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Red crown rot makes an appearance across Indiana

An extension plant pathologist at Purdue University says red crown rot is spreading across Indiana.

Darcy Telenko says it has been confirmed in six counties.

“We’re still finding new areas with the disease,” she says. “Rush, Decatur, Spencer and Allen, were the four counties that had been confirmed last year and in the year prior. This year we’re finding it again in new fields that were found last year. We’re finding it in new fields in those counties.”

She says the disease can be hard to detect.

“It mimics the other soilborne diseases that we experience here in Indiana that appear during the reproductive stages, chlorosis of the leaves,” she says. “There will be patchy little spots that appear, and then as the leaf tissue develops, it will turn into necrotic tissue, leaving the leaf veins green.”

Telenko says if farmers suspect the disease is in their field, submit a sample to the Purdue Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab.

“You may have red crown rot, but you also may have various other diseases as well,” she says. “That way we can confirm it. Right now we’re trying to determine the distribution of the disease.”

To learn more about the disease, click here. To submit a sample to the Purdue Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab, click here.

AUDIO: Darcy Telenko, Purdue University