Abstract

Two pot experiments were conducted to investigate the potential of different plant materials to manage the corm rot disease of gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus sect. Blandus cv. Aarti) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. gladioli (Massey) Snyd. & Hans. In the first experiment, leaves of five allelopathic plant species viz.Eucalyptus citriodora Hook, Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels, Coronopus didymus (L.) Smith, Chenopodium album L. and Cyperus rotundus L. were incorporated in the soil at 2, 4 and 6 g 100 g^-1 of soil. In the second experiment, leaves of five plant species namely Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br., Parthenium hysterophorus L., Ageratum conyzoides L. and Allium cepa L. were spread on the surface of the pot soil at 4 g 100 g^-1 of soil. All the leaf incorporation and spreading treatments significantly reduced the disease incidence and number of infection lesions on corms. Incorporation of all the dosages of 2 – 4% of C. rotundus significantly enhanced shoot biomass. Similarly 2% E. citriodora and 4 – 6% C. album incorporation also enhance shoot biomass significantly over Fusariumcontrol. All the leaf spreading treatments significantly enhanced shoot length and biomass. The present study concludes that corm rot disease of gladiolus can be effectively managed by using allelopathic plants.

Key words: Allelopathic plants, corm-rot, disease management, Fusarium oxysporum, Gladiolus grandiflorus.