Difference between Sclerotium and Rhizoctonia
| Sclerotium | Rhizoctonia |
| It causes disease on a wide range of agronomical and horticultural crops. | It causes disease on a wide range of food and fiber crops. |
| It is an omnivorous pathogen | It is not an omnivorous pathogen |
| It grows and attacks plants at or near the soil line/collar region. | It grows and attacks plants at stems, leaves, and roots |
| Before the pathogen penetrates host tissue, it produces a considerable mass of mycelium on the plant surface | It penetrates directly through the cuticle, epidermis or by natural openings of the plant. |
| The sclerotia of Sclerotium have a thin outer layer | The sclerotia of Rhizoctonia have a thick outer layer |
| Sclerotium doesn’t produce appressorium | Rhizoctonia produces appressorium |
| The color of mycelium is white | The color of mycelium is brown |
| Hypha are thread-like and branched haphazardly with lateral hyphae | The main hyphae often branch at a 90° angles with lateral hyphae |
| Favorable temperature is 25-35°C | Favorable temperature is 12-32°C |
| As an omnivorous pathogen, the disease severity of Sclerotium is more than Rhizoctonia | Because of not an omnivorous pathogen, the disease severity of Rhizoctonia is less than Sclerotium |
| The size of sclerotia is 0.5-1.5 mm in diameter | The size of sclerotia is 1 to 3 mm in diameter |
| The color of sclerotia is white to brown | The color of sclerotia is brown to black |