Control of the cotton seedling damping-off by treatment of seeds with systemic fungicides

Abstract

The control of the cotton seedling damping-off by fungicides Benlate, Captan, Vitavax, Cycosin and Plantvax were studied alone and in combinations, under greenhouse conditions. Plantvax and Benlate when alone and dissolved in water, gave the best control against pre and post-emergence damping-off caused by Rhizoctonia solani and Colletotrichum gossypii var. cephalosporioides. Other fungicides that gave control of R. solani were Vitavax + Benlate, while Benlate + Cycosin and Cycosin + Vitavax gave effective control of C. gossypil. The combination of Cycosin + Vitavax gave the most effective control of damping-off caused by a complex of the two fungi. Benlate and Cycosin applied as powder gave the most efficient control of damping-off caused by R. solani, when the soil was infested with a mixture of the two fungi. The fungicides Benlate + Captan and Cycosin + Captan were the most efficient in the control of damping-off caused by R. solani and by association of the two fungi, respectively. The results showed that fungicides applied as powder are more efficient in the control of damping-off than when dissolved in water.