Effects of Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium on Sweet Basil Downy Mildew (Peronospora belbahrii)
1
Department Plant Pathology and Weed Research, The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Rishon LeZion 7534509, Israel
2
Bikat HaYarden Research and Development, Tzevi Research Station, Bikat HaYarden 91906, Israel
3
The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
4
Gilat Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Negev 85280, Israel
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Diego Rubiales
Agronomy 2021, 11(4), 688; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040688
Received: 21 March 2021
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Revised: 31 March 2021
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Accepted: 1 April 2021
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Published: 4 April 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Pest and Disease Management)
Downy mildew (Peronospora belbahrii) is a major disease of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum). We examined the effects of potassium, calcium and magnesium, individually and in combination, on sweet basil downy mildew (SBDM) in potted plants and under commercial-greenhouse conditions over six growing seasons. An increased K concentration in the fertigation solution increased SBDM severity, whereas foliar-applied KCl and K2SO4 suppressed SBDM. The application of higher concentrations of those salts increased the K concentrations in the shoots and significantly alleviated SBDM. Increased concentrations of Ca or Mg in the fertigation solution decreased SBDM severity, as did foliar-applied CaCl2. However, the combination of Ca and Mg did not have any synergistic effect. Foliar-applied K2SO4 provided better disease suppression than some of these treatments. The 3.3 mM Mg + fungicide treatment and the 5.0 mM Mg + fungicide treatment each provided synergistic disease control in one of two experiments. SBDM severity was significantly reduced by MgCl2 and MgSO4 (both 3.3 mM Mg), as compared with the basic Mg fertigation (1.6 mM), with MgCl2 providing better control. The combined Mg salts + fungicide treatments reduced SBDM better than any of those treatments alone. These results demonstrate that macro-elements can contribute to SBDM control.
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Keywords:
calcium; downy mildew; fertigation; irrigation; macro-elements; magnesium; Ocimum basilicum; potassium; yield
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MDPI and ACS Style
Elad, Y.; Kleinman, Z.; Nisan, Z.; Rav-David, D.; Yermiyahu, U. Effects of Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium on Sweet Basil Downy Mildew (Peronospora belbahrii). Agronomy 2021, 11, 688. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040688
AMA Style
Elad Y, Kleinman Z, Nisan Z, Rav-David D, Yermiyahu U. Effects of Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium on Sweet Basil Downy Mildew (Peronospora belbahrii). Agronomy. 2021; 11(4):688. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040688
Chicago/Turabian StyleElad, Yigal, Ziv Kleinman, Ziv Nisan, Dalia Rav-David, and Uri Yermiyahu. 2021. "Effects of Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium on Sweet Basil Downy Mildew (Peronospora belbahrii)" Agronomy 11, no. 4: 688. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040688
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