White-head Diagnostic Key

NDSU Extension Service
HTML Editors: Dr. Jochum Wiersma & Tracy Allrich

1.      Awn tips white and sometimes bent . .  . . . . . Frost or Freeze

2.      Part of the head dead: neck still green

        a. Dead parts white to gray . . . . .  . . . . . Frost of Freeze

        b. Dead parts (sometimes whole head) pink  . . . . . . . . .Scab

3.      Head and neck dead down to the top node       with the rest of plant green.  Pull head

        out and examine for chewing or maggots        above the top node . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . .Stem Maggot

4.      Single tillers with white heads-

        a.      Lodging not common.

               1) vascular discoloration evident in

                   stripe in leaves and/or nodes  . . .  Cephalosporium

               2) lens shaped lesions on the lower

                   internode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sharp Eyespot

        b.      Lodging common

               1) small pupa under leaf sheath above

                   node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hessian Fly

               2) grayish lesion on lower internode

                   with the stem collapsed, bent or

                   broken in the middle of the lesion . . Strawbreaker

5.      All tillers dye at some time-no lodging.;

        a.      Stem pulls out easily.  Roots, crown are black, subcrown internode sometimes

               shiny black also . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . Take All

        b.      Does not pull out easily.  Crown and internode medium brown . . . . . . . . . Common Root Rot

6.      Plant dying, leaves rolling and/or purpling but none of the above.

        Poor Roots                 Drought               Drowning

        Hot Winds                  Russian Wheat Aphid

Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers