Susceptibility of Selected Cotton Cultivars to Seedling Disease Pathogens and Benefits of Chemical Seed Treatments.

The susceptibility of 12 Upland cotton cultivars to three soilborne fungi, Pythium ultimum, Rhizoctonia solani, and Thielaviopsis basicola, was evaluated in greenhouse experiments. Based on symptom development and seedling survival, cultivars highly resistant to P. ultimum included Delta Pine (DP) 6166, Prema, DP 6100, and Maxxa. A relatively low incidence of pre-emergence damping-off caused by R. solani occurred in ChemBred 7, DP 6100, and Royale, although all cultivars subsequently suffered significant post-emergence damping-off. All cultivars were equally susceptible to T. basicola. In both greenhouse and field evaluations, there were no benefits of metalaxyl seed treatment in Pythium-resistant cultivars. Seed treatment with carboxin-pentachloronitrobenzene for the control of Rhizoctonia-induced damping-off resulted in stand increases in all 12 cultivars in greenhouse tests and in 3 of 6 cultivars in field trials.