Control of microorganisms in the rhizosphere of wheat by inoculation of seeds withPseudomonas putida and by foliar application of urea

After inoculation of wheat seeds with various bacterial strains germination of plants was usually inhibited at first but growth was stimulated later. After inoculation withPseudomonas putida K 11 producing physiologically active compounds the total number of bacteria increased together with the bacteria: fungi ratio in the rhizosphere. These characteristic were further increased after foliar application of urea due to increased root exudation. Dry mass of upper wheat parts was about 15 — 80 % higher in green-house experiments, in which the plants were treated in the two above ways. More reliable results, were usually obtained by bacterization ofP. putida and foliar application of urea as compared with the situation when the seeds were inoculated without the foliar application or, on the contrary, after foliar application without inoculation of the seeds. Only when urea was applied early and in a soil contaminated with the fungusGaeumannomyces graminis var.tritici (causing “take-all” of the wheat) no favourable results could be detected. In these cases the foliar application without inoculation of the seeds was more successful. Symptoms of the disease of wheat roots caused byG. graminis were less frequently observed after the inoculation of the seeds with the strainP. putida K 11 and after the foliar application of urea.