Are Fungal Plant Diseases So Scary - 5 Tips To Prevent

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

Any of us who have been involved in growing plants knows that, unfortunately, they tend to get sick. And every year the number of diseases increases. Spores of fungi are spread by the wind, carried by insects, transmitted from plant to plant through gardening tools, "move" to our sites on our own clothes. They hibernate in the soil, on plant debris, and, having the ability to accumulate, under favorable conditions, they become more and more aggressive. What to do? To put up with this situation means to deprive yourself of the pleasure of getting a high-quality harvest, enjoying beautiful flower beds. Using pesticides - endangering your health.

There is an exit! It has been tested over the years and confirmed by science. To prevent fungal diseases, it is necessary to apply measures to prevent their development and methods associated with the improvement of the soil and the plants themselves. It is about them that will be discussed in this article.

What our plants are sick with

The spectrum of plant diseases is very wide - both viral and fungal diseases. But if it is possible to fight viral only by destroying sick specimens, then those diseases caused by fungi can be defeated, or at least their aggressiveness can be reduced.

What fungal diseases are found on our sites? Powdery mildew, downy mildew, rust, all sorts of spotting, rot - and this is not the whole list! These diseases not only worsen the appearance of crops, affecting their leaves, young shoots, flowers, ovary, fruits, but significantly weaken them, lead to loss of yield, and, if severely damaged, even cause death.

In order to prevent the spread of fungal diseases, it is necessary to adhere to five rules, which are aimed at improving the site, suppressing the development of spores of pathogens and supporting natural immunity in plants.

Rule one - we select high-quality planting material

When choosing plants for planting on your site, you must first of all pay attention to their appearance. The selected specimens should be visually pleasing - well-developed, without mechanical damage, all kinds of spots on the leaves and with an undried root system.

If, nevertheless, you notice some specks on the seedlings or seedlings, if possible, refuse to plant them, or, as a preventive measure, be sure to disinfect the planting material with biofungicides. We recommend treating an open root system or soil in cassettes with Trichoplant working solution - 50 - 100 ml of the drug per 10 liters of water. In the first case, by dipping into the solution, in the second - watering, at the rate of 1 liter per 1 sq. m. In addition to prophylaxis against fungal diseases, this technique also increases the survival rate of plants.

Rule two - choose varieties consciously

When purchasing seed material, seedlings or seedlings, be sure to pay attention to the variety, or rather, its resistance to the main diseases of the culture. If these are seeds, information can often be found on the bag, if seedlings or seedlings - in reviews or descriptions of the variety or hybrid on the Internet. Never just look at a photograph of a plant.

Do not rush to buy something according to the seller. You should know what to expect from purchased strawberries, gooseberries, hydrangeas, apple trees … It is very disappointing when every year a rose bush picks up buds and then becomes covered with a white bloom of powdery mildew, because it is not resistant to this disease. When the strawberries do not have time to ripen, the berry rots, and you are faced with the choice to use chemicals on your site or destroy the plot. When you grew grapes, and then found out that there are very similar varieties, but more resistant to diseases than the one that you spent so much work on. Today, each garden, vegetable and ornamental crop has a very large selection of varieties and hybrids, and in each segment you can find something that will correspond to the parameters you set, but most importantly, be highly resistant to major diseases.

Rule three - we constantly take care of soil health

To preserve the health of your plants and get a good harvest, you need to prepare for planting in advance: apply the main fertilizer for the autumn digging, apply mulching, if necessary, replenish the missing nutrients with additional fertilizing, but the main thing is to take care of the health of the soil. And be sure to combine them with the introduction of organic matter.

So, manure is applied once every four years in the amount of 4 - 6 kg per 1 sq. m with obligatory, urgent digging to keep the rapidly volatilizing nitrogen in it. To reduce the amount of phytopathogenic microflora that enters the soil with it, the treated area is spilled with Trichoplant solution. Soil microorganisms of the genus Trichoderma included in it effectively heal the root layer, suppressing the pathogenic microflora - causative agents of black leg, powdery mildew, peronosporosis, late blight, fusarium, gray rot, phomosis, alternaria, ascochitosis, white helminthiasis, vertigocytosis.

