• Vegetable Events Calendar

Photo Gallery of Vegetable Problems

Beet

Diseases

Disease: Phoma leaf spot and root rot
Pathogens: Phoma betae (Pleospora betae)
Host crops: Table beet, sugar beet, Swiss chard.

Symptoms of Phoma leaf spot on table beet. Note the small, pinhead size, dark fruiting bodies (pycnidia) of the pathogen on the dead tissue in the larger lesions.	Symptoms of Phoma leaf spot on table beet.	A colony of Phoma betae growing on potato dextrose agar.	Holdfasts typically formed by Phoma betae when the fungus is grown on water agar and the hyphae come into contact with the plastic lower surface of the petri plate.
Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

Online Resources:

https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/beet-red-beta-vulgaris-phoma-leaf-spot-and-root-rot

Disease: Powdery mildew
Pathogens: Erysiphe betae (= E. polygoni or Microsphaera betae)
Host crops: Table beet, sugar beet, Swiss chard

Powdery mildew on a table beet leaf.	A table beet leaf infected with powdery mildew (left) compared to a non-infected lead (right).
Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

Online Resources:

https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/beet-red-beta-vulgaris-powdery-mildew

https://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r735100611.html

Disease: Ramularia leaf spot
Pathogen: Ramularia beticola
Host crops: Most vegetables in the Chenopodiaceae, i.e., sugar beet, table beet, and Swiss chard.

Ramularia leaf spot on Swiss chard leaves.		Typical large, necrotic leaf spots caused by Ramularia beticola on a leaf sampled from a Swiss chard seed crop.	Discrete, circular, necrotic lesions of Ramularia leaf spot on a leaf sampled from a Swiss chard seed crop.	Two-celled, hyaline spores of Ramularia beticola from an infected Swiss chard leaf.
Photo Source: D.A. Inglis, Washington State University		Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

On-Line Resources:

Pacific Northwest Plant Disease Management Handbook: Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris) – Ramularia Leaf Spot.
 

Disease: Rhizoctonia basal petiole and crown infection
Pathogens:Rhizoctonia
Host crops: Many vegetables are susceptible to infection by Rhizoctonia spp., which are common soilborne fungi. In beet and Swiss chard, these fungi can infect the base of petioles and the crown or main root at or below the soil surface, particularly in moist soil conditions. During very wet conditions, infection can also occur on the leaves.

Severe root and crown symptoms caused by infection of plants in a Swiss chard seed crop by Rhizoctonia.	Lesion at the base of a Swiss chard petiole caused by Rhizoctonia.	Swiss chard foliar lesions caused by Rhizoctonia.	Severe root, crown, and petiole infection by Rhizoctonia on a Swiss chard plant.
Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

Online Resources:

Pacific Northwest Plant Disease Management Handbook

Disease: Rust
Pathogens:Uromyces betae
Host crops: Table beet

Symptoms of rust on table beet.
Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

Online Resources:

https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/beet-red-beta-vulgaris-rust

Disease: Scab
Pathogen: Streptomyces scabies

Photo Source: D.A. Inglis

On-Line Resources:

 

Insect/Mite Pests

Common names: Numerous aphids can infest vegetable crops, e.g., bean aphid, cowpea aphid, green peach aphid, melon aphid, and potato aphid.
Latin binomial: Numerous types of aphids including Aphis fabae (bean aphid), Myzus persicae (green peach aphid), Aphis gossypii (melon aphid), and Acrosiphum euphorbiae (potato aphid)
Host crops: In addition to beet, cucumber, corn seed, melon, potato, tomato, eggplant and pepper, aphids can feed on many other vegetables including broccoli, cabbage, spinach, Swiss chard, squash, pumpkin, as well as many weed species including Brassicaceae (cruciferous) weeds.

Cowpea aphid infesting a table beet seed crop.
Photo Source: Bev Gerdeman, WSU Entomologist

Online Resources:

Pacific Northwest Insect Management Handbook: Vegetable crop pests-Aphid

Common Insect & Mite: Aphids, Washington State University Hortsense.

Common name: Beet leafminer and spinach leafminer
Latin binomial: Pegomya betae and Pegomya hyoscyami
Host crops: Beet, spinach, sugar beet, Swiss chard, and many weeds including lamb’s-quarters, chickweed, and nightshade

Damage from beet leafminer	Damage from beet leafminer
Photo Source: Kari Saunders	Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

Online Resources:

Pacific Northwest Plant Disease Management Handbook: Beet, table-Leafminer. 

