Production of Sclerotia of Sclerotinia minor on Lettuce in the Field and Their Distribution in Soil After Disking. P. B. Adams, Research Plant Pathologist, Soilborne Diseases Laboratory, Plant Protection Institute, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705. Plant Dis. 70:1043-1046. Accepted for publication 15 July 1986. 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, 1986. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-1043.

Fifteen romaine lettuce plants naturally infected with Sclerotinia minor on two farms in New Jersey produced an average of 3,450 sclerotia per plant with a range of 43 to 12,287 sclerotia per plant. One plant infected with S. sclerotiorum contained 63 sclerotia. When diseased lettuce plants were disked into the soil to a depth of 15 cm, about 70% of the sclerotia were in the top 8 cm of soil, and more than half of those were in the top 2 cm of soil.