In the process of growing horticultural crops, the gardener annually encounters some diseases that adversely affect the final crop. Among the variety there is also a soot fungus. What it is? Methods of control and prevention are presented below.
Definition
Soot fungus is one of the varieties of molds that develop on the basis of nectar or natural secretions of aphids, scale insects and other pests. Under such conditions, a fungus begins to develop, the spores of which are always in the ground.
The affected leaves look as if they are covered with a layer of soot, so that the disease takes its name. At the same time, gradually developing, the sooty fungus can affect not only the foliage, but even the branches and trunk of the plant.
What is the danger?
Sooty fungus on cucumbers or other fruit and vegetable crops is not dangerous in itself, however, it clogs the pores of the leaves, thereby disrupting the respiration process, as a result of which the plant develops a lack of oxygen. Also, the fungus negatively affects the immunity of the plant, which in turn contributes to its death. If you do not solve the problem with infection in a timely manner, you can soon lose the plant.
Reasons for the appearance
The spores of the sooty fungus are always in the soil; they can winter peacefully under the bark of trees, without causing any harm to the culture. The disease begins to develop due to a large accumulation of waste products and the secretion of parasites such as aphids, larch, and mealybug.
They are a breeding ground for the disease and provoke its awakening. It is for this reason that experienced gardeners recommend combating not only soot fungus, but also pests that form a developmental environment that nourishes it.
Disease development
Fungal disease appears and develops quickly enough. Sooty plaque can be detected only a few weeks after the plant is infected with parasites. In urban plantings, black develops almost immediately after leaves open in spring. Sooty fungus on tomatoes and other cultural plantations develops rapidly at high ambient temperatures, the peak of its vital activity occurs in the hottest summer months - July and August.
Since the plant disrupts metabolism, respiration and photosynthesis due to damage, it soon dries and dies, especially for annual crops.
Treatment
In gardening, the following methods are used to control soot fungus:
- Removal of affected leaves. The procedure is effective in the early stages of the development of the disease, when there are not so many affected areas. After removal, they must be burned away from the growth of garden crops to prevent the spread of the disease to healthy plants.
- Spraying with Bordeaux fluid at a concentration of 1%. For this, ordinary spray guns can be used if the treatment area is small, and garden sprayers, which are characterized by high productivity.
- Spraying with 1% solution of copper sulfate also delays and stops the development of soot fungus on plants.
- It is impossible to cure the affected plant without destroying the pests that caused the appearance of the soot fungus. For this, drugs such as Calypso, Fitover, Fitosporin are used.
- Spraying with a copper-soap mixture. To prepare it, you will need 5 g of copper sulfate, 150 g of laundry soap grated on a fine grater 72%, 10 l of water. Everything must be mixed until the vitriol and soap are completely dissolved, and then the plants are treated with a spray bottle.
- To destroy fungi in the soil, it is recommended to pour hot water around the ground around the plant, and then cover with a film. Using this method, you must be extremely careful, because you can easily damage the roots and trunk of the plant with hot water.
- Spraying with a solution of soda and 72% laundry soap is allowed.
Timely initiated treatment can save garden plants from imminent death.
Preventive measures
In order to not have to carry out treatment for soot fungus, it is necessary to deal with the prevention of diseases. The following measures are applicable for this:
- Preventive spraying of plants with Fitosporin, Calypso and other antifungal drugs. It is usually carried out in the spring, during the opening of the first leaves, as well as in mid-summer, when the chances of a fungus infection are highest.
- To prevent the spread of the disease, it is necessary to timely cut off the infected leaves and burn them away from fruit and vegetable crops.
- In the fall, before planting plants, it is possible to treat the soil and garden tools with a solution of copper sulfate.
- It is recommended to change the place of growth of different crops annually, this positively affects not only the subsequent yield, but also reduces the risks of many diseases, including sooty fungus.
- To prevent the development of fungal diseases, it is important to prevent waterlogging of the soil, as well as thin out too thick tree crowns.
Sooty fungus affects not only garden plants, but also indoor plants, so when buying a new flowerpot, you need to place it in a two-week quarantine in another room. This is necessary in case the plant is affected by diseases that can be transmitted to healthy flowers.
It also prevents the development of many diseases, including fungal, frequent examination of the state of plants. This helps to timely identify the problem and solve it at the initial stage of development.
In the garden, you must carefully remove the weeds that grow between the beds, as they can cause pests.
With small foci of blackness, sometimes it is enough to remove the blackened leaves or just wash off the soot.
Grade selection
In order not to have to take emergency measures to control soot fungus, it is recommended to pay attention to varieties of crops that are resistant to fungal diseases:
- Pears: “early ripening from Michurinsk”, “allegro”, “morning freshness”, “hera”, “Yakovlevskaya”.
- Cherries: “chocolate”, “turgenevka”, “minx”, “short story”, “toy”.
- Apple trees: “cypress”, “medunica”, “aphrodite”, “sun”, “Antonovka”.
- Tomatoes: “resonance”, “gnome”, “Perseus”, “orange miracle”, “Tatyana”.
- Peaches: T-1 Volcano, Harbinger, Royal Glory, Sweet Ring, Fidelia.
- Grapes: “Victoria”, “White Delight”, “Arcadia”, “Laura”, “Cardinal”.
- Strawberry: “torpedo”, “Queen Elizabeth II”, “Honet”, “Tsarskoye Selo”.
- Potato: “Bronitsky”, “Alena”, “Snow White”, “Redus”, “Pace”.
- Blackcurrant: “gulliver”, “lazy dog”, “dashkovskaya”, “centaur”, “sweet”.
- Red currant: "Asya", "Valentine", "pink nutmeg", "commemorative", "cascade", "generous".
- Gooseberry: “non-hearing”, “malachite”, “spring”, “Isabella”, “Russian red”, “Russian yellow”, “Cossack”.
- Cucumbers: "competitor", "gourmet", "Nezhinsky", "son of the regiment", "caprice", "bunny", "tanya".
If you buy varieties of fruit and vegetable crops resistant to fungal diseases, then you can prevent the development of soot fungus on plants.
Conclusion
Sooty fungus is a rather dangerous disease for plants, as it significantly complicates their normal functioning. Despite the fact that the control measures are quite simple, it can be difficult to cure the plant due to the fact that fungal diseases spread very quickly.