Abstract

Mahin Saberi, Abolfazl Sarpeleh, Hassan Askary and Flora Rafiei

Wood waste recycling in addition to reducing environmental hazards can replace chemical pesticides for organic farming purposes. In this study, the inhibitory effects of non-volatile and volatile components of wood vinegar were evaluated on the mycelial growth of Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum as well as on the control of root and crown rot disease of green house-cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) induced by R. solani. To study the effects of wood vinegar, fresh mycelial disks of R. solani and S. sclerotiorum were placed on Petri dishes containing artificial media and different concentrations of wood vinegar (0.75, 0.5, 0.37, 0.25, 0.125, 0.05, 0.025 and 0%). Both volatile and non-volatile components of wood vinegar inhibited significantly the mycelial growth of both pathogens (α =0.05). Three concentrations of wood vinegar (0.125%, 0.25% and 0.50%) inhibited significantly the mycelial growth of R. solani were used to control the associated disease in cucumber plants inoculated with this pathogen. Diseases severity was significantly reduced in all concentrations (α= 0.05) compared to untreated control plants. Wood vinegar reduced the pathogenicity rate of the pathogen up to 87% compared with the untreated control.