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Vegetables

Burdock Growing Guide: Planting, Care & Harvest

A long taproot needing deep loose soil or a tall container, sown in spring and dug carefully in autumn to avoid snapping it.

Burdock

Arctium lappa

Growing calendar

Typical timing for central Japan (Kanto region). Shift it for your own climate, and record your actual dates.

Sow / plantGrowingHarvest

Guides

Common problems

Start from what you can see on the plant.

Pests and diseases (21)

Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.

Fusarium Wilt

Disease

Lower leaves wilt during the day and recover morning and evening, and this cycle repeats as the plant dies back. Cutting the stem reveals characteristic browning of the vascular tissue.

Powdery Mildew

Disease

White patches appear scattered on the upper leaf surface at first, then the whole leaf is coated in a white powder. Leaves later yellow, brown and die back, and reduced photosynthesis cuts growth and yield.

Brown Leaf Spot

Disease

Small light brown to gray-brown spots form on the leaves and enlarge into irregular lesions. When they merge the whole leaf dies and plant vigor drops sharply.

Sclerotinia Rot

Disease

The crown, stem or head rots in a water-soaked way and is covered in white cottony mycelium. Black sclerotia later form inside and on the surface, and the plant wilts and dies.

Southern Blight

Disease

The stem rots at soil level and white silky mycelium spreads over the crown and the surrounding soil surface. Brown sclerotia the size of rapeseed then form and the plant wilts and dies rapidly.

Anthracnose

Disease

Light brown to dark brown round lesions with sharp margins form on leaves and fruit, slightly sunken in the center. In wet weather salmon-pink slimy spore masses ooze out on the lesions.

Bacterial Soft Rot

Disease

The crown or the head becomes water-soaked and soft, then collapses into a slimy mush. The rotting tissue gives off a distinctive foul odor.

Root-lesion Nematode

Pest

Elongated blackish brown necrotic lesions form on the root surface and fine roots rot away. Above ground the stand is uneven and plants stay small with pale foliage.

Root Rot

Disease

Fine roots rot brown to blackish brown, growth stops and the lower leaves yellow. The plant wilts easily in the daytime and eventually dies outright.

Root-knot Nematode

Pest

The plant wilts in the daytime and does not recover with feeding or watering. Pull it up and the roots carry beaded chains of galls of varying size with few fine roots.

ScabMosaic DiseaseRoot Black SpotPlant-parasitic NematodesViolet Root RotAngular Leaf SpotSnow MoldBlack ScurfAlternaria Black SpotBacterial Leaf SpotBlack Streak

Read next

Keep a growing history for Burdock

Type the plant name, add the planting date, and take photos as it grows. Next season you will have your own dates for sowing, flowering, and harvest instead of a generic calendar.

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