How and with what to process cucumbers from late blight, is it necessary?
What summer resident does not want to grow a good harvest on his site. But sometimes late blight on cucumbers interferes with the normal growth and formation of ovaries on the bushes. Pathogens are difficult to remove from the soil, especially if the condition of the bushes is neglected. Most often late blight appears in hotbeds and greenhouses, but the appearance of a fungus in open ground is not uncommon.
Signs of late blight
In order to save cucumbers from late blight, you need to notice the disease in the beds in time.
Signs of late blight on cucumbers:
- The appearance of dark spots on the leaves.
- The leaves begin to curl and fall off over time.
- The stems and fruits turn black.
- Cucumbers start to rot and decompose.
- An unpleasant odor appears.
- The ovaries stop forming.
Late blight is also called rot. The main danger of this disease is that it quickly spreads throughout the site. From infected plants, rain washes away some of the fungi, which then enter the soil. The same thing happens when watering. If the fungi get into the soil, they remain there for a long time. Plants planted in such a site are subsequently infected with late blight.
Causes of late blight on cucumbers
Late blight can appear on cucumbers for various reasons. The most common:
- Through contaminated seeds.
- Excess lime in the soil.
- During storage of the harvested fruits.
- If the plant lacks air for various reasons.
- Decreased plant immunity.
- Sudden changes in temperature during the day.
Errors of summer residents, which lead to late blight on the site:
- Improperly organized watering.
- Watering the plants with a hose.
- Leave infected crops on site.
- Neglect disease prevention.
Sometimes it is difficult to answer why the cucumbers began to dry out and the fruits to rot. But if this happens, you need to start treatment as soon as possible.
How to treat cucumbers from late blight?
You can get rid of late blight on the site in two ways:
- Chemical.
- Biological.
Chemical method - implies the use of chemicals that are aimed at destroying the fungus. But this method is considered harmful to human health.
You can process the bushes with Bordeaux liquid. This is a time-tested remedy that will help you quickly remove fungi from the site without damaging the crop.
The main thing is to correctly proportion, if the liquid is too concentrated, the leaves and stems will get burned and begin to dry out.
How to spray cucumbers with Bordeaux liquid:
- Dilute 20 ml of 0.5% Bordeaux liquid in 3 liters of water. Spray bushes in the evening when the sun is not so bright.
- The second processing is required to consolidate the results. For this, they already take 1% liquid and dilute it in 4 liters of water. Cucumbers should be processed 15 days after the first processing.
If the treatment did not help, it must be repeated every 15 days until late blight disappears.
The treatment of cucumbers with copper chloride gives positive results. Treatment with this remedy will help get rid of late blight in a short time.
There are the following drugs for late blight:
- Barrier.
- Hom.
- Barrier.
- Oxyhom.
You can buy them in specialized stores. After spraying with these products, cucumbers should not be eaten for a month until all the chemicals are released from the fruit.
When using chemicals for spraying, be careful. For a person, such substances can be dangerous, therefore, procedures cannot be carried out if it is windy outside. Otherwise, some of the chemicals can get on the person.
Traditional methods of dealing with the disease
Cucumbers need a lot of space so that late blight does not start to develop. If the bushes are planted too close, they are more likely to hurt.
How to deal with late blight with the help of folk recipes:
- Infusion of garlic. Chop 100 g of garlic cloves and leaves. Pour 10 liters of water. Insist for a day. Then strain and add 2 g of potassium permanganate to the strained infusion. It is necessary to spray the bushes with infusion before the formation of ovaries. The second spraying is 10 days after the first. Thereafter - every 14 days.
- Table salt solution. Use salt as needed. It creates a protective layer on the leaves that prevents late blight. Take 1 glass of salt for 10 liters of water. Stir.
- Spraying with kefir. The beds are treated with kefir in a week, after planting the seedlings in the soil. Then the procedure is repeated every week. Dilute 1 liter of kefir in 10 liters of water (use also whey). Leave the infusion to ferment for 2 days. After 2 days, it is stirred and the beds are treated.
- Yeast. At the first sign diseases cucumbers sprayed with yeast. Take 100 g of yeast, dilute in 10 liters of water and leave for 24 hours. Then add 30 ml of iodine.
- Wood ash. No less effective in fight against late blight wood ash. It is used after the seedlings take root in a new place, before the start of the cucumber flowering period and at the first signs of the appearance of ovaries. Mix 1 bucket of water with 500 g of ash. Leave the solution to infuse for 3 days. They stir it regularly all this time. After 3 days, add another 20 liters of water and 40 g of laundry soap. Spray several times per season.
It should be noted that spraying with a solution of kefir and salt will not help get rid of an already existing disease. These are rather preventive procedures that will help avoid fungal infection of the area.
Prevention against disease
Preventing the onset of the disease is much easier than treating it. You need to do preventive work in the spring, a few weeks before planting seedlings in the soil.
How to prepare the soil:
- Water the beds with a solution of copper sulfate.
- Dig up.
- Then pour over the soil again, but this time with Fitosporin (1 tbsp. L. Means for 5 liters of water).
In addition to these procedures, it is important not to overfeed the cucumbers with mineral and organic fertilizing, plant crops according to the rules of crop rotation and remove weeds from the site in time. Old leaves, on which the fungus most often appears, should be constantly removed.
Choose for planting such varieties of cucumbers that are immune to late blight. A large number of such hybrids have now been created. If the bushes grow in a greenhouse, it needs to be constantly ventilated, open the vents.
Onions and garlic are planted next to the cucumber beds. Substances in these crops destroy the pathogenic environment.
If late blight has already appeared, cucumber bushes protect from moisture during rains. For this, the beds are covered with a waterproof film. Even before planting seedlings, mulch is applied.
