Effects of Soil Fumigation on Conifer Seedling Production at the USDA Forest Service Nursery, Coeur D'Alene, Idaho
Effects of soil fumigation with dazomet (granular) and methyl bromide chloropicrin on soil pathogen populations and disease occurrence on, and growth of, bare root western white pine, Douglas-fir, and western larch seedlings were evaluated at the USDA Forest Service Nursery, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho from 1986-88. Both fumigants initially eliminated soil pathogens. However, Fusarium and Pythium spp. reinvaded dazomet-treated soil during the 2-year crop cycle, although their numbers were not high. Little reinvasion occurred in soil treated with methyl bromide/chloropicrin. Diseases of seedlings grown in both fumigated and non-fumigated soil was low. However, greater amounts of root infection by Fusarium spp. on seedlings occurred in non-fumigated soil. Seedlings grown in fumigated soil were often taller than those grown in non-fumigated soil. Implications of these findings on bareroot seedling production at the nursery are discussed.
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Author(s): USDA Forest Service