Trichoderma viride harzianum root rot wilt seed treatment soil application FYM dose
3 Answers
Trichoderma is a friendly fungus that grows around the roots and suppresses soil borne disease fungi like Fusarium wilt, Rhizoctonia and Pythium that cause root rot, damping off and collar rot. It is a preventive, you must apply it before or at planting, it will not rescue a plant that is already badly rotted. Use it three ways. One, seed treatment, coat seeds at the dose on the label, usually a few grams per kg of seed, before sowing. Two, soil application, mix the Trichoderma with well rotted farmyard manure or vermicompost, keep it moist and shaded for about a week so it multiplies, then broadcast it in the field, often around 2 to 2.5 kg of product per acre carried in 50 to 100 kg of FYM. Three, seedling root dip for transplanted crops. Keep two important rules, do not mix Trichoderma with chemical fungicides or apply it right after a fungicide because they kill it, and apply into moist soil with organic matter so it survives. Used early and regularly it noticeably cuts wilt and rot. Confirm crop dose with your KVK.
The FYM enrichment step is the secret. When I just dumped Trichoderma powder dry in the field it did nothing. Mixing it in moist compost for a week first made a real difference to my tomato wilt.
Do not spray fungicide and then add Trichoderma same week. You are just killing your own good fungus. Keep a gap.