Abstract
Broiler litter, dairy manure, and steer/horse manure were separately cocomposted with other organic residues, and the resulting composts incorporated into potting mixes. All the compost-amended potting mixes were suppressive to damping-off caused by Pythium and Rhizoctonia relative to disease conducive controls. The type of manure in the compost had a greater influence on damping-off of Pythium than of Rhizoctonia. Composts differed in the relative amounts of suppression of Pythium damping-off as follows: dairy manure ≥ steer manure ≥ poultry litter. However, dairy manure compost contained phytotoxins generated in anaerobic zones of the windrow. There was no statistically significant association between disease suppression and compost age. Comparisons between disease losses in nonautoclaved and autoclaved potting mixes provided evidence that disease suppression was microbially mediated. There was also some evidence that low levels of NO2− – or NO3− – nitrogen were associated with suppression of Pythium damping-off.
Published Version
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