2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Pink rot of onion roots most often affects growing crops at the stage of bulb formation. However, this does not always happen - sometimes a harmful attack can affect tiny shoots, thereby provoking a noticeable thinning of crops. Plants that have undergone stress are most susceptible to a dangerous disease. And there are many stress factors: flooding, drought, sudden temperature changes, deficiency of any nutrients, as well as burns with herbicides and fertilizers - any of these factors can significantly weaken onion seedlings
A few words about the disease
The roots of the onion attacked by pink rot first turn yellow, and after a while they acquire a slight pinkish tint. Then they dry out and gradually die off. The newly appearing roots also die off rather quickly, thereby opening the way for secondary infection.
Infected bulbs gradually stop growing. In addition to a decrease in size, they are also characterized by a noticeable decrease in commercial qualities. But on the leaves, any visual signs of infection are most often absent, however, sometimes their tips can dry out. However, no more manifestations of infection are usually observed on them.
The causative agent of this disgusting disease is a soil-dwelling fungus called Phoma terrestris. The spread of its spores usually occurs in surface water and transported soil. At the same time, this pathogen is considered to be rather weak and mainly affects plants that are in a state of stress.
Severely affected onions often suffer from drought or nutritional deficiencies. The number of onion leaves and their size are reduced, and the plant itself can be easily pulled out of the soil.
Onions infected in the early stages of the growing season often develop bulbs ahead of time. In addition, such plants are characterized by a stronger attack than crops attacked by the disease closer to the end of the growing season. In areas with subtropical and tropical climates, crop reductions can be particularly significant.
Favorable for the development of pink rot of roots is considered a temperature regime in the range from twenty-four to twenty-eight degrees. And if the thermometer drops to sixteen degrees or even lower, then the development of the disease is significantly inhibited. It is noteworthy that the development of pink rot in the storage facilities stops.
How to fight
The main preventive measure against pink root rot is considered to be compliance with crop rotation - earlier than after three years, it is not customary to return onions to their original place. Grain precursors are also capable of significantly reducing the susceptibility of onions to pink root rot, so it is best to try to plant the onions after them. But corn and all kinds of vegetables, on the contrary, significantly increase the risk of onions being damaged by a harmful disease.
Resistance to infection is largely determined by the onion variety, so for cultivation it is better to select onion varieties that are resistant to pink root rot. Nevertheless, the resistance of even the strongest varieties can be suppressed if the thermometer rises to twenty-eight degrees and above.
When watering onions, it is extremely important to avoid waterlogging of the soil. It is also important to ensure that the root system of plants does not accidentally get burned with fertilizers. In this regard, when carrying out root dressing of onions with various nutrient compounds, one should be extremely careful. This is especially true for a procedure such as fertigation.
Fumigation of the soil and its systematic solarization (that is, exposure to sunlight) can also help to reduce the loss of onions as a result of damage to pink root rot.
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