| What is the best control of bacterium erwinia in calla bulbs? |
| Zantesdeschia, or Calla, is susceptible to soft rot (the term given to the infection caused by different species of the Erwinia bacterium). It is an important disease because it infects a wide range of horticultural crops, and no satisfactory control (chemical or otherwise) currently exists. Bacterial soft rot causes the stem to rot near the soil level. The corm becomes infected, the leaves are blighted, and the entire plant wilts and dies. Discard infected plants. The losses due to soft rot can be huge, so you have lots of company - in 1980, worldwide losses attributed to bacterial soft rot were estimated to be about $100 million per year. |
