Treatment of overwintering apple leaves to reduce primary inoculum of apple black spot

Abstract

Field trials were conducted in Hawkes Bay and Lincoln into methods of treating overwintering apple leaves to reduce ascospore production by the apple black spot pathogen Venturia inaequalis The leaf treatments comprised three levels of nutrient amendments (including a water control) and five levels of saprophytic fungal isolates (including a nofungus control) in a factorial design Leaves were left to overwinter on the orchard floor and in spring the V inaequalis ascospores released were trapped on glass slides and counted Ascospore numbers were reduced (Plt;005) by the leaf amendment urea which alone caused 73 reduction but not by the BioStarttrade; product The effect of fungal isolates was not significant (P012) although when combined with the water treatment the isolates Chaetomium Phoma and Epicoccum spp and Trametes versicolor reduced numbers of ascospores by 33 27 15 and 28 respectively compared to the nofungus control When combined with urea the Chaetomium isolate reduced ascospore numbers by 92 and 82 compared to the nil fungus/water control treatments in Hawkes Bay and Lincoln respectively indicating that this treatment has potential for reducing primary inoculum of apple black spot