By Cerese Bawolin, B.Sc., Plant Health Technician, Crop Protection Lab, Regina
The month of June was colder than usual for many producers and some had a lot of precipitation. Due to the climate, many plants were submitted to the laboratory with symptoms of environmental stress due to cold weather, wet feet, frost and herbicide carry-over.
CPL has received 31 sample submissions in June. The samples submitted include wheat, durum, flax, canola, clover and lentils. Tree samples such as spruce, cedar and apple trees were also submitted.
The significant crop disease diagnosis this June was fungal leaf spot complex diseases on cereal crops, including tan spot, septoria, stagonospora on durum and leaf spot complex/scald of barley. Other diseases of note were found on forage clover – fusarium root and crown rot and canola plants with damping-off and seedling blight caused by rhizoctonia solani.
The picture to the right shows an example of one of the diseased cereal crops sent to the lab with leaf lesions.
A summary of important CPL samples diagnosed in June 2022 is indicated in the table below:
| Plant | Diagnosis |
|---|---|
| Winter wheat | Drought and Fusarium Root Rot |
| Durum | Tan Spot |
| Durum | Tan Spot and Septoria/Stagnospora |
| Barley | Leaf spot complex including Scald |
| Clover | Fusarium root and crown rot |
| Flax | Seeding depth |
| Flax | Environmental - cold weather and wet feet |
| Canola | Herbicide Damage - Group 2 and Insect Damage |
| Hemp | Herbicide Damage - Group 2 |
| Canola | Damping-off and seeding blight |
| Lentil | Herbicide Damage - Group 2 and 4 |
| Lentil | Seeding Depth |
| Tobacco | Brown Spot of Tobacco |
| Spruce Tree | Insect and Sapsucker Damage |
| Spruce Tree | Environmental - drought and summer kill |
Dutch Elm Disease (DED)
symptoms of Dutch Elm Disease
The laboratory received 28 DED samples for testing in June. Please continue to keep an eye out for DED symptoms and submit samples to the laboratory for testing. The deadline for DED sample submissions is August 30, 2022.
Insect Identification
Twenty-five insect identifications including cutworms and wheat stem maggot damage were diagnosed in June 2022. Some examples identified in the lab were Springtails, Stiletto Fly Larvae and click beetle species – Collombola, Therividae, Hypnoidus Bicolor respectively.
Weed Identification
Weed samples identified in the lab for June 2022 were dame’s rocket (Hesperis matronalis L.), cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum) and scouring rush (Equisetum hyemale L.).
The picture to the right is an example of one of the invasive weeds that were identified in the lab.