The effect of Trichoderma on the growth and development of tomato and bean under greenhouse and field conditions

Abstract

Trichoderma's plant growth stimulating effect is well-recognized besides its well-known role as a biocontrol agent against plant diseases. Two greenhouse and field studies were conducted at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUOT) to test the effects of Trichoderma harzianum on the growth of tomato and bean plants. Greenhouse potted plants were inoculated with three T. harzianum strains at 106 CFUmL-1, whereas, the field experiments were inoculated with T. harzianum strain LIPIMCO548 in rice bran at 0, 25, 50 and 75g/m2 soil. In the greenhouse experiments, Trichoderma inoculation increased the root and shoot length, and total fresh weight of bean plant up to 16.57, 20.79 and 21.37%, respectively over the un-inoculated control. For tomato plants, significantly higher (p ≤0.05, LSD) average root growth was observed when inoculated with T. harzianum strain CE262 over the control. On average, Trichoderma inoculation increased the root and shoot length, and the fresh weight up to 26.4, 9.6 and 18.8%, respectively over the control. Similar growth patterns were also observed in the field experiments. These results will be of immense value to vegetable growers in Papua New Guinea (PNG), especially to the intensive vegetable growing areas in the highland regions of the country.

Interaction Between Arbuscular Mycorrhizal and Antagonistic Rhizosphere Fungi in Peat Soil Enhancing Growth of Coffea liberica Seedlings

“…The research results show that different types of AMF applied to peat soil worked synergistically with Trichoderma sp. This is following the work by Bhuvaneswari et al (2014) on Capsicum annuum, Dehariya et al (2015) on pigeon pea, Ban et al (2018) and Domínguez et al (2016) on L. esculentum andPhaseolus vulgaris, andHalifu et al (2019) on Pinus sylvestris. Trichoderma sp.…”

Context-Dependent Effects of Trichoderma Seed Inoculation on Anthracnose Disease and Seed Yield of Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris): Ambient Conditions Override Cultivar-Specific Differences

“…Carvalho et al [ 79 ] used plastic bags with a sterilized commercial substrate to test the potential of five T . harzianum strains to favor seedling emergence and subsequent growth from Sclerotinia sclerotiorum -infected seeds of common bean ( P. vulgaris ) and obtained results that correlated well with the effects under open field conditions [ 79 ], while a study comparing the growth promotion effect of three T. harzianum isolates reported opposite effects on root growth for plants cultivated in pots in sterilized field soil versus plants in the open field [ 82 ]. In our study, the effects of Trichoderma on anthracnose disease of common bean differed depending on the type of soil even when plants were kept in a greenhouse, i.e., under otherwise controlled ambient conditions.…”