Chemical control of soil‐borne pathogens in tuff medium for strawberry cultivation

The phytopathogenic fungi Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and Rhizoctonia solani were completely eradicated after exposure for 30 min to a 0.4‐0.5 % aqueous solution by weight of formaldehyde. With metham‐sodium, higher concentrations or longer exposures were needed to obtain similar results. When tested in tuff (a granular plant growth medium of volcanic rock origin), the toxicity of formaldehyde was lower and that of metham‐sodium was higher, compared with the corresponding toxicities in aqueous solutions. Both fungicides eradicated the two fungi, as well as Pythium myriotilum, when tested under practical conditions in vertical aluminium tubes filled with tuff. No detrimental effect could be observed on strawberry plants subsequently grown in these columns.