FUNGOUS ROOT ROTS OF THE STRAWBERRY

Abstract
This paper reports the results of two years of investigation at the Horticultural Experiment Station at Vineland, Ontario, on fungi associated with the root rot of strawberries. Roots from the field were collected periodically throughout two growing seasons and were studied by direct microscopical examination and by plating methods. Hundreds of isolates from diseased roots were tested by artificial inoculation of strawberry roots, and the primary parasites were further studied. These were classed in the following genera: Pythium, Fusarium, Alternaria, Ramularia, Rhizoctonia, Verticillium and Cylindrocladium. Microscopical examination revealed three additional forms, Asterocystis, a Plasmodiophoraceous fungus and the Phycomycetous mycorrhizal fungus, which are obligate parasites of Phycomycetous type. Some of the fungi occurred more frequently than others, and there were seasonal variations in the activity of most of them. A similar root flora was encountered in wild strawberry roots, so that most of these fungi are probably indigenous. Their relative importance can be determined only by several years of observation of field material.