Observations on the maintenance and measurement of soil water in simple pot experiments and its effects on seed-borne Fusarium culmorum seedling blight of winter wheat

A simple method for maintaining and measuring soil water and the relationship between soil water and seed-borne Fusarium culmorum seedling blight of wheat was investigated under controlled environmental conditions to develop reproducible assay conditions for epidemiological studies and the testing of fungicide seed treatments. For reproducibility, soil matric potential (ψ_m) was used to define soil water, and a range of watering regimes were tested. Treatments were watered to either a maximum ψ_m or to maintain a mean ψ_m in order to establish which parameter best described the effect that soil water had on the incidence of disease symptoms. The severity of disease symptoms was closely related to the mean soil water status and not the maximum ψ_m value. Watering intervals, ranging from three times a day to once every three days, did not affect this relationship. The percentage of seedlings showing symptoms after emergence (i.e. localised or extensive necrotic lesions) was inversely related to the mean ψ_m. With increasing soil dryness (mean ψ_m from -0.14 MPa to -0.17 MPa) the percentage of seedlings with post-emergence symptoms decreased from 50% to 20%. However, as the mean ψ_m changed from -0.14 MPa to -0.17 MPa the percentage of seedlings dying before emergence increased from 25% to 55% in direct proportion to ψ_m. Overall the incidence of infection as indicated by the total number of seedlings showing symptoms either before or after emergence remained relatively constant, and was not significantly related to mean ψ_m.