Sunflowers diseases and pests
The database lists 4 problems recorded on this crop. 2 of them can cost the whole harvest, and 3 survive in soil or debris into next season — those are the ones that decide your rotation. The largest number are active in March.
Pressure through the year
The number of problems listed as active in each month. Pick a month to see what to sow, plant and harvest then.
Start from what you can see
What actually prevents them
Water at the base of the plant in the morning, never over the leaves. Splashing soil onto foliage is the delivery route for every problem listed here, and morning watering lets anything that does land dry before nightfall.
Applies to: Downy Mildew, Rust
Mulch the soil surface. A physical barrier between last season's spores and this season's lowest leaves removes the first infection of the year, which is the one that seeds all the others.
Applies to: Downy Mildew, Rust
Give the plants their full spacing 45×60 cm and keep the centre of each one open. Air moving through the planting dries the leaves faster, and leaf wetness duration is what turns a spore landing into an infection.
Applies to: Downy Mildew, White Mold (Sclerotinia), Rust, Slugs & Snails
Rotate this bed and everything else in the same family on at least a three-year cycle. 3 of the problems below survive in soil or crop debris between seasons, so returning the same crop to the same ground hands them the host they were waiting for.
Applies to: Downy Mildew, White Mold (Sclerotinia), Rust
Clear and remove the spent crop at the end of the season rather than digging it in. Debris left on the surface is where the persistent problems overwinter, and next spring they start from your own bed rather than from somewhere else.
Applies to: Downy Mildew, White Mold (Sclerotinia), Rust
Keep affected material out of the compost heap — 2 of these survive a garden heap and come back with the finished compost. Bag it for municipal green waste, which is composted at temperatures a garden heap does not reach.
Applies to: Downy Mildew, White Mold (Sclerotinia)
Every listed problem
Ordered by how much they can cost you.
Fungal diseases(3)
- Downy MildewSevere
Angular yellow patches on the upper leaf bounded by veins, with grey-purple fuzzy growth on the underside. Leaves brown and die from the inside of the plant outward.
- How it spreads
- Rain and irrigation splash
- Compost
- Keep out of the compost
- Conditions
- 10–23°C · humidity ≥85% · wet leaves / rain
- First move
- Treat, then re-check in 5–7 days
Also at risk: Cucumbers, Zucchini, Lettuce, Onions, Beetroot, Spinach
- White Mold (Sclerotinia)Severe
Water-soaked stem and pod rot covered in dense cottony white mould, later embedded with hard black pellets (sclerotia); sudden wilting of branches above the rot.
- How it spreads
- Soil and crop debris
- Compost
- Keep out of the compost
- Conditions
- 10–24°C · humidity ≥90% · wet leaves / rain
- First move
- Remove affected material now
- RustModerate
Yellow, orange, or rusty-brown powdery pustules on leaf undersides with yellow speckling above; severe infection causes leaf drop and weakened plants.
- How it spreads
- Rain and irrigation splash
- Compost
- Hot compost only
- Conditions
- 10–24°C · humidity ≥85% · wet leaves / rain
- First move
- Treat, then re-check in 5–7 days
Also at risk: Beans, Leeks, Garlic, Broad beans, Sweetcorn, Asparagus
Pests(1)
- Slugs & SnailsModerate
Irregular ragged holes with smooth edges in leaves and fruit, seedlings eaten to the ground overnight, and tell-tale silvery slime trails on soil and foliage.
- How it spreads
- Carried by insects
- Compost
- Safe to compost
- Conditions
- 5–22°C · humidity ≥80% · wet leaves / rain
- First move
- Treat, then re-check in 5–7 days
Also at risk: Lettuce, Peas, Celeriac, Swiss chard, Rhubarb, Strawberries
Why rotation matters here
3 of these overwinter in the soil or in crop debris rather than on the plant. Pulling the sick plant does not remove them: they wait for the same host to come back to the same ground.