The bioassay not only provided an environment favourable for plant infection, but also offered suitable conditions for plant development. Disease suppression was found to be less dependent on the amount of compost than on absence or presence of composts. At present, the physical, chemical and microbial properties of the nine composts used are being investigated. The type of compost and compost concentration had a significant effect on plant health and development as indicated by weight measurements. When using composts for biological control of root diseases, the medium has to be adapted to suit the plant species in order to ensure and maintain plant growth, without undermining disease suppressive properties.
More research is needed to develop potting mixes with reliable antagonistic properties.
All Aphanomyces isolates studied, except for isolate AE1, were highly virulent. No resistant pea cultivar exists yet. Disease suppression of various A. euteiches isolates using composts needs to be investigated in connection with various pea genotypes . Soil-less mixes bark and sawdust. For container-grown plants.