EFFECT OF PLANT EXTRACTS AND GROWTH SUBSTRATES ON CONTROLLING DAMPING-OFF IN PINUS TECUNUMANII SEEDLINGS

ABSTRACT Damping-off is considered one of the most limiting phytosanitary problems in conifer seedling production because it may cause massive damage or total plant death in short time periods. This pathology is caused by a complex of microorganisms, the most common of which are Fusarium spp. and Rhizoctonia spp. This study evaluated the effect of growth substrates and plant extracts at different concentrations on germination and incidence of disease in Pinus tecunumanii plants. The plants were inoculated with the damping-off pathogen Fusarium oxysporum and treatments were applied in a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement of 4x2x3. This corresponded to four substrates (pine bark, rice hull, coconut husk and sandy soil (4:1)); two plant extracts (Matricaria chamomilla and Datura stramonium), and three concentrations of each extract (Control concentration: 0%, Concentration 1: 50 % and Concentration 2: Undiluted). Each treatment had three repetitions, with 25 plants per repetition. The growth substrates affected germination; the most effective of these were sandy soil (4:1) and pine bark, with 90% and 92% germination at day 20, respectively. No significant difference was observed between the germination obtained with these substrates and that obtained with coconut husk after day 19. Meanwhile, all of the extracts had a significant effect on controlling the disease when they were combined with the substrates, with the exception of coconut husk. With this last substrate the incidence of disease was lower than 4% without the application of plant extracts; this indicates that coconut husk discourages the development of the disease on its own