Gadenin日本語Get the app
Vegetables

Butterbur Growing Guide: Planting, Care & Harvest

A perennial vegetable grown in damp shade for its leaf stalks and early flower buds; spreads widely by rhizomes.

Butterbur

Petasites japonicus

Growing calendar

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

GrowingHarvest

Guides

Common problems

Start from what you can see on the plant.

Pests and diseases (18)

Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.

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.

Rust

Disease

Small raised orange-yellow to red-brown pustules form on both leaf surfaces, then rupture and release powdery spores. Heavy infection yellows the leaves and kills them early.

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.

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-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.

Gray Mold

Disease

Water-soaked brown lesions form on flowers, fruit and leaves, densely covered by a fuzzy gray mold. Fruit rots and drops, and decay continues in storage after harvest.

Verticillium Wilt

Disease

Only one side of the lower leaves yellows and wilts, and the symptom moves up the plant. Stem vascular tissue turns pale brown and the plant dies without ever growing well.

Bacterial Spot

Disease

Small water-soaked spots appear on the leaves, later turning brown with yellowing around them. Fruit develops water-soaked or scabby spots from which rot spreads.

Leaf Spot

Disease

Small round brown to gray-white lesions appear on the lower leaves, the centers turning gray with tiny black specks. As they multiply the leaf yellows and drops early.

Witches' BroomMosaic DiseaseSpring RustSeptoria Leaf SpotFusarium Wilt and Damping-offLeaf BlightAlternaria Black Spot

Read next

Keep a growing history for Butterbur

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.

Free on iPhone. Android coming later.

Gadenin free garden journalGet the app