Response of Rhizospheric Microorganisms and Their Methods of Application for Management of Carnation Wilt

Rhizospheric microorganisms of carnation plants were evaluated in vitro and in vivo for studying their antagonistic behaviour against Fusarium wilt pathogen (Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthi). The species of Trichoderma viz., T. harzianum, T. viride and T. virens exhibited strong antagonism showing high mycelial inhibition of 76.5%, 70.1% and 59.6%, respectively. Amongst bacteria and actinomycetes, Bacillus sp. was found superior. Selected antagonists were found suitable for application, both by root dip and soil drench methods in pot and field experiments. The pooled data of two years experimentation in field showed more than 60% control in wilt incidence in T. harzianum and T. viride treatments. T. virens gave above 50.0% disease control compared to other treatments where the disease control lied between 36.6–48.1% under both pot and field evaluations. Growth parameters such as spike length, number of leaves, flowers and size of flowers were also enhanced due to application of Trichoderma spp.