Lettuce Disease

 Here we will look at the main disease that you might encounter in your lettuce patch:

Root aphid: The first sign of this is your lettuce will be stunted with yellow wilted leaves and if you pull one of the lettuce up you will find white waxy powder on them.

Solution: Two ways to avoid this is to keep the lettuce well watered and to grow a resistant variety. Deddy or Lakeland are two of the varieties that I use. This problem only effects lettuce between mid-may till the end of June.

Mosaic virus. Your lettuce will have puckered leaves with yellow blotches between the veins also it will be stunted.

Solution: Only thing to do here is to destroy the affected plants.

Bolting: This is an effort by your lettuce to seed. In other words, a flower head will form. This is caused by hot weather or a check to growth.

Solution: There are varieties of lettuce that are resistant to bolting. I grow 'Radichetta' Supply some shade during hot weather and keep harvesting your lettuce; they do not have to reach mature for you to eat it!

Botrytis. This is a grey mould that roots the plant at root level; your lettuce will then collapse. Affects lettuce grown under cover more then those grown outside.

Solution: destroy the affected plant.

Tip burn: The first sign of this is brown dry leaf edges. This is caused by sudden loss of water from the leaves. Your plant should continue to grow normally.

Solution: No harm will come to your lettuce. When your harvests cut the brown bit off and pop in a sandwich.

Butt rot: Stems will have hollow leaves and be rotten at the base.

Solution; Destroy the plant.

Downy mildew: The signs of this are yellow patches on the plants leaves with white growths on the underside of the leave. This is a fairly common fungal disease of lettuce

Solution: destroy the plant. There are resistant varieties, Tin Tin is a good one to use or Breen.

There is not too much to worry about there really. Just have yourself a good program that provides good disease control. Give your lettuce space in-between them so they are not touching each other, make sure they have water and shade if need be. Grow them in healthy soil. I have made no mention of fungicides; I assume that you have no wish to cover your lettuce with chemicals

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