Cabbage Diseases: Ecology and Control

Abstract

Cabbage is an important component of the human diet and a source of chemoprotective phytochemicals. Six major diseases of cabbage found worldwide are black rot, clubroot, black spot (dark spot), downy mildew, watery soft rot (white mold), and wirestem. The pathogens causing black rot and black spot can be seedborne. The pathogens causing clubroot, watery soft rot, and wirestem are soilborne; the clubroot organism is remarkably difficult to eradicate from infested soils. Important control measures include seed treat ment with hot water or fungicides, crop rotation to reduce survival of foliar pathogens, scouting to detect disease outbreaks, and judicious application of protectant fungicides. Further research is needed to clarify races of the downy mildew and club root pathogens and to find useful resistance to these two diseases.