Open AccessThe suppressiveness of Finnish light coloured Sphagnum peat
Author(s) -
Risto Tahvonen
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
agricultural and food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.347
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1795-1895
pISSN - 1459-6067
DOI - 10.23986/afsci.72115
Subject(s) - peat , trichoderma viride , biology , damping off , fusarium oxysporum , botany , alternaria brassicicola , sphagnum , rhizoctonia solani , penicillium , horticulture , biological pest control , ecology , biochemistry , arabidopsis , gene , mutant
Half of the Sphagnum peat lots used as the substrate significantly reduced or inhibited damping-off caused by Alternaria brassicicola Wiltshire, Plenodomus lingam (Tode ex Fr.) Höhnel and Rhizoctonia solani Kühn on cauliflowers. New peat slowed down the spread of Fusarium oxysporum Schl. f. sp. lycopersici (Sacc.) Snyder & Hansen from infected tomato plants to healthy ones and development of the disease on infected seedlings in comparison to disinfected peat. When new peat was added to disinfected peat the suppressing effect was regained. The most common microbes in the peat were bacteria, Streptomyces spp., followed by fungi, Penicillium spp., Mortierella spp. and Trichoderma viride Pers. ex Fr. Strepromyces spp. and T. viride effectively inhibited the growth of a number of soil and seedborne fungi on a nutrient medium. Treating the peat or seeds with T. viride and Streptomyces spp, isolates inhibited or reduced damping-off caused by A. brassicicola, P. lingam and R. solani on cauliflower growing on the peat substrate.