Thick root of cucumber: other susceptible plants and the effect of pH

Abstract

Thick root is a relatively new disorder of cucumber grown in artificial substrates. Plants of cucumber, tomato, sweet pepper, lupin, anthurium, Cucurbita ficifolia, C. maxima and two lines from crosses between C. maxima and C. moschata were grown in thick root disease (TRD)‐infested nutrient solutions containing the TRD agent. Plants from each species or line, except anthurium, developed TRD symptoms. Growth of diseased plants, except those of the line C. maxima ×C. moschata RS841, was significantly reduced compared with the nondiseased controls. Two weeks after infestation, by adding TRD‐affected nutrient solution to fresh nutrient solution, the presence of the infective TRD agent was shown in each of the nutrient solutions in which the plants had been grown, including anthurium. No infective TRD agent could be shown in nutrient solution that had not been in contact with roots of living plants. The minimum pH for thick root formation was shown to be between 5·0 and 5·5. Nutrient solutions with pH values ranging from 4·0 to 6·5 and infested with the TRD agent lost their infectivity within 8 days. The infective period decreased with decreasing pH (pH 4·0–6·5) and a pH effect on the infectivity of a nutrient solution was shown within 1 h of infestation. The data show that the risk of TRD can be reduced by decreasing the pH of the nutrient solution.