Abstract
Incidence and severity of cucumber fruit rot, which is incited by R. solani, were reduced in a Beltsville [Maryland, USA] field in 1977 and 1978 after application of several components in an integrated pest management system. The major component, successful in both years, involved mechanical plowing of soils to a depth of 20-25 cm to remove inoculum from the surface layers of soil. In 1977, 85 and 52% of the fruit harvested from disced and plowed plots, respectively, had symptoms of disease. In 1978, comparable values were 75 and 37%. Application of photodegradable plastic mulch alone reduced incidence of disease by 75% in disced soils. Gypsum did not reduce disease. Corticium sp. and Trichoderma sp. (isolate WT-6) were as effective as captafol in disced plots. In plowed plots treated with isolate WT-6 or fungicide, only 11-12% of the fruits were diseased. Greater disease reduction was obtained by applying WT-6 in conjunction with plowing than when either component was used individually. Inoculum of R. solani, determined by beet seed colonization, was almost eliminated from the surface layers of plowed plots in both 1977 and 1978. Corticium sp. reduced the saprophytic activity of R. solani in soil. The mechanism by which WT-6 reduced fruit rot was not determined, although some mycoparasitic activity on R. solani was demonstrated.