How to Control Fusarium Wilt

Fusarium wilt

Fusarium wilt is a plant disease caused by fungal infection Fusarium Oxysporum sp. How to control fusarium wilt can be done with some methods. We will discuss 3 way to do it. Some plant diseases including fusarium wilt I have written about in the previous article. But this time, we will focus on fusarium wilt disease and how to prevent it.

This fungus is in the soil. Attacks plants through roots, then enters the xylem and disrupts plant metabolism.

This fungus can last quite a long time on hold. It can be years or even decades.

Therefore, it seems quite difficult to completely eliminate the source.

Fusarium wilt can attack chilies, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, bananas and several other plants.

Symptoms of plants affected by fusarium wilt are wilted leaves. Then dry, fall and finally the plant dies.

Symptoms of fusarium wilt in red chili plants begin with the blanching of the leaf bones, especially the upper leaves, followed by drooping of the stems, and finally the red chili plants wilt as a whole.

Fusarium sp. Infects from the roots and then throughout the plant, through the xylem vessels, thereby interfering with the process of water transport and nutrient absorption in plants and eventually the plants wilt.

To prevent fusarium wilt, good planting procedures should be carried out at the beginning.

For example, choosing seeds from varieties that are resistant to fusarium wilt, using mulch, good irrigation and eradication steps.

But, it all seems not to give satisfactory results in the field. Finally, the use of chemical fungicides is still the main choice. Because it is more practical and its performance is also more effective. This is regardless of the danger or not the use of chemical fungicides.

Alternatives to using plant-based fungicides and some antagonistic fungi have been introduced and have been widely studied.

Back again, when the results in the laboratory were thrown into the field, the efficiency began to be compared. Between in terms of the ability to eradicate disease and cost.

Maybe in terms of the effectiveness of eradicating diseases between vegetable and chemical fungicides can compete.

But in terms of time and cost efficiency, has this ever been analyzed?

After this we can compare things. If we can know the comparison, we can understand the farmers’ decision to use more chemical fungicides.

Farming on a laboratory scale, hobbies and plantations are different.

On a laboratory scale, it is important to obtain data on the fungicide or method being tested.

Whether it’s expensive or not, that’s discussed in another title in a different research. It’s usually like that. Likewise with hobbies, the important thing is that the plants are healthy and fruitful.

However, large-scale gardens have different pressures. If the crop doesn’t work, the family’s economy is at stake.

So farmers must take steps that are effective, time-saving and have a high success rate.

3 Ways to control fusarium wilt in plants

There are three methods that are currently quite effective for controlling fusarium wilt. Whether it’s fusarium wilt on chilies, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, or other plants.

Regarding the basic procedure of how to plant, this is beyond that. We are already at the next step.

The three ways of controlling fusarium wilt that I will mention are:

Using chemical fungicides.
Herbal Fungicides and
Fusarium wilt antagonist fungus.

Let’s discuss one by one more clearly.

1 . Control fusarium wilt with fungicides

We don’t need to talk much about these chemical fungicides. Because it is clear, various brands of fungicides that we can find in the market, its function is to control fusarium wilt.

Regarding the brand and the active ingredients, you can search for yourself. Much information is available online.

We will take one example of fungicides that are really chemical fungicides. If you search and find information made from thricoderma sp, it is not a chemical fungicide.

But the antagonist fungus which is to fight the fusarium fungus naturally. We will discuss that later.

A simple way to compare with plant-based fungicides is to look at the dosage.

On average, the dose for this chemical fungicide is 1-2 ml for every 1 liter of water.

For example, if we buy a 200 ml package, we can get 200 liters of ready-to-spray fungicide.

We note the price for example 60,000 rupiah.

In this case we do not doubt the ability of this chemical fungicide. Let’s just say the effectiveness in killing fungi is above 70%.

We go straight to step 2 in how to deal with fusarium wilt.

2 . Herbal fungicide for fusarium wilt

There are several herbal plants that can be used as plant-based fungicides. These herbal plants are taken as possible to obtain their extracts.

Usually the easiest to use are the leaves and tubers.

