In 1998, soft rot caused by Erwinia chrysanthemi resulted in an estimated l
oss of 1,800 tons of carrots in California. The disease appeared to be rela
ted to unusually high temperatures and excessive irrigation. To determine t
he optimum conditions for development of soft rot under controlled conditio
ns, pots of carrots inoculated with E. chrysanthemi were saturated with wat
er and incubated at 20, 25, 30, or 35 degrees C. Plants were harvested and
examined for disease 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, and 96 h after inoculation. Neglig
ible disease occurred after 12 h. Disease severity and incidence increased
with increasing temperature and duration of saturation from 24 to 96 h. In
a second experiment, carrot disks were inoculated with three isolates each
of E. chrysanthemi and E. carotovora subsp. carotovora and incubated at 15,
20, 25, 30, and 35 degrees C. After 48 h, the disks were washed to remove
rotted tissue and reweighed. Neither bacterium reduced carrot disk weight a
t 15 degrees C. In general, moderate weight reduction occurred at 20 and 25
degrees C. The greatest degree of soft rot was caused by E. chrysanthemi a
t 30 and 35 degrees C. E. carotovora subsp. carotovora isolates were relati
vely less virulent than E. chrysanthemi at 30 degrees C and none of the E.
carotovora subsp. carotovora isolates reduced carrot disk weight at 35 degr
ees C. This is the first report of E. chrysanthemi causing soft rot of carr
ot in California. Based on these results, growers should limit the length o
f time carrot roots are exposed to saturated soil, especially at high soil
temperatures.