How to cure land from late blight in the fall? What methods are effective against such a fungal infection of cultivated plants? What is the prevention of the disease? The answers to these and other questions can be found in our article.
What is late blight?
Before considering the question of how to cure the earth of late blight, let's find out what the disease is? Late blight is a fungal infection that can infect a wide range of garden plants. Most often, tomatoes and potatoes, as well as some nightshade plants, suffer from a negative manifestation. The causative agent of the disease is the microscopic fungus Phytophthora infestans. The latter parasitizes not only on root crops, but also on terrestrial fruits of plants. If everything is left to chance, the crop can be completely destroyed.
Distribution mechanism
Initially, scientists believed that such an infection spreads over land along with potato tubers. However, as shown by the results of recent studies, late blight is carried by seedlings and seeds of various cultivated plants. Spores of the fungus are able to remain active when exposed to a wide range of negative environmental factors. They are not afraid of low and high temperatures. Sustainable disease to certain chemicals. All this significantly complicates the fight against late blight.
To understand how to get rid of late blight in the ground in the fall after tomatoes or potatoes, vegetable growers go to a variety of tricks. Often it is not possible to overcome the fungal pathogen due to the use of high-quality seed material, as well as proper soil preparation. In the presence of favorable conditions, a land plot can become infected even by several disputes that were brought by the wind.
What factors contribute to the appearance of late blight?
Fungal pathogens are active in high soil moisture. Usually late blight develops in the soil in summer, when in the morning time an abundance of dew falls on the ground. The air temperature should be within 15 ° C. For this reason, the fungus most often spreads in August. Indeed, it is during this period that the air in the morning becomes cooler and there is an abundance of rainfall.
How to cure land from late blight in the fall? The complexity of the fight against the disease lies in the lack of universal solutions. However, there are several methods that make it possible to eliminate the trouble. We will talk about the most effective methods later.
What danger does the disease pose to the crop?
Gardeners are constantly wondering how to treat the land for late blight in the fall after potatoes, since the fungal pathogen often manifests itself again with the onset of a new planting season. In the initial stages, cultivated plants show spots of a gray-brown hue on the leaves. Then there is a gradual dying off of shoots. Inflorescences also suffer from the disease, which dry out when the temperature of the surrounding space rises, and rot when they precipitate.
Land owners are trying to understand how to get rid of late blight in the ground in the fall, because the return of the disease next year is fraught with infection of the fruit. Initially, they become covered with brownish spots, which can grow in all directions, including inland. The fruits gradually harden and begin to rot. As for potato tubers, their surface is affected by gray marks. In such areas, recesses appear that are able to reach the very core of the fetus. With abundant damage to cultivated plants by late blight, there is a probability of loss of about 80% of the crop.
Soil disinfection methods
How to cure land from late blight in the fall? To cope with the task when processing the soil in the greenhouse is much easier than in a vast open area. However, to heal the soil even with the most serious infection with a fungal pathogen, beginner gardeners are quite capable of it. To do this, it is enough to resort to the following methods of impact on the soil:
- Agrotechnical.
- Chemical.
- Biological.
How to cure land from late blight on a potato field in autumn using such solutions? Each of the above methods will be discussed in detail below.
Agrotechnical processing
You can fix the problem as follows. Land for cultivated plants is divided into narrow beds. The solution contributes to a more thorough loosening of the soil and its high-quality aeration. Indeed, in conditions of reduced humidity, fungal mycelia do not develop so quickly.
How to cure land from late blight in the fall? It is extremely important to resort to the turnover of plants on the site. In other words, you should not plant the same crops every year in a particular place. For example, if the potato returns to the site after a few years, the late blight mycelium has time to die.
The crops that are most susceptible to fungal infections are recommended to be planted after legumes, cabbage, garlic and onions. Solanaceae to combat late blight is forbidden to grow sequentially. We are talking about potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant. For planting, it is better to use disinfected seeds or seedlings of other plants that are resistant to the effects of fungi. It is also worth carefully collecting all the tops at the end of the season and burning it right on the spot.
Biological treatment
To get rid of late blight, a small plot of land is not recommended to use chemicals. Preference should be given to biological compounds containing elements that are safe for living organisms. Among the most effective solutions, it is worth noting the Baikal EM-1 and Baikal EM-5 preparations. Make them into the soil before frost.
The fungicides "Trichodermin", "Fitosporin", "Bactofit", "Planriz" will also help to improve the soil. After digging the soil in the autumn, such preparations are introduced into the top layer to a thickness of not more than 10 cm. As soon as the snow melts with the onset of spring, the event must be repeated.
Chemical treatment
If the use of agricultural and biological methods does not give a result, then you should resort to the use of chemicals. With the onset of autumn, the earth can be decontaminated with Bordeaux fluid. A good alternative is a solution of copper oxychloride, which should saturate the upper layers of the soil.
How to cure land from late blight folk remedies?
There are several time-tested methods of disinfecting the soil:
- It is necessary to take a liter of fermented kefir and dilute in 10 liters of water. To kill the causative agent of late blight, it is enough to spray a plot of land on a weekly basis.
- The right decision in the fight against the disease is the fungus tinder fungus. You can find it on the trunks of old trees. Grind the mushroom thoroughly. About 100 grams of raw materials need to be poured with a liter of boiled water. The resulting broth must be filtered and used for sprinkling the territories. Repeating the event is recommended every two weeks.
- You can cure the earth with ash. The latter must be sprayed in areas where planting of cultivated plants is planned. You should resort to the event once a week.
Prevention
The ideal preventive solution in the fight against late blight is the dispersion in the area of the so-called siderates. The latter include plants with a powerful ground part, which are able to protect the soil from direct sunlight, enrich it with oxygen and useful substances. Compositae and cruciferous are usually used as siderates.
In autumn, it is necessary to completely dig the site, to add organic fertilizers to the soil, for example humus. At the same time, nitrogen substances should not be used. After all, their use leads to late blight immediately when favorable conditions are created.
As noted above, spores begin to actively develop at high humidity. This can be avoided by applying the method of mulching the soil. Covering the soil with a layer of mulch will create a reliable barrier to a wide variety of fungal diseases, including late blight.
In terms of prevention, it is important to periodically flatter the earth with copper, potassium, and phosphorus. These substances increase the resistance of cultivated plants to infection by pathogens of fungal infections.
A good result is given by drip irrigation of the soil. In this case, the soil is not oversaturated with moisture and favorable conditions for the spread of late blight are not created.