Reuse of untreated irrigation water as a vehicle of inoculum of pathogens in eucalyptus clonal nursery

The risk posed by reuse of untreated water for irrigation, collected from the effluents of mini-hedges, greenhouses, shade houses, growing and hardening areas of a eucalyptus cutting nursery, was evaluated in relation to the dissemination of Botrytis cinerea and Cylindrocladium candelabrum. The presence of inocula of these fungi was also evaluated on gravel used as soil cover. For pathogen detection, leaf discs of castor bean (Ricinus communis) were employed as biological bait. Periodical analyses of water samples, collected in the nursery effluents, and of gravel, showed that both pathogens are frequently disseminated in the water of the effluents and the gravel used as soil cover, although C. candelabrum is most common. The composition and salt concentration of three nutrient solutions, expressed in electric conductivity values (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 mS.cm-¹) did not affect conidial germination of these two fungi.