Alternative Fungicide Spraying for the Control of Powdery Mildew Caused by Sphaerotheca fusca on Greenhouse Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

Alternative spraying was developed using fungicides and potassium phosphonate to control watermelon powdery mildew (WPM) caused by Sphaerotheca fusca under greenhouse condition. In 2010 trial, a total of 9 combinations of 6 fungicides which are legally registered in Korea and currently used on watermelon farms were tested for the control efficacy against WPM. Though the combination of chlorothalonil (Chl)-myclobutanil (My)-fenarimol (Fen)-hexaconazole (Hex) was the most effective (82.6%) in the first-year trial, it had the problem that My, Fen and Hex have the same mode of action. Therefore, in the second-year trial to improve the fungicide combination and to reduce fungicide application, fungicides and potassium phosphonate (P) combinations were tested for WPM control using 500 ppm aqueous potassium phosphonate solution which is both eco-friendly and showing different mode of action from the fungicides tested. The P-My-Fen-Hex applied at 10-day intervals provided relatively high control (75.6%), whereas Chl-My-Fen-P provided 31.8% control. To improve the control, fungicides and P were applied at 7-day intervals in the third-year trial. Though Chl-My-Fen-Hex provided the highest control (89.6%), P-My-Fen-Hex also provided relatively high control (83.5%) compared to 65.9 % control with Chl-My-Fen-P, which suggests that Chl-My-Fen-Hex could be replaced with P-My-Fen-Hex for WPM control