A Technique for Detecting Red Stele (Phytophthora fragariae) Infection of Strawberry Stocks Before Planting. James M. Duncan, Scottish Horticultural Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, Scotland. Plant Dis. 64:1023-1025. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1980. DOI: 10.1094/PD-64-1023.

The red stele pathogen, Phytophthora fragariae Hickman, was detected by a “root-tip bait” test in certified commercial stock strawberry plants, supposedly free of disease. Susceptible bait plants were grown in a mixture of compost and root tips cut from runner plants. When root-tip samples were prepared from a combination of 1:99 infected/uninfected runner plants, the test gave positive results in all 10 trials.