Plant Pathology: Extension: Plant Disease Library

Pythium Damping-Off - Pythium sp.

Bean, Snap & Pole - Phaseolus vulgaris

Water-soaked lesions beginning just below the soil line and extending up into the branches in the later stage.

Rinse soil from stem. Scrape lesion with scalpel and place in a drop of water and macerate or crush the material. Observe oogonium and antheridium and aseptate mycelium. The oogonium is the large, oval structure and the antheridium is the smaller, somewhat oval, structure touching it.

Disease Management:
Rotation, deep turning. Do not move soil to the lower stems during cultivation.

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Compiled by: Dr. Danny Gay, UGA Vegetable Pathologist, Tifton, GA