Effect of Soil Deposition in Crowns on Development of Rhizoctonia Root Rot in Sugar Beet. C. L. Schneider, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA, ARS, East Lansing, MI 48823. E. G. Ruppel, Research Plant Pathologist, and R. J. Hecker, Research Geneticist, USDA, ARS, Crops Research Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523; and G. J. Hogaboam, Research Agronomist, USDA, ARS, East Lansing. Plant Dis. 66:408-410. Accepted for publication 28 July 1981. 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, 1982. DOI: 10.1094/PD-66-408.

Our greenhouse and field experiments showed that soil deposition in and around sugar beet crowns (hilling) aggravated root rot in soils infested with Rhizoctonia solani. In the greenhouse, hilled plants had root rot sooner and more severely than unhilled plants. In field plots at two locations, in two of three experiments, hilling significantly increased root rot incidence and severity in resistant and in susceptible cultivars.

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