Non-chemical control of Armillaria mellea infection of Prunus persica

Peaches, Prunus persica were planted as grafted saplings in an avocado orchard previously infested with Armillaria mellea (Vahl) P.Kumm. Trees were planted in large or small holes with or without fresh yardwaste chips added as an amendment and with or without a Trichoderma biocontrol product sprayed into the hole. Trees were monitored for six years -growth and mortality was tabulated. Six years later 40% of the trees had died from the disease. Trees planted in a large hole were more likely to survive than in a smaller hole (P=0.07) and trees in large holes with fresh organic matter added were the most likely to survive (P=0.04). Trichoderma sprays in the planting hole did not increase survival rates. While growth was initially retarded by adding fresh yardwaste to the hole, in later years none of the treatments affected growth rates. Research Article Non-chemical control of Armillaria mellea infection of Prunus persica Jim Downer* and Ben Faber University of California, Cooperative Extension, 669 County Square Drive Suite 100 Ventura CA, 93003, USA *Address for Correspondence: Jim Downer, University of California, Cooperative Extension, 669 County Square Drive Suite 100 Ventura CA, 93003, USA, Tel: 805 825 9081; Email: ajdowner@ucanr.edu Submitted: 17 June 2019 Approved: 03 July 2019 Published: 04 July 2019 Copyright: © 2019 Downer J, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited