Pp. Antoniou et al., USE OF SOIL SOLARIZATION FOR CONTROLLING BACTERIAL CANKER OF TOMATO IN PLASTIC HOUSES IN GREECE, Plant Pathology, 44(3), 1995, pp. 438-447
Soil solarization provided effective control of bacterial canker of to
mato in plastic houses. Trials in plastic houses in Preveza County, Gr
eece, during the period 1990-1992 showed that soil solarization (appro
ximately 6 weeks of soil mulching with transparent polyethylene sheets
) drastically reduced disease incidence throughout the cropping season
. In contrast, soil fumigation with a recommended rate of methyl bromi
de (70 g/m(2)) was ineffective. Both wild-type and antibiotic-resistan
t strains of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, growing o
n Nutrient Agar Glycerol (NAG) medium within covered and screwed vials
and embedded at various soil depths (5, 15 or 25 cm) before soil sola
rization, were studied. Weekly sampling of bacteria during treatment s
howed a sharp decline of populations in the solarized soil compared to
the non-treated control plots 4-6 weeks after soil tarping. Populatio
ns of marked strains infiltrated into tomato stem segments and buried
in the soil decreased significantly after 5-6 weeks of solarization co
mpared to non-treated control plots. The data presented here suggest t
hat soil solarization is useful for the control of bacterial canker of
tomato in plastic houses in Greece.