Wire Stem (Rhizoctonia solani )

Symptoms

• This disease is more serious in nursery beds.
• The affected young seedlings show reddish brown discolouration of the stem near the ground level.
• This area gets constricted and the plants bent or twist without breaking.
• In some cases, the seedling continues to grow even though the lesion girdles the stem.
• The lesion is quite sunken, and the stem resembles a wire, hence the name 'wirestem'.
• The girdled seedling eventually dies.

Management

• Soil used for preparing raised beds should be well- drained.
• Excessive irrigation should be avoided to reduce humidity around the plants.
• The seedlings in the seedbed should be adequately spaced to allow maximum air movement.
• While transplanting, the seedlings showing symptoms of 'wirestem' disease should be discarded.
• Seed treatment with antagonist fungal culture of Trichoderma viride (3-4 g/kg of seed) is effective.

Chemical Control

Extremely Toxic

Highly Toxic

Moderately Toxic

Slightly Toxic