Integrated Pest Management
Pythium
Pythium spp.
Hosts, Symptoms & Signs
- affects annual and perennial bedding plants
- wilting plants
- roots are brown or black and look rotten
Disease Cycle
- Pythium is common in many soils and only some species are pathogenic to plants under wet conditions
- Pythium spores are able to swim in a film of water toward a root
- Pythium spores enter the root, kill and feed upon it
IPM Recommendations
- Plant disease-free plants to prevent Pythium introduction.
- Clean tools to prevent moving Pythium from one part of the garden to another.
- Prevent excessive soil moisture or standing water as Pythium infects plants under those conditions.
- Remove diseased plants.