Effect of Fungicides on Growth and Sporulation of Alternaria Alternata (Fr.) Keissler, Causing Blight of Gerbera (Gerbera Jamesonii H. Bolus Ex J.D. Hook)

Blights caused by fungi are among the biggest threats in the protected cultivation of many ornamental and flowering annuals. Gerbera is an important flowering shrub in the greenhouse cultivation. However, gerbera plant is attacked by many fungal pathogens in the protected cultivation and among that A. alternata is a serious one. In the present study, the growth and sporulation of A. alternata was studied under in vitro condition. The in vitro studies by ‘Poisoned Food Technique’ indicated that the fungicides viz., Bordeaux mixture (0.6%) and tricyclazole (0.1%) completely inhibited the growth and sporulation of A.alternata followed by significant effectiveness of difenoconazole (0.1%), propiconazole (0.1%), hexaconazole (0.1%), iprodione + carbendazim (0.1%), captan (0.1%) and mancozeb (0.1%) against the pathogen.