Suppressive Effect of a Commercial Earthworm Compost on some Root Infecting Pathogens of Cabbage and Tomato

Pot experiments with Phytophthora nicotianae var. nicotianae, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and root-knot nematode Meloidogyne hapla on tomato, Plasmodiophora brassicae and Heterodera schachtii on cabbage revealed a suppressive effect of commercial earthworm compost toward the pathogenic fungi but not toward the parasitic nematodes. The effectiveness of the compost appeared dose dependent and increased with an increase in the rate of substrate amendment with compost.