Seed Rot and Damping-off of Chenopodium quinoa Caused by Sclerotium rolfsii. P. M. Beckman, Undergraduate Student, Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. H. C. Finch, Professor, Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Plant Dis. 64:497-498. Copyright 1980 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-64-497.

Sclerotium rolfsii was isolated from damped-off seedlings of Chenopodium quinoa in southern California. Susceptibility of C. quinoa to S. rolfsii was demonstrated in vitro and in the greenhouse. Soil organic matter appears to be important in disease development only when S. rolfsii sclerotia become aged and dry but not when inoculum consists of young undried sclerotia. This is the first report of this disease.