Selection methods for determining resistance of carnation cultivars to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthi

The level of resistance of carnation ( Dianthus caryophyllus ) cultivars to wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthi was compared in root-dip-inoculated plants grown in pots (filled with tuff or sandy soil) in a greenhouse and plants grown in a field where the soil was artificially infested with the fungus. In the field, wilt symptoms appeared first in susceptible and subsequently in resistant cultivars; none was immune. Variations in the level of resistance were expressed either by different percentages of wilted plants (i.e. disease incidence) or by delayed disease progress as compared to a susceptible cultivar. The range of disease severity in the field, ranked on a scale from 0 to 4, was highly and significantly correlated with the percentage of diseased plants. The greenhouse test was unreliable as a predictor of the degree of resistance observed in the field. Similar wilt levels in the greenhouse and the field were found only in susceptible cultivars.