2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Red rot, also called rhizoctonia and felt disease, is an ailment that affects beets, carrots, rutabagas, parsley, turnips and other root vegetables. The disease manifests itself mainly during harvesting, as well as at the stage of its storage. However, with its timely detection, it is possible to achieve good results in the fight against the disease
About the disease
The causative agent of the disease is a mushroom called Rhizoctonia violacea Tul. It can be found in the soil, on weeds, as well as on diseased root crops.
On the roots affected by the ill-fated red rot, purple and brownish spots are formed. Further, as the disease develops, they disappear, and instead of them, black fungus sclerotia appear. Fungi, penetrating into the peripheral tissues of root crops, cause their rapid decay, which has the character of dry rot. The disease attacks mainly the lower parts of the roots, but slowly moves up to their necks. Infection from above is extremely rare. If the roots are badly damaged, then, having turned yellow prematurely, the leaves of the plants also dry out. Sick root crops, lagging behind in development, give very low yields.
The beginning of the defeat of root crops is possible even at the stage of their growth, however, the main manifestation of red rot, as a rule, is noted already during storage, and this is largely facilitated by increased humidity in combination with high temperatures.
A highly moist, dense and acidic soil also favors the emergence of this scourge. Beets are most often affected on soddy-calcareous, solonetzic-solodized and heavy saline soils, as well as on low-lying areas with a fairly high level of groundwater.
How to fight
For planting, you need to try to select varieties that are resistant to red rot. Before sowing, seeds must be disinfected for 15 - 20 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate (0.5 - 1%), and then thoroughly rinsed with clean water.
Before planting root crops, in order to avoid the formation of red rot in the future, you should not apply various fertilizers in unnecessarily large doses (especially for manure). It is equally important to follow the rules of crop rotation. Correct crop rotation prevents the accumulation of infectious substances in the soil. It is also necessary to fight the ubiquitous weeds - they function as reserves of pathogens. In the foci of infection, soil is disinfected, and in the fall it is necessary to deeply dig the beds with the introduction of high-quality fertilizers.
If signs of the disease are still found, the soil should be thoroughly calcified. Excessive moisture should be eliminated by carrying out various reclamation measures: watering should be moderate, loosening the soil as deep as possible, mineral and organic fertilizers should be applied in the required proportions. Sometimes the amount of potash and phosphorus fertilizers should be increased. The irrigation regime must be optimal - the groundwater level must be lowered, while avoiding stagnation of water. Various measures for desalinization of sites will also be very useful.
A good result can be obtained by adding compost or nettle infusion to the water for irrigation, which serves as a strong biostimulant. It is quite enough to take half a liter of such infusion for one watering can. Also, once a week and a half, you can spray the plants or water them with a solution of the Baikal preparation (1: 1000).
For the prevention of diseases, as well as at their initial stage, biological preparations gamair, glyocladin, alirin-B, trichodermin and phytosporin-M can be used. They can be used not only for spraying, but also applied to the soil.
Root crops collected from the beds attacked by the disease should be stored separately, that is, when they are laid for storage, they must be carefully discarded. It is imperative to strictly observe all the conditions for harvesting root crops, as well as their storage. Ideal storage conditions will be 85 - 90% humidity and a temperature in the range of 1 - 2 degrees.
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