Fungicide seed treatment effects on seedling damping-off of pumpkin caused by Phytophthora capsici

Apron XL LS (mefenoxam) and Allegiance FL (metalaxyl) were highly inhibitory to growth of mycelium of Phytophthora capsici in vitro. Effective dose (ED50) of mefenoxam and metalaxyl for 50% inhibition of mycelial growth, for all five isolates of P. capsici tested, was 0.98 and 0.99 μg a.i./ml of culture medium, respectively. For mefenoxam at 200 μg a.i./ml, sporangium and zoospore germination were reduced by 92 and 96%, respectively, and 21 and 24%, respectively, for metalaxyl. In greenhouse studies, seed treatment with mefenoxam (0.42 ml of Apron XL LS/kg of seed) and metalaxyl (0.98 ml of Allegiance FL/kg of seed) significantly reduced pre- and post-emergence damping-off of seedlings caused by P. capsici in three pumpkin cultivars (Dickinson, Hybrid-401, and Hybrid-698) tested. Thirty-one days after seeding, at inoculum levels of 0, 90, 600, 1,400, and 4,000 CFU/g of soil, the average seedling stands for mefenoxam treatment were 98.4, 93.8, 88.3, 77.8, and 64.8%; for metalaxyl, 99.1, 85.3, 85.8, 73.5, and 59.3; and for the untreated control, 97.5, 55.2, 45.7, 37.0, and 22.9%, respectively. In field trials, the average seedling stands 35 days after seeding were 76.7, 74.7, and 44.9% for mefenoxam, metalaxyl, and untreated control, respectively. Seed treatment with mefenoxam or metalaxyl did not have any significant effect on either seed germination or seedling vigor.