''Colletotrichum orbiculare'' is a plant pathogen of

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

s and

cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.anthracnose A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...

that can effect curcubits causing lesions on various parts of the plant. It can effect cucumbers, melon, squash, watermelon and

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

, especially when the weather is rainy,

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

and warm. It can be transmitted by seed as well as soil and survive between crops. It is also spread by feeding cucumber beetles, splashing water, tools and workers. Efforts to control the fungus include the practice of rotating cucurbits out for a 2-year period, planting

cultivars A cultivar is a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue cult ...

with resistance, burning infected crops and careful control of weeds. Chemical control measures are also available.

Management

Partners of the

CABI CABI (in various spellings) is an abbreviation that may refer to: * Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI, sometimes also referred to as CAB International), a UK-based nonprofit inter-governmental organisation for scientific res ...

-led programme, Plantwise from the Ministry of Agriculture in Zambia have several recommendations for managing ''C. orbiculare'', these include; using certified, disease-free seed and disease tolerant varieties where possible. They also recommend rotating melons with breaks of at least 2–3 seasons with cereals, legumes or brassicas, because the disease stays in the soil for a long time. They suggest destroying any volunteer crops by burying outside of fields and pruning plants to reduce humidity and increase airflow.

Sources

References

orbiculare Fungal plant pathogens and diseases Fruit and vegetable pathogens and diseases Fungi described in 1838 Fungus species {{plant-disease-stub