Sustainable Management of Phytophthora Cinnamomi and Ambrosia Beetles Under Stress Conditions

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Commodities

• Additional Plants: ornamentals

Practices

• Pest Management: biorational pesticides, integrated pest management

Phytophthora root rot causes major economic losses in woody ornamental nurseries, especially in plants exposed to flooding. Ambrosia beetles, which attack stressed trees, are also important pests of woody plants. Effective Phytophthora fungicides, biofungicides are needed due to the increased risk of infestation and spread during flooding. Since ambrosia beetles also are associated with flooded woody ornamentals, understanding effect of alternative strategies such as fungicide, kaolin, charcoal, verbenone, etc. on these secondary pests are important. The specific objectives include evaluation preventive and curative applications of fungicides for control of P. cinnamomi and ambrosia beetles on containerized flowering dogwoods exposed to a simulated root flooding events of 1, 3, or 7 days and integration of alternative strategies (fungicide, kaolin, charcoal, verbenone, etc.) to optimize Phytophthora cinnamomi and ambrosia beetle management on woody ornamentals exposed to simulated flood events.

The specific objectives include evaluation preventive and curative applications of fungicides for control of P. cinnamomi and ambrosia beetles on containerized flowering dogwoods exposed to a simulated root flooding events of 1, 3, or 7 days and integration of alternative strategies (fungicide, kaolin, charcoal, verbenone, etc.) to optimize Phytophthora cinnamomi and ambrosia beetle management on woody ornamentals exposed to simulated flood events.

Objective 1- Management of Phytophthora cinnamomi during simulated root flooding events using fungicides and biofungicides

 The purpose of this objective is to evaluate fungicides, biofungicides, or host plant defense inducers for preventive and curative control of P. cinnamomi on flowering dogwood seedlings (Cornus florida L.) exposed to a simulated root flooding event of 1, 3, or 7 days.

Objective 2- Integration of sustainable alternative strategies to optimize Phytophthora cinnamomi and ambrosia beetle management

The purpose of this objective is to optimize management of Phytophthora root rot and ambrosia beetles by using alternative strategies such as fungicide/biofungicide (selected from Objective 1), kaolin, charcoal, verbenone, etc.