The field trials were conducted at the Experimental Farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt, in the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons.
The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replicates; the experimental plot area was 20.25 m2 containing four rows, each row was 3.5 m in length, and the distance between the rows was 50 cm (28 plants/plot). Each treatment shown below was tested separately with or without the BW pathogen.
The roots of tomato seedlings were treated with the selected oils at the time of transplanting as previously described for the greenhouse experiments. G. mosseae was used at a rate of 10 g/kg soil with the top 10 cm of soil surface before planting as previously described. Four weeks after transplanting, the tomato plants were inoculated with the BW pathogen as described for the greenhouse experiments.
Four weeks later, disease index data were recorded as previously described.
Adequate watering and nutrition requirements were provided to tomato plants as recommended by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture for tomato production.
The experiments consisted of seven treatments; each treatment included either one treatment or more than one treatment (combination treatment). These treatments were as follows: