15 research outputs found
Conditions d'expression du mort-lin et étude du comportement des variétés de lin vis à vis de cette maladie
International audienc
Control of <em>Phoma exigua</em> var. linicola on flax by seed and foliar spray treatments with fungicides
International audienc
Improved leaf pruning reduces development of stem cankers caused by grey mould in greenhouse tomatoes
Botrytis cinerea, the causal agent of grey mould, is considered as a
major burden on greenhouse tomato production. In heated greenhouses, where leaf pruning is
a routine practice and microclimatic conditions are favourable for grey mould development,
infections of the pruning wounds result in stem cankers that can rapidly kill the plants.
Chemical control is not always sufficiently effective and growers face increasing demands
for reducing their dependency on pesticides. Several techniques can be used for the
removal of leaves. They differ mainly on the presence or absence and the size of petiole
stubs remaining on the stems after pruning. In this study, leaf pruning techniques were
compared in an experimental greenhouse and the results validated in four commercial
greenhouses, in a variety of agronomic conditions and in various situations of inoculum
pressure. All experiments clearly showed that a careful removal of the leaves without
leaving any petiole stubs on the stems can significantly decrease the incidence of stem
cankers even under high disease pressure. As up to 10-fold differences were observed, this
suggests the possibility of improving pruning practices in tomato greenhouses by removing
leaves systematically close to the stem. This environmentally-friendly cultural practice
appears compatible for integration with other preventative methods for the objective of
sustainable crop protection in greenhouse tomatoes