Evaluation of New Fungicides for Management of Sclerotinia Leaf Drop of Lettuce in 1999

In Arizona, Sclerotinia leaf drop of lettuce is caused by two different species of fungi, Sclerotinia minor and S. sclerotiorum. Relatively cool and moist environmental conditions favor this disease. Some new fungicides in development were evaluated for control of leaf drop on lettuce during the winter vegetable growing season of 1998-99. Sclerotia of each pathogen were applied to plots after thinning and just before the first of two applications of test compounds. The final severity of leaf drop in these trials was moderately high. Significant reduction in the final count of dead lettuce plants compared to nontreated plots was usually achieved by application of the standard compounds Ronilan and Rovral as well as an appropriate rate of the experimental compounds Elevate, Medallion or Serenade. Medallion and Elevate provided equivalent disease control to that of the current standard materials with 0.178 and 0.5 lb active ingredient (a.i.) per acre, respectively, compared to the current 1.0 lb a.i. per acre required with the standard compounds. Continued demonstration of efficacy by Serenade may provide the opportunity to utilize a biological control product to reduce the incidence of Sclerotinia leaf drop of lettuce