Symptom Identification and Management of Cotton Seedling Diseases

Seedling diseases, also known as damping-off (seedling death), are caused by several common soil-inhabiting fungi acting alone or collectively during pre-emergence and postemergence of cotton seedlings. Pre-emergent damping-off refers to rot and death of germinating seeds prior to emergence from the soil. Post-emergent damping-off refers to seedling death after emergence from the soil. Seedling diseases are common but often a minor problem in cotton production areas of Arizona in most years. However, significant stand loss to seedling diseases can occur sporadically in some fields without good crop rotation history, especially when cool, wet weather conditions exist during the first weeks after planting that allow soil temperatures to drop below 65°F. Consequently, growers may have to replant parts or whole fields incurring substantial costs including seed, fuel, labor, additional costs of late season pest control as well as experience yield reductions due to late planting.