POPULATION DENSITIES OF MELOIDOGYNE INCOGNITA AND GROWTH OF CABBAGE IN POTS
Authors
N. Sasanelli
M. Di Vito
G. Zaccheo
Abstract
The relationship between initial population densities (Pi) of Meloidogyne incognita host race 1 and growth of cabbage plants was investigated in a pot experiment. Pots were artificially infested with finely chopped nematode-infected tomato roots to give a range of population densities of 0, 0.062, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 or 256 eggs and juveniles/cm³ soil. The tolerance limil of cabbage to M. incognita was 0.5 eggs and juveniles/cm³ soil and a minimum relative yield for top weight of 0.05 occurred at Pi = 32 eggs and juveniles/cm³ soil. The maximum reproduction rate of the nematode was 68-fold and occurred at the lowest Pi.