article · Agriculture
This research assesses the use of various essential oils to control cucumber powdery mildew caused by the fungus Podosphaera xanthii. Testing covered oils of lemongrass, lemon, thyme, peppermint, and three commercial blends, evaluated both in laboratory conditions and in greenhouses at concentrations ranging from 1.0 to 2.5 mL/L. Treatment reduced disease incidence by up to 77.3 percent compared to untreated infected controls. Alongside suppressing the disease, the essential oils enhanced plant growth indicators, including plant length, leaf area, fresh and dry weight, flower numbers, and metabolite content. Treated plants also exhibited significantly reduced cell membrane injury. The findings support using a dosage of 2.5 mL/L to control powdery mildew and enhance cucumber growth, while cautioning that higher doses cause adverse effects.
Powdery mildew is a damaging fungal infection that severely impacts cucumber yields. Using plant-derived essential oils presents a biological approach to suppressing fungal infection while simultaneously encouraging crop growth and protecting cellular integrity. Establishing effective dosing helps manage the disease without harming the host crop.
The findings point to potential botanical fungicide formulations for horticulture growers seeking alternatives to synthetic crop treatments. Tested in laboratory and greenhouse settings, the approach is applied research that has established viable efficacy and dosing limits (2.5 mL/L). Further development would require field-scale validation and commercial formulation stability trials before adoption by crop protection manufacturers or commercial cucumber growers.
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This research evaluated the efficacy of essential oils in the management of cucumber powdery mildew. Essential oils of lemongrass, lemon, thyme, peppermint, abundance blend, purification blend, and thieves blend were tested in vitro and under greenhouse conditions in two separate experiments. The effects of essential oils were tested against powdery mildew disease at concentrations of 1.0–2.5 mL/L, and the consequent impact of the oils on plant growth was evaluated. Powdery mildew fungus, Podosphaera xanthii, was identified using sequencing of the ITS region. The essential oils significantly reduced disease incidence up to 77.3% compared with the positive control (p < 0.5). Moreover, the essential oils increased the plant length (up to 187 cm), leaf area (up to 27.5 cm2), fresh weight (up to 123 g), dry weight (up to 22.5 g), number of flowers (16.3), and metabolite content compared with the positive control (p < 0.5). Cell membrane injury decreased significantly in the oil-treated pants (p < 0.5), indicating the protective effect of essential oils. This study recommends the application of essential oils in an appropriate dose (2.5 mL/L) to protect cucumber plants against powdery mildew. Overdose of the oils (more than 2.5 mL/L) should be avoided due to adverse effects.
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DOI: 10.3390/agriculture11111177
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