Sclerotia were produced by growing several isolates of the fungus in the laboratory. Twenty-five sclerotia were placed in each of 216 small nylon bags. The percentage of surviving sclerotia decreased with increasing time of burial. In general, buried sclerotia survived better than sclerotia left on the soil surface. Survival was lowest for sclerotia left on the surface in plots without debris.
Results suggest that burying sclerotia in late winter or early spring enhances their survival.
NC 7, NC 12C, and VA 98R were planted in the spring using conventional tillage. One-half the plots were mulched with oat straw in early July. No mulch effects were observed at these extremely high levels of disease. Incidence of CBR on NC 12C was about half that on NC 7 or VA 98R and soil populations of Cylindrocladium differed accordingly. Yield data were not taken due to the high levels of disease.