SUSCEPTIBILITY OF SEVERAL FLORICULTURE CROPS TO THREE COMMON SPECIES OF MELOIDOGYNE IN FLORIDA [SUSCEPTIBILIDAD DE VARIOS CULTIVOS FLORALES A TRES ESPECIES DE MELOIDOGYNE FRECUENTES EN FLORIDA]

Abstract

The current and pending restriction on the use of soil fumigants and other nematicides effective in controllingnematodes in field grown floriculture crops has increased the importance of determining the relative susceptibility of thesecrops to important species of root-knot nematodes. Greenhouse experiments were performed to assess the susceptibilityof several floriculture crops grown in Florida to the three most common species of root-knot nematode, Meloidogynearenaria, M. incognita, and M. javanica. Root growth and health, as well as nematode galling and egg productionwere evaluated for Celosia argentea (cockscomb), Delphinium elatum (larkspur), Antirrhinum latifolium (snapdragon),and Helianthus annuus (sunflower). A susceptible host, Solanum lycopersicum (‘Rutgers’, tomato), was included in alltrials for comparison. Most of the floral crops tested were highly susceptible to all three species of rootknot nematodes.Delphinium was not tested for susceptibility to M. arenaria but was consistently less susceptible to M. incognita and M.javanica than the other floral crops tested with those nematode species. Results of these greenhouse trials are consistentwith observations from field trials on alternative fumigants conducted in Florida in which low levels of galling by rootknotnematodes were consistently observed on Delphinium.