Avoid growing pea crops in the same field more than once every three or four years. Ascochyta Leaf Blight Management and Control Methodsįor pea crops, crop rotation can be an effective preventative measure. In turf, frequent mowing can help disease development by creating wounds in plant tissue. Splashing rain and sprinkler irrigation help spores to spread from plant to plant. That being said, periods of hot weather followed by unusually high moisture levels can aid disease growth. Lack of rain can cause spore germination and lesion development to be slowed down drastically. Dense and wet canopies in the flowering stage of the plant’s development promote lesion expansion on leaf tissue. The ideal temperature for infection and lesion growth is about 68☏. The ascochyta fungus thrives in extended periods of wet, humid weather. Ascochyta leaf blight affects mainly pea crops and turfgrasses.Identifying these fruiting bodies can help to distinguish the disease from other related diseases. Along with blighting, the fungi produce yellow to dark-brown fruiting bodies on infected leaf tissue. Infected leaves will have a bleached tip dieback covering up to half of the leaf blade. In turf, the fungus is localized, causing infection in grasses to appear in patches. In pea crops, most symptoms are caused by mycosphaerella blight (a genus of Ascomycota). Moist conditions can lead to pod lesions which cause shrunken, discolored seed. Stem girdling will lead to yield loss and crop lodging. Severely affected plants may have stem girdling near the soil line (foot rot). In conditions with extended humidity, flecks may become larger and combine, causing large portions of leaf tissue to be blighted. Ascochyta Leaf Blight Identification and HabitatĪ pea plant infected with ascochyta leaf blight will have small, purplish-brown flecks on its lower canopy where humidity is highest. Symptoms of asochyta leaf blight can appear up to two to four days following infection. Plants that grow from lesioned seedlings can develop foot rot and lose vigor, or they can grow as a healthy plant. Early in the season, infection from soil-borne fungi or seed can cause lesions on seedlings. Ascospores are typically released in the spring and continue to be released in the summer if wet weather is prevalent. These spores, called ascospores, can be spread for miles through water and/or wind dispersal. The fungi begin to produce spores in wet weather and are dispersed to surrounding plants by splashing rain. The ascochyta fungi overwinter in infected crop debris, soil, or seed.
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