Look for clubroot as it expands toward Sask.

Clubroot damaged canola plants have been spotted in a few new regions of Alberta this fall. The disease continues to move east.

Clubroot infected canola will often ripen prematurely. For this reason, clubroot infection is often confused with heat stress or other diseases such as sclerotinia, fusarium wilt or blackleg. Proper diagnosis of clubroot should always include digging up plants to check for gall formation on roots. (See below for photos of early gall formation.)

The best time to scout for clubroot symptoms on roots is late in the season, approximately two weeks before swathing, since root galls should be easy to identify at this time. Another option is to identify patches of concern while swathing and sample afterwards. Note that if suspicious plants are not sampled until after swathing, the root galls may have decayed already, and typical whitish galls will no longer be present. Click here for more on clubroot identification.