Oil Adjuvants Enhance the Efficacy of Pyraclostrobin in Managing Cucumber Powdery Mildew (Podosphaera xanthii) by Modifying the Affinity of Fungicide Droplets on Diseased Leaves

Abstract

Adding adjuvants improved the affinity of fungicide droplets to cucumber leaves infected with powdery mildew (Podosphaera xanthii) and subsequent efficacy of fungicide treatments in reducing the disease. The affinity of oil adjuvants was quantified by adhesional tension and “work of adhesion”. Oil adjuvant-fungicide mixtures were applied to plants in field experiments to evaluate their effectiveness in disease prevention. Both the adhesional tension and work of adhesion of the adjuvants at selected concentrations increased on powdery-mildew-infected cucumber leaves more than on healthy cucumber leaves. The adjuvant GY-Tmax (GYT) displayed the best surface activity or “surfactivity” in enhancing the affinity and adherence of droplets to powdery-mildew-infected cucumber leaves, while epoxidized soybean oil (ESO), methyl oleate, and biodiesel exhibited much lower effects in terms of the surface tension, contact angle, adhesional tension, and work of adhesion. Field experiments determined that the combination of GYT at 1,000 mg liter−1 and pyraclostrobin (150 g a.i. ha−1) was most effective (91.52%) in controlling cucumber powdery mildew. Pyraclostrobin with ESO was also highly effective (ranging from 77.54 to 89.65%). The addition of oil adjuvants, especially GYT and ESO, to fungicide applications can be an effective strategy to enhance the efficacy of pesticides in controlling plant diseases by modifying the affinity of fungicide droplets to symptomatic leaves.