PestFacts WA

Sclerotinia apothecia continue to be found

• Woodanilling

Sclerotinia apothecia. Photo Courtesy of Bec Swift (DPIRD).

Research officer Alex Douglas (DPIRD) has found apothecia germinating on canola sclerotinia sclerotia in an oats crop at Woodanilling.

Plant pathologist Jean Galloway (DPIRD) advises that no action is required for situations where apothecia are present in an area but canola crops are not flowering.  However, if apothecia are present and there are canola crops in the early bloom stages then growers and their advisors should use the SclerotiniaCM app to help decided if spraying for sclerotinia management is economical for their circumstances.  

DPIRD’s free SclerotiniaCM app is available now to download and aid in fungicide decision making. For more information about this app visit DPIRD’s SclerotinaCM - Sclerotinia Management App page.

For more information on previous apothecia reports received this season and managing sclerotinia refer to;

• DPIRD’s 2019 PestFax Issue 10 article Sclerotinia apothecia are also being found down south
• DPIRD’s 2019 PestFax Issue 9 article Sclerotinia apothecia are being found
• DPIRD’s Managing sclerotinia stem rot in canola page and
• GRDC’s Sclerotinia stem rot in canola fact sheet.

For more information on sclerotinia contact plant pathologists Jean Galloway, Northam on +61 (0)8 9690 2172 or Ciara Beard, Geraldton on +61 (0)8 9956 8504 or Ravjit Khangura, South Perth on +61 (0)8 9368 3374 or Andrea Hills, Esperance on +61 (0)8 9083 1144.