Potato late blight also affects tomatoes

Potato late blight also affects tomatoes
Potato late blight also affects tomatoes

Video: Potato late blight also affects tomatoes

Video: Potato late blight also affects tomatoes
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Potato late blight
Potato late blight

Agronomists are aware of many potato diseases. Late blight is perhaps one of the most dangerous of them. Its harmfulness increases significantly in temperate or humid climates.

This disease is common in all those countries where potatoes are grown massively. On average, crop losses from it can reach up to seventy percent.

Potato late blight is a fungal disease caused by a pathogenic organism. It affects tubers, stems, flowers, root crops.

The first signs of the disease are visible on the foliage and stems of the upper tier. Potato late blight has a high harmfulness, since it affects the young and physiologically most active parts of the plant, reducing their productivity.

Diseases of potato late blight
Diseases of potato late blight

With a decrease in the assimilating surface on the leaves of the root crop, the process of formation and accumulation of many nutrients is disrupted, especially in the phase of tuber formation.

As a result, individual brown spots with a characteristic lead tint appear on the leaves. They aresignificantly increase, very quickly covering the entire bush, and then transferring to neighboring plants.

Under favorable conditions, late blight of potatoes spreads so intensively that in just seven or ten days it can cover the entire area.

Affected stem
Affected stem

On the affected bushes in the early morning or in wet weather, a whitish coating appears on the lower surface of the leaves. These are the spores of a fungus that has invaded the plant. In dry weather, the affected upper part dries up and crumbles. After rain, it quickly rots, spreading a musty smell around the weak.

Stem late blight of potatoes is characterized by the formation of stripes of dead brown tissue on the cuttings. Sometimes they cover the entire top of the plant.

On tubers, this disease is manifested by hard depressed, clearly defined spots, which are especially visible on the cut of the fetus. Other bacteria with fungi also penetrate into the affected tissues, which further increase the rotting of the root crop.

Potato late blight affects only fruits in the early stages of ripening. At first, a barely noticeable white round spot appears, which gradually blurs into a brown subcutaneous formation. Increasing in size, late blight gradually captures the entire potato, which softens and begins to rot.

Damage by late blight
Damage by late blight

This fungal disease destroys not only potato crops, but also nearby tomato bushes. An interesting fact is that eggplant and zucchini crops are absolutely notare affected, even in very close proximity to infected plants.

Today, the fight against late blight of potatoes is mainly the use of seeds of resistant varieties. In addition, careful selection in the preparation of material for planting is of great importance in limiting the development of this fungal disease.

The fight against potato late blight
The fight against potato late blight

In some countries seed potatoes are treated with fungicides during storage. This is done to prevent the development of rot, including late blight.

Since the primary sources of infection are almost always diseased tubers, experts advise destroying potato dumps left after sorting the resulting crop.

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