Occurrence of Polyscytalum pustulans, Phoma foveata and Fusarium solani var. coemleum in field soils in Scotland

The effectiveness of various methods for detecting three fungal potato pathogens was compared with artificially infested soil, naturally infested tuber-borne soil and field soil. In the spring of 1985 and 1986 field soils from 30 farms in north-east Scotland were sampled just before planting a seed potato crop and 6 months after harvesting such a crop. The minimum statutory gap between crops is 5 years. Polyscytalum pustulans was recovered from 32 out of 60 field soil samples taken 6 months after harvest while from fields sampled in the spring before a potato crop was planted the fungus was isolated from 10 out of 30 soils in 1985 and five out of 30 in 1986. Phoma foveata was isolated from only one out of 60 pre-planting soil samples but Fusarium solani var. coeruleum was recovered from eight of these soils.
Microplant bait plants were grown over 3 years at an experimental farm near Edinburgh in various fields at different intervals after a previous potato crop. Contamination by P . pustulans was not related to interval after potatoes between 1 - 7 years. No contamination was recorded in fields where potatoes had not been grown for more than 30 years.