GROWTH AND WILT (VERTICILLIUM-DAHLIAE) DEVELOPMENT IN STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS OVER A TRANSITION BETWEEN 2 SOIL SERIES

On a site infested with V. dahliae the incidence of wilt was low consistently in strawberry cvs Talisman and Redgauntlet, high in Merton Herald and Gorella, and very high in Merton Ruby, Cambridge Vigour, Prizewinner, Templar and Crusader. Changes in mean volume per plant for the whole population of each cultivar were closely related to disease incidence and therefore differed between high‐resistance and low‐resistance cultivars. Height and spread measurements of diseased and symptomless plants in certain cultivars showed differences in the severity of the effect of the pathogen on growth that were not closely related to wilt incidence. Gradients of disease incidence and plant growth in 1966 and 1967 were associated with a transition from one soil series to another. Review of two earlier experiments on the same site revealed a similar gradient of disease incidence in 1963‐64, but a reversed gradient in 1960‐62. Variations related to soil conditions were smaller in the earlier experiments than in 1966‐67. Copyright © 1969, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved