Plant Root Cancer

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Root cancer, also called crawling of the roots, is characterized by the formation of numerous growths on the roots and root collars of various cultures. Basically, this disease affects trees, and most often fruit trees. You can also find it on grapes. The growths formed on the roots provoke a nutritional deficiency for all plant organs without exception, prevent sap flow, and also reduce their resistance to adverse conditions. Seedlings infected with root cancer often die

A few words about the disease

When infected with this ailment, on the root collars of crops, as well as on their roots, one can observe the appearance of rather unpleasant outgrowths. At the very beginning, they are painted in a grayish-white color and are very soft to the touch, however, as the disease progresses, they darken, becoming brown, woody and increase in diameter up to ten to twelve centimeters. At first, the affected plants are characterized by increased growth, but immediately after that, their development is inhibited.

With lightning speed, goiter of the roots develops on alkaline soils. By the way, bacteria practically do not infect the roots at an acidity (pH) of 5, 0. The disease manifests itself much more clearly in dry seasons. At the same time, the growth of vegetation stops.

The causative agents of root cancer are bacteria living in the soil, through wounds and numerous microcracks entering the roots of plants. Under their destructive influence, the cells of the root tissues begin to divide. Numerous growths of various sizes are the result of this cell division. The incubation period is from one month to two at rather high summer temperatures.

The spread of harmful bacteria occurs with the planting material or when destructive growths are destroyed by microorganisms and insects living in the soil. Sufficiently moist soil also contributes to their dispersal. The amount of affected vegetation at high humidity increases significantly.

Most often, unsightly growths on the roots persist throughout the year, and then die under the destructive influence of other microorganisms.

How to fight

In those areas where fruit trees and shrubs previously grew, it is not recommended to set up new gardens. The best precursors for the subsequent planting of fruit trees are legumes and cereals. And in areas where cultures infected with bacterial root cancer have been found, new healthy plants can be planted only three years later.

The harmfulness of such an unpleasant ailment can, to a certain extent, be reduced by proper agricultural technology in conjunction with good care - even infected plants can in this case develop almost as healthy. All vegetation should be watered in a timely manner, fed with manure and various fertilizers (and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers in particular), as well as periodically loosened the soil. These simple measures can increase the resistance of plants to unpleasant goiter.

On the plots intended for planting seedlings, it is recommended to sow alfalfa, mustard and lupine - these plants heal the soil from the ill-fated root cancer.

The purchased seedlings should be carefully inspected for the presence of various thickenings and growths on the roots. All detected growths are necessarily cut off, and at the end of such pruning, the root system of these seedlings must be disinfected for five minutes with a 1% solution of the notorious copper sulfate. Then all the roots should be washed in a solution of boric acid (ten liters of water - 20 g) or plain clean water. But it is unacceptable to dip the roots of the seedlings into a "chatterbox" specially prepared with the addition of copper sulphate - such an event has a depressing effect on the vegetation. All seedlings with severely damaged central roots or root collars should be burned.