Nathan Kleczewski, Extension Specialist – Plant Pathology; nkleczew@udel.edu
Corn and soybeans are getting planted at a decent pace. If you’ve had your seeds in the ground for a few days and those fields have had more than 2-3 inches of rain, then now might be a good time to assess seed treatments. Seedlings with brown roots or coleoptiles/cotyledons are not likely to make it. Healthy looking seedlings should be gently replanted and allowed to carry on with their afternoon. Cool/ wet soils tend to be impacted by Pythium, whereas warmer wet soils often have issues with Fusarium or Rhizoctonia. Phytophthora hasn’t been an issue for us in field crops, particularly soybean, as it has been in other regions of the United States. Diseased seedlings can be sent to your diagnostic clinic for disease confirmation.