Scab conduciveness of 35 Tasmanian ferrosol soils, used for potato cropping, was compared in a glasshouse trial. Linear regressions showed no association between scab incidence and any of 12 individual soil chemical properties. However, using contingency tables, threshold levels were found for pH and exchangeable cations below which scab disease was less likely. The observed pH threshold in the range 5.0-5.2 was in accordance with similar findings from elsewhere and indicates the robustness of this threshold over a range of soil types and pathogen species. Scab was not observed on potatoes grown in soil with combined exchangeable Ca, Mg and K at 12 cmolc/kg or less. A strong correlation between soil pH and these exchangeable cations, particularly calcium, was found.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
Research Group:	Horticultural Production
Research Field:	Horticultural Crop Protection (Pests, Diseases and Weeds)
Objective Division:	Plant Production and Plant Primary Products
Objective Group:	Horticultural Crops
Objective Field:	Vegetables
UTAS Author:	Lacey, MJ (Dr Michael Lacey)
UTAS Author:	Wilson, CR (Professor Calum Wilson)
ID Code:	22101
Year Published:	2001
Web of Science® Times Cited:	29
Deposited By:	Agricultural Science
Deposited On:	2001-08-01
Last Modified:	2002-05-14
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