REDUCED DEVELOPMENT OF GRAY MOLD (BOTRYTIS-CINEREA) IN BEAN AND TOMATO PLANTS BY CALCIUM NUTRITION

Fertilization of bean plants grown in perlite with 1 and 3 mM CaCl2 or Ca(NO3)(2) reduced severity of grey mould as compared with control plants or plants fertilized with 5 mM of the compounds. Fertilization with Ca(NO3)(2) reduced severity leaf grey mould and fruit ghost spots of tomato plants grown in perlite by 70 and 45 %, respectively. The rate of decrease varied with the position of the fruits on the plants. Leaves from plants treated with calcium or otherwise [KNO3, (NH4)(2)SO4] produced less ethylene than leaves of nontreated plants. Rate of growth of B. cinerea was lower on growth medium prepared from washings from leaves of calcium fertilized plants than from leaves from other treatments. The fertilizer combination Ca(H2PO4)(2) + CaSO4 (1 and 3 g/kg soil) applied once to tomato plants grown in soil reduced severity of leaf grey mould by 80 % (significant at P = 0.05) but 1-3 g CaSO4/kg soil only tended to reduce disease severity (30-40 %, not significant) as compared with the control. The compounds CaCl2 and Ca(NO3)(2) increased significantly (P = 0.05) the growth of B. cinerea on synthetic medium when applied at rates of 1.0-10.0 mM whereas reduction of growth was observed with 0.1 mM of the compounds and of CaSO4.