Parts of herbal plants that can be used as vegetable fungicides are:

• Papaya leaf.
• Soursop leaf.
• Lime leaves.
• Neem leaves.
• Ketapang leaves.
• Clove leaves.
• Teak leather.
• Pine bark.
• Chitosan (shrimp shell).
• Spinach thorns.
• Garlic.
• Coleus (Iler)
• Betel extract.
• Fragrant lemongrass.
• Clove.
• Tinospora cordifolia.

Although they differ in their ability to control fusarium wilt, these herbs can be excellent choices.

All of the above herbs have the ability to inhibit the development of fusarium fungus.

But, on average, it doesn’t give 100% perfect performance.

In addition, many extraction methods are highly technical in the laboratory, making it difficult to apply directly to farmers.

We will look at just a few, which are tested in vivo and the methods are simple.

The purpose of in vivo here is that herbal fungicides are actually applied to experimental plants.

So there is the plant, then the plant is intentionally infected with the fusarium fungus. After that, a plant-based fungicide is given. Like that.

What must be understood is that this fusarium fungus attacks from the roots and then enters the xylem vessels of the plant.

So the presence of this fungus is in plant tissue. Contact fungicides may be less effective against this fusarium fungus.

Because the fungus is not on the surface of the plant, but in the plant tissue. Unlike the fungus that causes leaf spot. It attacks plants from outside. Thus, contact fungicides may be more effective.

The provision of vegetable fungicides is mixed or inserted into the soil media.

That’s the logic. Fungicides are expected to suppress the development of fusarium fungi directly to their source.

Tinospora cordifolia leaf fungicide for fusarium

How to make herbal fungicides from Tinospora cordifolia leaves are:

• Tinospora cordifolia leaves were cleaned and washed.
• Leaves are air-dried.
• The leaves are then finely ground.
• Soaked for 72 hours with ethyl acetate.
• After that, it was filtered twice, the filtrate obtained through filtration was evaporated with a vacuum rotary evaporator at a temperature of 40 oC by separating the solvent from the extract.[3]

Like that.

If you find it difficult, just delete steps 4 and 5. Tinospora cordifolia leaves that have been finely ground are directly applied to the plant media.

That is as much as 50 grams per planting hole.

No less important is the data obtained from this research.

During five weeks of observation on chili plants, the best performance was obtained by chemical fungicides.

Of the 10 chili plants, all of them can live and survive until the age of 5 weeks of observation.

While the use of 5% brotowali leaf extract, starting from the 4th week, plants began to die.

Until the 5th week, only 70% or 7 plants still survive.

What does it mean? Plant fungicides must be given periodically if you want to be able to compete with chemical fungicides.

Because the active ingredients in herbal fungicides are easily washed off and washed away with water. This is not only for fungicides from Tinospora cordifolia leaves, all types of plant-based fungicides whose active ingredients are easily washed off by water, aka drift or sink.

Fungicides for neem leaves, clove leaves and soursop leaves

Incidentally, clove leaves, neem leaves and soursop leaves as fungicides are very easy to make. Although simple, the leaves of these plants are quite capable of suppressing the attack of fusarium wilt.

Indeed, the results are not as good as chemical fungicides, which are better able to suppress fusarium fungus for a longer time.

How to make herbal fungicides from neem leaves, clove leaves and soursop leaves are as follows:

Soursop, neem and clove leaves were each dried for 7 days.
After that it was mashed using a blender and sieved using a 60 mesh sieve.
Then the leaf flour is given to the plant by immersing it in the planting medium as much as 50 grams/plant.^[4]

Then during the 42 days of observing this herbal fungicide, it did not provide much help to plants that were attacked by fusarium wilt.

On average only half (about 50%) of the experimental plants were saved. The rest were still attacked by fusarium wilt and wilted.

Therefore, we will go straight to the more advanced method of dealing with fusarium wilt, namely with natural enemies.

Control of fusarium wilt with thricoderma sp

The fungus is fought by the fungus. That’s the concept. Application of tricoderma on chili gives positive results.

