Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Have been hearing about this disease for many moons as a major threat to cruciferous crops in southern Australia and the last 2 years some of the doomsdayers have been bang on the money. Problem with it is it is hosted by all broadleaf crops and the only way to avoid damage on cruciferous plants (brassicas) once you have the fungus resident in your local environment is to not grow them.

We are controlling it using fungicides in big licks (thanks to off patent triazoles) but in aquaponics I assume most would be reluctant to go down this path.

Things to do to avoid it:

1. Burn cruciferous crop waste.
2. Do not grow cruciferous after cruciferous (eg brocolli after brocolli/cabbage/brussels/collards/cauli/radish/canola etc).
3. Be prepared to have to use fungicides.

We had one paddock we hadn't sown canola on for eight years and it was bad with sclero lesions. It is obvious the amount of canola being grown in the Wheatbelt there are large amounts of spores moving in the air.

I cannot grow Brassicas of any description in one of my systems, the indoor IBC system. If I start them from seed they get to the first true leaf stage and drop dead. If I buy established seedlings in punnets and gently rinse most of the potting mix off the roots in tepid water, as I do with many other seedlings, they don't grow, then after a week or two they yellow off and die. I've given up.

My outdoor system doesn't have an issue, I think it may be to do with the natural checks and balances present in the outdoor system... The natural beneficial fungi etc that can inhabit the system.