The other day, Jeremy and I were scouting cabbage fields when we came across various plants showing bacterial soft rot disease symptoms that is caused by Erwinia spp. At first we noticed a strong putrid odor, and then found several plants that were wilting. When I pulled the cabbage head from one of the wilting plants, I could see where the stem had rotted and collapsed at the base of the cabbage head. As seen in the picture on the right, the cabbage head had evident water-soaked symptoms. This bacterial disease is most often associated with very moist to saturated soil conditions and warm temperatures. The Erwinia spp. bacteria can only enter the plants by the way of wounds and natural openings; and spread throughout the field by insects, splashing water, and contaminated equipment.
