Abstract
We developed a new irrigation method for strawberry cultivation by covering the soil with a hydrophilic, nonwoven fabric sheet to suppress the spread of Glomerella cingulata, causal agent of strawberry anthracnose. A hydrophilic, nonwoven fabric sheet was placed on soil in cell trays, and drip-type irrigation tubes supplied water, which flowed from the sheets to strawberry roots through a cut in the sheet. This technique significantly reduced anthracnose in inoculation experiments. The use of this fabric as a rain shelter suppressed anthracnose even more. The soil application lowered humidity and increased the temperature 10 cm from the basal part of the plants in comparison to an overhead irrigation method, indicating that humidity may be more important than local temperature in the spread of the fungus.
