Development of a Method to Evaluate the Preventive and Curative Efficacy of Fungicides Against Stemphylium Botryosum, Causal Pathogen of Stemphylium Leaf Spot on Asparagus (Asparagus Officinalis L.) | Erarbeitung eines Testverfahrens zur Bestimmung der Protektiv- und Kurativleistung von Fungiziden bei der Bekämpfung des Erregers der Stemphylium-Laubkrankheit Stemphylium botryosum in der Spargelkultur (Asparagus officinalis L.)

The foilage of Asparagus officinalis L. has a large contact surface for different leaf diseases, which can lead to profits cuts, especially by the causal pathogen of Stemphylium leaf spot, Stemphylium botryosum. The maintaining healthy of the foliage is an important precondition to achieve an optimal harvest in the following year. Therefore, it is necessary to describe the efficacy of currently approved plant protection products against S. botryosum in order to optimize the fungicide applications. In the context of greenhouse trials with asparagus seedlings a method should be developed to evaluate the preventive and curative efficacy of fungicides. At the beginning, stable, repeatable and homogeneous infections of S. botryosum needed to be achieved. Ad hoc the factors plant age (weeks after sowing date), inoculum (density of conidia per ml and concentration of malt), infection conditions (period of high relative humidity) and day of rating, as well as their influence on the occurrence of the symptoms, were investigated. With the exception of the factor plant age, the other factors had a significant effect on the infection. For the trials to evaluate the efficacy of fungicides, the analysed factors were defined. The age of the seedlings was six weeks after sowing, the inoculum was composed of 1,00 × 105 conidia per ml combined with an 0,5% malt concentration, as infection condition the “tunnel system” with periodically high relative humidity was chosen. 13 days past infection was the optimal day of rating. To apply the seedlings with the fungicides, the registered application rate was reduced to 1/5. The trials to evaluate fungicides were conducted with the fungicides Signum®, Rovral® WG and two different testing agencies. At four consecutive application days, the plants were covered with fungicides. In the following, the infestation degree of stems in percent was evaluated. Additionally, the used S. botryosum-Isolates were biomolecularly investigated and the QoI- and SDHI resistance state determined.