Abstract
PARTIAL sterilization of the soil by heat is one of the most potent methods of control of soil-borne diseases. Amateur growers, however, do not always possess the requisite apparatus, and various chemical treatments have been suggested. Formalin is the most readily available of these, but the liquid has certain disadvantages in practice. W. Brown has briefly reported (Gard. Chron., February 8) good results with an American suggestion to use formalin adsorbed upon an inert carrier such as diatomaceous earth or sawdust. The experiments relate particularly to the damping-oif disease of tomatoes caused by Phytophthora fungi, and in some cases a total control of the malady was effected by the use of formalin powder applied to the seed bed when the seed was sown. Such treatment appears to provide a sustained control of damping-off, and not merely to postpone it for a time.
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Control of Soil-borne Tomato Diseases. Nature 147, 354 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147354e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147354e0