Control of soilborne diseases by combining soil solarization and fumigants

Certain pathogens responsible for some of the plant diseases in Israel e.g. Fusarium crown rot of tomato and sudden wilt of melon are relatively tolerant to solarization. Their control is based on fumigation with methyl bromide. One possible approaches to reducing fumigant dosage and still maintains its effectiveness is to combine methods of soil disinfestation. Solarization combined with metam sodium (MS) at the reduced dosage of 30 ml/m² was tested to control sudden wilt of melon and crown rot of tomato. This combination effectively controlled Fusarium crown rot of tomato. This treatment as well as the combination of methyl bromide (MBr) at reduced dosage with solarization was also effective at controlling sudden wilt of melon. The effectiveness of the combined treatments was similar to that obtained by fumigation with MBr at standard dosage (50-70 g/m²). These results were verified in the open field and in greenhouse production tests, and demonstrate the potential of the combined approach for replacing MBr.