on a regular basis.

    A horizontal photo of lettuce plants growing in rows in a garden. The beds are mulched all around with straw.

    Search for the frilly, crimson, oak leaf ‘Bacchus,’ the tight heads of the Batavia often called ‘Minetto,’ the ruffled iceberg ‘Empire,’ or the Bibb-type ‘Sylvesta.’

    The iceberg ‘Ithica’ is an alternative choice, developed by Minotti at Cornell College within the Sixties in an effort to create a cold-hardy, disease-resistant plant that may tolerate poor soil and drought.

    It gained’t bolt in the summertime warmth both. No marvel it nabbed the All-America Alternatives vegetable class award in 1963.

    A square product photo of Ithaca Crisphead lettuce against a black background.

    ‘Ithica’

    Add it to your backyard by heading to True Leaf Market. They carry packets of seeds in numerous sizes.

    ‘Magenta’ is one other resistant cultivar, and it has stunning, ruffled inexperienced and bronze foliage on a summer season crisp kind.

    It’s a well-liked cultivar within the Pacific Northwest as a result of it could actually deal with nonstop rain for weeks and weeks with out succumbing to rot. It’s actually harder concerning the winter rain within the space than I’m!

    A square product photo of Magenta lettuce.

    ‘Magenta’

    Deliver residence seeds for planting from Excessive Mowing Natural Seeds in portions starting from 500 to 500 million.

    If unfastened leaf is your factor, ‘New Purple Fireplace’ is fairly sufficient to be a decorative. It has giant, ruffled leaves which can be inexperienced on the base and transition to crimson on the tops.

    Much less prone to bolt in the summertime than many different cultivars, it resists fungal illnesses in addition to mushy rot.

    A square product photo of New Red Fire lettuce against a white background.

    ‘New Purple Fireplace’

    Go to True Leaf Market to buy a two-gram, one-ounce, four-ounce, or one-pound bundle of seeds.

    Banish This Soiled, Rotten Illness

    Like I mentioned, mushy rot isn’t one thing you need to encounter. For those who’re already coping with it, my honest condolences.

    However now you’re hopefully armed with the information to keep away from it sooner or later. I do know that since I began being extra diligent about prevention, I’ve not often encountered this problem.

    A horizontal shot of a few leaves of lettuce suffering from soft rot in the palm of a gardener's hand.

    For those who’re dealing with this downside now, which signs are you seeing? Or possibly you’ve got a favourite resistant cultivar that you simply’d prefer to share. Both approach, tell us within the feedback part beneath.

    I’m hoping that you simply by no means should face this foe once more!

    When you’re on the highway to completely happy, wholesome, leafy greens, you may need to be taught extra about rising lettuce. Listed here are just a few guides to get you began:

    Images by Kristine Lofgren © Ask the Consultants, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for extra particulars. Product pictures through Excessive Mowing Natural Seeds and True Leaf Market. Uncredited pictures: Shutterstock.

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