Evaluation of Poinsettia Cultivars for Susceptibility to Powdery Mildew

Abstract

Powdery mildew (Oidium spp. Link) on poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch) growing in commercial greenhouses was first observed in the United States in 1990. Susceptibility of poinsettia cultivars (`Freedom Red', `Hot Pink', `Jingle Bells 3', `Pink Peppermint', `Red Sails', `Supjibi Red', `Topwhite', `V-14 Glory', `V-14 Pink', `V-14 White', `V-17 Angelika White') to powdery mildew was investigated using 8- to 10-week-old poinsettias with mature bracts. Area under the incidence of disease progress curve was used to express the incidence of bracts infected over 31 d after inoculation. Three cultivars with red bracts (`Freedom Red', `Supjibi Red', `Red Sails') had significantly more infection than the other cultivars in both experiments, while one cultivar with white bracts (`V-17 Angelika White') had significantly less infection.