Authors
C. G.
Eayre
,
USDA Agricultural Research Service, 2021 S. Peach Ave. Fresno, CA 93727
;
J. J.
Sims
and
H. D.
Ohr
,
Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Riverside 92521
; and
B.
Mackey
,
USDA Agricultural Research Service, 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA 94710
ABSTRACT
Peach replant soils were fumigated with methyl bromide (MB) or methyl iodide (MI) at rates of 392 to 448 kg/ha. In two trials, peach tree growth in fumigated soil or in untreated soil was evaluated by measuring trunk diameter and weight of branches removed by pruning. In both trials, trunk diameter of trees grown in MB- and MI-fumigated plots was greater than trees in control plots (P ≤ 0.01). In both trials, weight of branches pruned from trees grown in fumigated plots was greater than branch weights from trees grown in control plots (P ≤ 0.01). Plots fumigated with MI did not differ from plots fumigated with MB in trunk growth, weight of branch prunings, or reductions in population densities of the nematode Paratylenchus. MI and MB appeared to be equally effective in controlling replant disorder.
