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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Poplarville, Mississippi » Southern Horticultural Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #220074

Title: Controlling Foliar Disease with ZeroTol

Author
item Copes, Warren

Submitted to: Southern Nursery Association Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2007
Publication Date: 2/15/2008
Citation: Copes, W.E. 2008. Controlling Foliar Disease with ZeroTol. Southern Nursery Association Proceedings. 52:38-40.

Interpretive Summary: ZeroTol is a disinfestant product labeled for direction application on plants. Laboratory, field, and greenhouse experiments were performed to determine the rates and intervals in days between applications needed to control daylily rust. In initial laboratory and outside field trials, a higher than label rate was required to kill rust spores and control the disease comparable to a standard fungicide. However, additional testing showed that three to five applications per week of the label rate of ZeroTol did not damage daylily plants and provided rust control equal to fungicides when rust incidence was relatively low. Results indicate the product will work best when applied to crops before disease is a problem to prevent disease development. The research will benefit producers so they know how to use the product more effectively and will benefit extension and research scientists in planning additional experiments with the product.

Technical Abstract: ZeroTol is a disinfestant labeled for direct application on plants. Laboratory, field, and greenhouse experiments were performed to determine the rates and intervals in days between applications needed to control daylily rust. In laboratory trials, a very high rate was required to achieve 100% mortality of Puccinia hemerocallidis urediniospores. When weekly applications were made in an outdoor field trial, rates considerably higher than those stated on the label were required to achieve control comparable to a fungicide. For a more critical evaluation, label rates were tested on plants in a greenhouse experiment. In the greenhouse study, multiple applications per week (three to five applications per week) of the label rate of ZeroTol did not damage daylily plants and provided rust control equal to fungicides when rust incidence was relatively low, but provided poor control when rust incidence was high. However, ZeroTol still imparted some disease control even when disease incidence was high as a result of higher disease pressure, as evidenced by lower disease severity levels compared to the water treatment. Results indicate that disease levels (pressure) will influence the number of applications per week required to achieve desirable control, and additional research is needed to define the rates and number of applications per week (daily to every-second or third day) that would be appropriate for different diseases and disease levels.