PestFacts WA

Slime mould found on canola

• Wittenoom
• Pingrup
• Quairading
• Hyden

Slime mould on a canola plant. Photo courtesy of: Luke Marquis (South East Agronomy Services).

Luke Marquis (SEAS) recently found slime mould on canola at Wittenoom.

Logan Smith (Elders) also tweeted this week that he is seeing slime mould everywhere from Pingrup to Quairading and out to Hyden.

Slime mould found on living canola plants is a little unusual as slime moulds generally appear on decaying plant material when warm wet weather, combined with high nitrogen levels, is experienced.

Plant pathologist Ravjit Khangura (DPIRD) advises that slime mould on living plants should be harmless and not require any control measures. It is expected to disappear if a couple of dry, warm days are experienced.

To read about previous slime mould activity this season, refer to DPIRD’s 2021 PestFax Issue 4 Slime mould article.

For more information on slime moulds, visit DPIRD’s Slime moulds page.

For more information, contact Ravjit Khangura, Senior Research Scientist, South Perth on +61 (0)8 9368 3374.

Article authors: Cindy Webster (DPIRD Narrogin) and Ravjit Khangura (DPIRD South Perth).