Meloidogyne incognita and Fusarium oxysporum interaction in Gerbera

Pot culture experiments were carried out to study the interactive effect of root knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita and the fungus, Fusarium oxysporum in Gerbera, Gerbera jamesonii Hook. Sequential and concomitant inoculation of the nematode and fungus was done to observe the disease severity in the plants due to the individual effect and interactive effect of nematode and fungus. It was observed from the study that the wilt disease was found to be more severe with the sequential inoculation of nematodes followed by fungus than with the fungus alone treatment. From the study, it was clear that nematodes act as a predisposer in the spread of secondary fungal pathogens.