Dr. Phyto

barley

Hordeum vulgare

Diseases & pests on this plant

• barley powdery mildewBlumeria graminis f.sp. hordei

  White cottony pustules on upper leaf surfaces of lower canopy, pustules darken to grey-brown with age, infected leaves yellow and senesce 2–3 weeks early.

• bird cherry-oat aphid (BYDV vector)Rhopalosiphum padi

  Small (1-2mm) olive-green aphids on leaf undersides + stem bases, sticky honeydew on lower leaves, yellow-orange leaf tip discoloration from BYDV transmission (the diagnostic + most damaging symptom), stunted yellow patches in autumn-sown crops, 30-80% yield loss in BYDV epidemic years.

• net blotchPyrenophora teres

  Net-form: thin brown longitudinal + transverse stripes forming a netted pattern on leaf blade; spot-form: round to oval dark brown spots with yellow halo.

• barley scaldRhynchosporium commune

  Pale water-soaked oval lesions with dark brown margins, lesions coalesce to give a scalded appearance on lower leaves, infection moves up canopy with rainsplash.

• brown rust of wheat + ryePuccinia recondita

  Small orange-brown round pustules scattered on upper leaf surfaces (smaller + more random than yellow rust stripes), severe infection causes premature leaf senescence, reduced photosynthesis lowers thousand-grain weight, late-season teliospores form black pustules on dying leaves.

• Russian wheat aphidDiuraphis noxia

  White, yellow and purple longitudinal streaks along leaves; leaves roll into tubes that shelter the aphids and trap the emerging head, causing hooked flag leaves and bleached, sterile or trapped heads; grey-green elongated aphids without visible siphunculi.

• Fusarium crown rotFusarium pseudograminearum

  Honey-brown to chocolate discolouration of the stem base and lower internodes; under moisture or heat stress at grain fill, scattered bleached 'whiteheads' bearing shrivelled or no grain; browning is easiest to see by peeling back lower leaf sheaths.

• Australian plague locustChortoicetes terminifera

  Marching bands of wingless nymphs and later flying swarms that strip pastures and crop leaves; rapid, patchy defoliation spreading from egg-bed areas; heaviest after warm, wet springs that trigger high densities.

• barley brown rustPuccinia hordei

  Small bright orange-brown pustules scattered across upper leaf surfaces, similar pustules on leaf sheaths, infected leaves senesce prematurely.

• Wheat stem rustPuccinia graminis

  Brick-red to reddish-brown, elongated, powdery pustules that rupture the epidermis on stems, leaf sheaths and both leaf surfaces; pustules feel rough and shed rusty spores; late in the season they turn black. Severe attack lodges plants and shrivels grain.

• fusarium head blight / scabFusarium graminearum

  Premature bleaching of individual spikelets during/after flowering, pinkish-orange fungal growth at base of bleached spikelets in humid weather, shrivelled chalky-white kernels (tombstones) at harvest.

• pink snow mouldMicrodochium nivale

  Patches of dead seedlings emerging after snowmelt, pinkish-white fluffy mycelium covering plants in cold humid mornings, surviving plants are stunted with brown crown rot.