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Etiology of Tomato Fruit Rots and Evaluation of Cultural and Chemical Treatments for Their Control. C. W. Jones, Graduate Assistant, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens 30602; S. M. McCarter, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens 30602. Phytopathology 64:1204-1208. Accepted for publication 17 April 1974. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-64-1204.

Rhizoctonia solani was the major cause of tomato fruit rots at four field sites in Georgia. Sclerotium rolfsii and Phytophthora parasitica were also important, but occurred sporadically. Six other fungi, including Colletotrichum phomoides and C. gloeosporioides were isolated infrequently. Soft-rot bacteria (Erwinia and other genera) caused significant losses of cracked and injured fruits. Paper mulch significantly reduced rot losses caused by R. solani and S. rolfsii and increased yields. However, captan or Isobac applied to the paper mulch did not further reduce rot losses. Isobac applied to the soil failed to decrease rot losses and captan, applied similarly, gave variable results. Sodium azide reduced rot losses in one test, indicating a need for further testing. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides was highly virulent on both injured and noninjured tomatoes in laboratory pathogenicity tests. Fusarium roseum, F. solani, F. oxysporum, Mucor sp., and Geotrichum sp. caused damage to injured fruit but were generally poor pathogens on healthy noninjured fruit.