In the long term, I think this is more likely to be done because this antagonistic fungus is active.

The active meaning is that they will always be in the ground and can develop continuously. Directly, as they continue to grow in the soil, automatically the emphasis on the development of the fusarium fungus will also continue.

The type of fungus that is currently most effective against fusarium fungus is thricoderma sp.

Naturally, this thricoderma sp already exists in the soil. Namely in the area around the roots of healthy plants.

The presence of this thricoderma can inhibit fusarium pathogenic fungi through antibiosis and physically.

The mechanism of antibiosis occurs by means of Trichoderma sp. secrete antibiotic compounds that can inhibit the growth of other fungi.

In addition, thricoderma sp. Capable of producing hydrolytic enzymes, chitinase and cellulase.

These enzymes can damage other fungal cells including the fusarium fungus.

Meanwhile, physically, thricoderma can inhibit fusarium fungus through space competition, nutrition competition and mycoparasites.

The point is that when there are 2 or more organisms that live in a place, then they will compete to survive.

Whether one will defeat the other, by expelling it or something, I don’t know. They are very small.

But what is clear is that the presence of thricoderma sp is not beneficial for the fusarium fungus.

This has been proven in the laboratory or directly on several types of plants.

From a study, giving thricoderma as much as 50 grams per planting hole can control the occurrence of fusarium wilt in tomato plants.^[5]

In this case, thicoderma is available in powder form. Plants are planted in pots with a mass or number of planting media about 8 kg.

If planted in the field, it may be less effective. Because the planting media area is wider. Unlike the pot whose area is limited by the pot itself.

How to control fusarium wilt with compost?

Thricoderma also has the ability to degrade organic matter. I often find journals that use this fungus to make fermentation.

This means that the thricoderma fungus can be used as a starter for fermentation in making compost. Compost from cow manure or goat dropping.

So, we can get two advantages at once. That is :

• Get compost as organic fertilizer.
• The thricoderma fungus contained in the compost will naturally suppress the development of pathogenic fungi such as fusarium.

This is very possible once applied and easy to implement in the field.

From one study, adding compost with 40 grams of thricoderma can suppress fusarium wilt by 87.7%.[6]

I think that’s enough, on how to control this fusarium wilt. Hope it can be useful.

See you again.

Reference

[1] Ghea Dotulong, Stella Umboh, Johanis Pelealu. Toxicity test of several plant fungicides against Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum) on Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) by In Vitro. Biology Study Program, FMIPA Sam Ratulangi University, Manado. Journal of Bioslogos, August 2019, Vol. 9 Number 2.

[2] Andri et al. Plant Emphasis on Tomato Plant Soil Contaminated by Fusarium Oxysporum F.Sp. Lycopersici. Department of Plant Pests and Diseases, Faculty of Agriculture, Jenderal Sudirman University, Purwokerto. Journal of Indonesian agricultural sciences 12 (1): 13-18 (2010).

[3] Ida Bagus Gede Darmayasa and Ni Made Susun Parwanayoni. Potency of Brotowali (Tinospora Crispa (L) Miers) Leaf Extract as a Plant Fungicide Against Fusarium Wilt Disease in Chili Plants (Capsicum Annum L.). Department of Biology F. MIPA Udayana University, Bukit Jimbaran Campus, Bali. Proceedings of the National Seminar on Biology Study Program F. MIPA UNHI.

[4] Rahmi Hayati, Tjut Chamzurni, Buni Amin. Application of several plant fungicides with various doses to control Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum) on tomato plants. Agrotechnology Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Syiah Kuala University. Unsyiah Agricultural Student Scientific Journal Volume 1, Number 1, November 2016.

[5] Novita, Trias. Trichoderma sp. in Control of Fusarium Wilt Disease in Tomato Plants. Jambi University Faculty of Agriculture. Biospecies, Volume 4 No. 2, July 2011, p. 27 – 29 27.

[6] Istifadah, Noor. Etc. Compost Plus Ability In Suppressing Fusarium Wilt Disease In Tomato Plants. Journal of Agriculture Volume 19, Number 1, 2008.