Evaluation of U.S. Plant Introductions of Watermelon for Resistance to Powdery Mildew

Two hundred sixty-six Citrullus lanatus (Thumb.) Matsum. & Nakai accessions (Plant Introductions and named cultivars) were tested against a race 2 Sphaerotheca fuliginea (Schlechtend.: Fr.) Pollacci isolate to evaluate for resistance to powdery mildew disease. Growth room-grown seedlings were artificially inoculated with conidia from watermelon host leaves at 2-day intervals from the appearance of the first true leaf until test results data were taken, when the second true leaf was fully expanded. Plants were evaluated on a 1 to 9 scale of increasing disease severity. Disease indices (DIs) were calculated as weighted averages for each entry. All genotypes with resistant plants (powdery mildew rating 1 to 3) were reevaluated in a replicated test of 3 replications of 10 plants each. Disease indices were again calculated. Twenty-two plant introductions (PIs) and one named variety displayed intermediate resistance to powdery mildew in the replicated test with DIs ranging from 5.0 to 6.0.