Treatment and prevention of mosaic on cucumbers
It is a shame to lose crops due to unexpected diseases. Cucumber mosaic destroys plants entirely (in case of severe infection) or stops the formation of ovaries. Gardeners are waiting for the fruits, but they are not. New seedlings are planted: everything is repeated.
Why is this happening? Necessary measures were not taken, time wasted. The summer resident should familiarize himself with the signs of the disease. Knowing the enemy by sight is half the victory.
What is this disease
The reason for the failure is the cucumber mosaic virus. An inexperienced gardener misses the onset of plant damage. The infection may already be present at the summer cottage. A combination of several factors is required to motivate it.
Conditions for the development of the disease
The virus requires favorable conditions for activation. It starts working when:
- sudden changes in temperature;
- warming above 25 ⁰С;
- cold snap at night.
The dormant virus wakes up. The disease affects cucumbers. Spread the infection:
- weeds;
- contaminated soil;
- dirty tools and gardener gloves;
- seeds of a diseased plant (when using your own material);
- aphids and insects sucking juice;
- the wind carrying the remains of diseased plants.
Timely disposal of cucumber whips, leaves, disinfection of soil and equipment will help reduce the risk of transmission of infection.
Plant leaves should be inspected regularly. There are several types of mosaics. A common feature: greenhouse plantings are ill, cucumbers in the open field are sometimes damaged.
Tobacco mosaic
This virus (TMV) occurs most often. It affects nightshades, cucumbers - rarely. It is easy to recognize a threat: you should carefully examine the plants. Signs:
- beige stains appear on the leaves of cucumbers;
- blistering green parts;
- plates dry out and die off;
- the fruits become ugly, change color.
The ovaries fall off. The number of fruits decreases. TMV has been living in the ground for 5 years. Completely destroy tobacco plantations prior to opening. Today the gardener can protect the cucumber beds.
Insidious CMV
CMV leads to mosaic disease. It affects young greenhouse plants. Symptoms are easy to determine. The condition of the leaves should be assessed:
- the plates become marbled in places;
- the color of the affected leaf changes sequentially to light green, dark green, yellowish;
- the edges roll down;
- the distance between the plates decreases;
- leaves become smaller;
- the plant slows down growth;
- the ovaries fall off;
- the stem of the plant is cracking along (in severe cases).
The defeat has a mosaic structure. The scale of the disease depends on the resistance of the variety or hybrid, climatic conditions (humidity and temperature in the greenhouse), and the degree of neglect. There is no cure for mosaic on cucumbers. The gardener should prevent infection when planting.
English attack
The disease is caused by the CGMMT virus. This enemy is capable of destroying half of the crop. Green mosaic affects young and old bushes. Plants in the open field rarely suffer. Signs of infection:
- the leaf color remains green in the early days;
- the shape and texture of the plate changes (tubercles are formed);
- light streaks appear;
- plant growth is inhibited;
- fruits change taste (become bitter);
- cucumbers are shortened, covered with spots;
- seeds do not develop.
The disease will manifest itself a month after planting young cucumbers. Prevention, adherence to the rules of care will help to avoid plant diseases. Biologists call the green mosaic English.
Concomitant disease
Often, along with green, cucumbers have a white mosaic. It is caused by the CV2A virus. It is activated in hot greenhouses and thickened plantings. Signs of the disease:
- blurred white-yellow spots appear in the vein area;
- then they merge, change color to white-green;
- the leaf plate turns white or yellow;
- plant development stops.
The virus persists in plant debris, soil, seeds. The resistance of seedlings to damage increases if the growing rules are followed.
How to deal with a formidable enemy
Viral infections in cucumbers should not be treated with chemicals. When the first symptoms of the disease appear, it is required:
- remove the entire affected plant or only the leaf;
- reduce the temperature in the greenhouse <30 ⁰С;
- increase humidity (place containers with water, spray paths);
- disinfect the instrument;
- sprinkle the soil with ash or pour a light pink manganese solution;
- remove weeds around.
Additionally, you should inspect the site and eliminate anthills. This will stop the spread of aphids. It transfers the infection to healthy plants. Some gardeners, along with the affected bush, take out the soil. It is replaced with healthy soil. Diseased plants should be burned.
It should be remembered: the virus of the English mosaic is resistant to changes in external conditions. It retains its vitality when the temperature rises to 90 ⁰С, freezing, drying.
Restoring favorable conditions in the greenhouse will slow the spread of the disease. To fix the result, you need to treat the planting with serum (1 part to 10 parts of water).
Prevention of infection
A competent gardener knows: it is easier to prevent than to treat them later. To save the harvest of cucumbers, save your own time and effort, you need to follow the simple advice of agronomists:
- Monitor the condition of the soil in the greenhouse. Remove dead plant parts. They accumulate the virus.
- Mosaic is a disease of cucumbers, but the virus hibernates well on the roots of harmful plants. It is required to regularly weed out. The infection nests in the underground part of sow thistle, wheatgrass, woodlice.
- Plant the plants at the rate (the seed producer indicates the diagram on the bag). Remove side shoots (if the type of fruiting on the side branches is not indicated).
- Apply top dressing according to the manufacturer's recommendation. Do not abuse fresh organic matter (nitrogen).
- Cucumbers do not tolerate drafts. To cool the air in the heat, you should whitewash the greenhouse or cover the plantings with a white non-woven material.
- Avoid sudden changes in daily temperatures. To do this, it is enough to place several basins of water in the greenhouse. During the day, the liquid cools the air, at night it warms.
- Monitor the humidity of the air. Basins of water, spraying paths will help.
- Observe the vegetable crop turnover rule. Cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and watermelons are poor precursors for cucumbers.Solanaceous (tomato, pepper), cruciferous (radish, turnip), legumes (peas, beans) are good.
- Siderate the soil regularly. Planting oats, rye, vetch, mustard will improve the topsoil. Seedlings must be buried in the ground when digging.
- In the spring, survey the site. Discovered anthills to destroy: ants settle aphids. Blood-sucking insects carry the virus.
- Spray the plants with a green aphid soap solution. Infusion of garlic helps well (pour 1 grated clove with a glass of boiling water, insist, dilute with 2 liters of water).
- Factory seeds do not require processing. Own ones must be warmed up for 3 days at a temperature of 50 ⁰С (or a day at 60 ⁰С).
- Hygiene is also needed in the garden. Wipe the tool regularly with vodka, alcohol, red manganese solution. Garden gloves are washed frequently.
- Plant only healthy seedlings. Twisted stems, unusual leaves are suspicious. Such seedlings are discarded. Immediately destroy diseased plants. Disinfect the soil with a solution of copper sulfate or ignite on fire.
- Do not plant melons and gourds next to the greenhouse. Pollination insects can transfer contaminated pollen to healthy plants.
- Cucumbers rejoice in composting. Only fully matured organic matter (3 years old) should be applied to the ridges.
Most important: choose virus-resistant varieties and hybrids... The seed producer must provide information on this on the label.
The gardeners treated the plantings at the initial stage of the mosaic with a disinfectant solution: stir 1 liter of milk whey in 10 liters of water, add 15 drops of iodine. Cucumbers were sprayed over the leaf. The spread of the disease stopped. But it was not possible to save the affected plants.
Mosaic is a formidable disease. Leads to loss of yield in a few days. There is no 100% method of getting rid of adversity. To protect cucumbers, gardeners should carry out simple prevention.
