Effects of Soil Solarization on Macrophomina phaseolina and Sclerotium rolfsii. J. D. Mihail, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721. S. M. Alcorn, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721. Plant Dis. 68:156-159. Accepted for publication 23 August 1983. Copyright 1984 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-68-156.

Effects of soil solarization on natural and/or artificially established populations of Macrophomina phaseolina and Sclerotium rolfsii were examined using 51-μm clear polyethylene tarp for 2, 4, or 6 wk during spring, summer, and fall trails. In no case was tarping effective in reducing either natural M. phaseolina populations or buried inocula to undetectable levels. Complete control of buried, precounted sclerotia of S. rolfsii was achieved to 15-cm depths in the summer but only to 1 cm in the fall.

Keyword(s): charcoal rot, Euphorbia lathyris, solar pasteurization.