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Causal organism - Rhizoctonia solani
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Host range
The disease is known to affect all the major cereals crops and probably most grasses. The strains of the fungus which cause this disease are common and are probably able to infect all crops sensitive to the normal multi-nucleate strains of R. solani. Barley is much more susceptible to the disease than other cereals.
The disease is usually apparent as patches of thin stunted plants, which often show yellowing or purpling with die-back of seedlings in the autumn. Patches may also become visible in early spring as areas of stunted purpled plants. The root systems of plants within these patches are usually poor and much branched. Points of brown rotten tissue may be seen at intervals along the length of the root where they appear as constrictions (actually the result of rotting of the cortex ), often giving the root the appearance of a string of sausages. Affected plants remain thin and stunted throughout the season and their maturity is often delayed. Affected crops are usually confined to sandy loam or loamy sands, in areas such as the Brecklands of Norfolk or Suffolk.
