Beet Root

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

Beet root eater affects only underground parts of seedlings. Moreover, damage occurs only at the initial stage of their development, when tiny seeds begin to germinate. Quite often, beetroot seedlings die before reaching the surface. The ill-fated disease develops especially strongly during wet and cold periods, when the formation of the root system is slowed down. And some parts of the roots growing in waterlogged soil die off due to lack of air and turn into a source of infection. It is imperative to fight this harmful ailment, otherwise the infection will quickly spread to all beet crops

A few words about the disease

The root eater usually affects beets at the very beginning of their development. Basically, this occurs from the moment the seeds germinate and until two or three true leaves are formed. The lower parts of the beet stalks affected by the root-eater first thin out and turn black, and then rot and die off. And the aboveground parts of growing crops begin to lag behind in growth, turn yellow, wither and gradually die off. Sometimes the root-eater can also infect adult cultures - in this case, black pycnidia can be seen on the surface of the roots.

Beet root eater is considered a complex disease, which is caused by a combination of unfavorable soil and other conditions for the development of young seedlings with further damage to growing crops by all kinds of microorganisms (such as mushrooms from the genus Pythium, Phoma, Fusarium, etc.). Especially often, the development of this ailment is facilitated by excessively humid and humus-depleted acidic soils, as well as soils with a rather heavy texture. Frosts in the soil at the stage of emergence of tiny seedlings to the surface, as well as sudden changes in day and night temperatures, are also very favorable for the development of the root tree.

The growing beet acquires relative resistance to the harmful disease only after the formation of the second true leaves. Nevertheless, closer to the end of the growing season, you can notice various deformations of root crops: branching, belt scab, neck constrictions and other deformities.

With a combination of soil, weather and other conditions extremely unfavorable for the full development of seedlings, the volume of dead beets can reach 100%. And even if part of the crops survived, the yield of root crops will decrease by 40% - 50%, and sugar losses can range from 11% to 40%.

How to fight

Among the best protective agrotechnical measures aimed at preventing and combating beet root beetroot, one can single out strict adherence to the rules of crop rotation, deep autumn plowing and the introduction of high-quality fertilizers. After the beets are sown, it is important to try to keep the soil loose. In this case, it is necessary to break through the beets in a timely manner (especially when a dense soil crust appears on heavy soils), and weakened plants must be eliminated from the beds.

Acidic soils need to be limed, and boron fertilizers should be applied on soils characterized by a lack of boron. This will significantly reduce the infectious background.

Good predecessors of beets in crop rotation are considered to be winter legumes and grain crops, as well as peas and radishes.

Seeds should be etched before sowing (TMTD is often used for this). It is best to take pelleted single-sprout seeds. And you need to try to sow them at the optimal time. The most suitable for sowing are considered to be an air humidity of about sixty percent and a soil temperature of at least five to seven degrees. An equally important role is played by the seeding depth - on average, it should be about three to four centimeters, but in general, the seeding depth depends on the quality of the soil and its moisture.

And the fight against weeds is recommended to be carried out with the help of the preparations "Dual Gold" and "Fusilad Forte".