Abstract

Several plant baits were tested to quantify Rhizoctonia inoculum density in Eucalyptus clonal garden soils. Experiments carried out with five types of plant baits in soils infested with R. solani showed that eucalypt twig segments were more readily colonised and allowed detection of the fungus at lower inoculum densities, showing high detection sensitivity across the tested clonal garden soils. Other baits had high colonisation levels, but varied greatly in sensitivity according to the tested soil. These results indicate that eucalypt twig segments were the most effective bait to estimate Rhizoctonia inoculum density in clonal garden soils.