How to Identify and Manage Soft Rot in Lettuce

How to Identify and Manage Soft Rot in Lettuce

Some plant diseases are worse than others. You can pretty easily dispatch powdery mildew if you catch it early.

But others, like soft rot, have no known cure and often result in a lettuce crop that’s totally inedible.

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Sorry to start out on a downer, but I’m not going to sugarcoat things. Soft rot sucks.

When it attacks, there isn’t a whole lot that can be done and it might consign your homegrown veggies to the garbage bin.

Don’t throw your hands up in despair – though I understand the impulse. There are things you can do to prevent this disease in your garden.

And you also want to make sure your plants don’t have one of the other diseases with similar-looking symptoms that can be treated.

That’s where this guide can help. Coming right up, here’s what we’ll go over:

That salad isn’t going to make itself. Let’s figure out what’s going on with your lettuce!

Soft rot is a disease that infects lettuce and many other species. It’s caused by the bacteria Erwinia persicina, Pectobacterium carotovorum, andP. polaris.

These bacteria live in living and dead plant tissue and soil, and they can be carried on tools, clothing, containers, water, soil, plants, or by insects.

When temperatures are between 65 and 95°F, the pathogens rapidly multiply.

Once temperatures climb above 95°F, or if they dip below 35°F, the bacteria stop reproducing altogether.

The pathogens typically infect a plant through wounds created by pest or mechanical damage, but they can also soak into the stomata, which are the pores of the plant, when carried by water.

In some areas, this