Mulching is another common technique for improving household plots. It allows not only to improve the conditions for the life of plants, but also to preserve and increase the quality of the soil: it retains moisture in it, keeps it from weathering, inhibits the growth of weeds, and is an additional source of organic matter. For spring-summer mulching, dry grass or weeds, straw, peat, humus, pine or spruce litter are used, for winter - often plant residues. To destroy the spores of fungal diseases that remain on them, disinfection with biofungicide is also used.

Rule four - we land correctly

Crop rotation plays a significant role in reducing the spread of fungal diseases, as well as maintaining the spatial distance between planted plants, regardless of whether they are vegetables, flowers, shrubs or trees. Crop rotation is applied to agricultural crops and assumes that plants of different families, not susceptible to common diseases, are planted in one place every year, which inhibits the accumulation and development of painful microflora. Planting plants at an optimal distance from each other provides them with sufficient nutritional area, illumination and ventilation, which is also a good prevention of diseases.

In the spring, before planting plants, the soil is again treated with Trichoplant at a rate of 1 liter of working solution (50 ml per 10 liters of water) per 1 sq. m of the treated surface. This technique not only protects plants from diseases, but stimulates their growth, increases productivity. In the fall, the treatment is repeated in order to again disinfect the soil from pathogens of fungal diseases that have got into it with plant debris.

Rule five - do not neglect preventive measures

In the fight against fungal diseases, preventive measures associated with proper agricultural technology during the season are very important. These are pre-sowing treatment of seeds, preventive treatment of plants with biofungicides, regular watering, top dressing, removal of weeds and affected plant residues, sanitary pruning of trees and shrubs. Without them, any culture weakens, loses its immunity and becomes more susceptible to disease.

Pre-sowing soaking of seeds for an hour in a working solution of Trichoplant with a concentration of 0.5 mg per 1 l of water, in addition to prophylaxis against diseases, provides more friendly germination, increases seed germination energy, increases the immunity of seedlings and stimulates their faster development. Pre-planting treatment of seedlings by immersing an open root system in a working solution of Trichoplant (50 - 100 ml of the drug per 10 liters of water) or processing the earth in cassettes, at the rate of 1 liter per 1 sq. m, it also increases the survival rate of plants, which gives plantings a good start.

Subsequent prophylactic treatments with biofungicides during the growing season are carried out under weather conditions that provoke an outbreak of diseases (often with sharp temperature fluctuations, temperatures around + 25 ° C in combination with high humidity) by regular, repeated every 10 - 12 days, watering plants at the root 1 l of working solution (50 ml per 10 l of water) per 1 sq. m of the cultivated land surface.

Weed weeding is also an important preventive measure. This agricultural practice reduces competition for water, light and nutritional area, which is especially important for young plants. But, in addition, the development of fungal diseases often begins precisely on weeds and only then moves on to crops. Spores of fungi overwinter on weeds that have not been harvested in winter, as well as on crop residues left for the winter by fallen leaves. Therefore, the cleanliness of the site must be monitored throughout the season and not only for the sake of aesthetics, but also the health of plants and soil.

An important prophylactic and preventive method for the spread of fungal diseases is the mandatory annual spring and autumn (and, if necessary, summer sanitary and thinning), garden trimming. Diseased and dried parts of branches of trees and shrubs must be cut off with pruning shears with the capture of 2 cm of healthy tissue to prevent their further development. In addition, it is imperative to treat the wounds within two hours after pruning, because it is open wounds that are the place of penetration of the most dangerous fungal diseases - stem rot.

Also, no matter how much you feed your plants, without an optimal supply of moisture in the soil, they cannot absorb nutrients from it. Therefore, not only high-quality fertilizing is important, but also regular watering.

Output

All of these techniques are not a panacea for diseases, but a powerful prevention that prevents their development. This means that they reduce the need for contact with agrochemicals and their aftereffects.

In addition, the use of Trichoplant allows:

• heal the soil, suppressing pathogenic microflora in it through the work of fungi of the genus Trichoderma - a natural source of antibacterial compounds;
• significantly stimulate seed germination, growth and development of young seedlings;
• support the natural immunity of plants.

Therefore, using Trichoplant, you can naturally restrain the development of fungal diseases on your site, achieve faster growth and development of plants, abundant flowering of ornamental crops and high yields.

Have a good season!