Common name: Cutworms

Latin binomial: Various cutworms can feed on beets, e.g., Agrostis ipsilon (black cutworm), Apamea devastator (glassy cutworm), redbacked cutworm (Euxoa ochrogaster), army cutworm (Euxoa auxiliaris), spotted cutworm (Xestica c-nigrum), and variegated cutworm (Peridroma saucia).

Host crops: Wide host range, including many vegetables such as beet (sugar beet, table beet, fodder beet), bean, carrot, onion, spinach, potato, etc. Subterranean species feed on plant roots and stems, cutting the plants at the soil surface. Climbing species are nocturnal, i.e., they hide in the soil during the day and cut off plants at the soil surface or feed on new leaves and stems in the crown.

A table beet showing feeding injury from cutworms, and a cutworm larva found feeding on the root.	A cutworm larva found feeding on plants in a table beet crop.	A cutworm larva feeding on a golden table beet root.
Photo Source: Bev Gerdeman, Washington State University Entomologist

Online resources:

https://insect.pnwhandbooks.org/vegetable-seed/table-beet/table-beet-seed-armyworm-cutworm-and-looper

https://insect.pnwhandbooks.org/legume-grass-field-seed/sugar-beet/sugar-beet-seed-cutworm

Common name: Root aphid
Latin binomial: Pemphigus betae, Pemphigus populivenae
Host crops: Table beet, sugar beet, Swiss chard

Root aphids on the root of a plant in a table beet seed crop.
Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

Online Resources:

https://insect.pnwhandbooks.org/agronomic/sugar-beet/sugar-beet-sugar-beet-root-aphid

https://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r735300511.html

Common name: Springtails (subterranean types)
Latin binomial: Order Collembola. There are numerous types of springtails or collembola, which are divided into two groups – subterranean springtails and surface springtails.
Host crops: Multiple vegetables, but most damage has been reported on spinach and beets, primarily in heavier, organic soils during very wet, cool spring conditions.

A subterranean springtail extracted from soil in a spinach seed crop.
Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

On-Line Resources:

Springtails Springtails in Sugarbeet: Identification, Biology, and Management. North Dakota State University, Fargo

Control of Subterranean Springtails in Sugarbeet Using Granular, Liquid, and Seed Treatment Insecticides. North Dakota State University, Fargo

Springtail feeding on emerging crops (especially sugarbeet). Michigan State University

Pest: Springtail. Pest Spotter, Bayer CropScience

Also, see Swiss Chard: Springtails

 

Common name: Spider mites

Latin binomial: Tetranychus spp. including twospotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae), strawberry spider mite (Tetranychus turkestani), and Pacific spider mite (Tetranychus pacificus)

Host crops: Wide host range, including many vegetables such as bean, carrot, spinach, potato, etc.

Severe two-spotted spider mite infestation in a table beet seed crop, with webbing, mites, and eggs on seed stalks.			Lower surface of a beet leaf showing stippling and webbing from two-spotted spider mite infestation.
Photo Source: Bev Gerdeman, WSU Entomologist

Two-spotted spider mite adult and eggs on a potato leaf.	Eggs of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae.
Photo Source: Silvia Rondon, Oregon State University

Online Resources:

Carrot seed – Twospotted spider mite. PNW Insect Management Handbook, Chapter: Vegetable Seed, Section: Carrot Seed.

See Diseases, pests, and other problems common to many vegetables: Spider mites.

Managing spider mites in gardens and landscapes. University of California Online Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program.

Abiotic Problems

Herbicide Injury

Problem: Injury from application of specific herbicides to certain parent lines in seed crops, higher rates of application of some herbicides, or application of tank mixes (combinations) of some herbicides.

Crops affected: Some table beet and Swiss chard parent lines are more sensitive than others to injury by specific herbicides, even when these products are applied at recommended (labeled) rates; or injury can occur when higher rates of certain herbicides are applied to beet and chard crops; or injury may occur when certain herbicides are applied in tank-mix combinations.

Damage to the new growth of a female inbred line in a hybrid table beet seed crop associated with application of a combination of herbicides.		Damage to the new growth of plants in an open-pollinated table beet seed crop observed in May 2016 following application of a high rate of the herbicide Nortron (active ingredient ethofumesate).
Photo Source: Tim Miller, Washington State University		Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

Damage to the new growth of plants in an open-pollinated table beet seed crop observed in May 2016 following application of a high rate of the herbicide Nortron (active ingredient ethofumesate).
Photo Source: Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University

Online Resources:

Herbicide Symptoms, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Herbicide Modes and Action and Symptoms on Plants, Richard Smith, Farm Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension.