Abstract

Two pot experiments were separately conducted to determine the influence of four or three inoculum levels (0, 250, 500 and 1000 or 0, 1000 and 2000 nematode eggs/ 850 g soil/pot) ofMeloidogyne incognita on population density of the nematode and host reaction of two solanacious plants viz tomato cv. Castle rock or pepper cv. Anaheim under partly controlled greenhouse at 23 ± 4^oC. Nematode reproduction and host damage were both affected by the initial inoculum levels and revealed a reduction in total the fresh weight of the plants as the inoculum level increased from 250 to 1000 eggs/ tomato plant with values of 18.6 and 43.9%. The rate of build up of M. incognita on tomato increased from 1.14 to 1.48, respectively. When the initial inoculum (Pi) level was increased up to 2000 eggs per pepper plant, the percentage reduction of whole plant fresh weight (73.2%) and shoot dry weight (55.3%) as well as rate of nematode build-up (1.49) also obviously increased. Galls and egg masses/root system increased as Pi was increased on both host plants. Regression analysis of Pi vs rate of nematode build-up either on tomato or pepper plants gave values of R² amounted to 0.6904 or 0.8149, respectively. This means the susceptibility of tomato cv. Castle Rock to M. incognita infection was more than did pepper cv. Anaheim under greenhouse condition.

Key words: Population density, pepper, tomato, inoculum level, Meloidogyne incognita.