The appearance of late blight on a tomato: ways to fight

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

All summer residents are well aware of such a common disease as late blight. Especially often this infection affects tomatoes and potatoes. Phytophthora spores can be carried in large numbers by wind and rain. How to properly care for plants to avoid crop loss?

Phytophthora spores on a tomato appear most often if it is grown in close proximity to potatoes or for several years in the same place. These two mistakes are often made by beginner gardeners. It should be remembered that tomatoes on the same bed can be grown only at intervals of 4-5 years. You can not cultivate them during this time and after other nightshades, as well as, of course, potatoes.

Another important rule that must be followed to prevent the appearance of late blight on a tomato is the obligatory digging of the soil in the beds after the end of the growing season and the destruction of the tops by burning. In addition, in the spring it is necessary to carry outproper preparation of seeds for sowing. They must be soaked in a one percent solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour. In this case, sowing is carried out after they are dried to a free-flowing state.

In order to avoid the appearance of late blight on a tomato, it is necessary to pay special attention to the age of the seedlings. It is best to transfer it to the ground approximately 60 days after germination. It will also be good to use early and mid-season varieties for cultivation. The fact is that late blight affects tomatoes in the second half of summer.

Therefore, early varieties have time to ripen faster than infection occurs.

The fight against phytophthora also lies in proper care throughout the growing season. First, do not allow the tomatoes to thicken too much. Secondly, weeds must be monitored. They deprive plants of part of the nutrients, often close them from the sun, and therefore create favorable conditions for the development of phytophthora. Particular attention should also be paid to the balance of dressings.

The appearance of late blight on a tomato can be caused by applying too much fertilizer containing nitrogen, such as manure. Therefore, when feeding tomatoes, it is imperative to follow the rules of agricultural technology provided for in this case. If we talk about mullein, then it should not be in the soil more than 2 kg per square meter.

This only applies to poor soils. On black earth, this figure should be halved. This disease also thrives in wet weather.

What to do if phytophthora still appears on tomatoes? First, you should reduce the frequency of watering. The soil in the beds should not dry out too much, but there should not be stagnation of water either. Watering in sunny weather should be done once a week, but plentiful (with moisture to a depth of about 20 cm). In raw - stop altogether.

In addition, it is worth treating tomatoes with preparations specially designed for this. It can be copper oxychloride or Bordeaux liquid. In some cases, a solution of sodium chloride (1 tbsp / 10 l) helps. Sometimes iodine is also used (1 bottle/10 l). Another way is to spray with a solution of garlic infusion. It is best to use its broken arrows for this purpose. In any case, before applying the healing solution, it is necessary to carefully inspect the plants and cut off all infected leaves and branches.