BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF MEDIA-BORNE PATHOGENS OF POINSETTIAS WITH GLIOCLADIUM VIRENS.
in HortSciencePoinsettia growers generally apply fungicide drenches to circumvent any potential problems corn soil-borne pathogens. This involves a considerable expense in chemical purchase and exposes the handler to risk. A potential biological control organism in commercial production is Gliocladium virens and is being marketed under the trade name GlioGard. This fungal organism is pathogenic towards other fungi including Rhizocotonia solani and Pythium. Two cultivars of poinsettia `Freedom' and `Gutbier V-14 Glory' were planted into Metro 366 medium, half colonized with 0.9 kg·m-3 GlioGard and half not. Half of the rooted cuttings were planted at the standard depth and half planted deep (3 cm). No additional fungicide treatment was made. Those plants transplanted normally without GlioGard had 70-85% survival where those treated with GlioGard had 75-95% survival.
