Diseases of cucumbers: treatment, prevention, care, types
The quality of the planting material and the size of the crop depend on the conditions under which the material is planted and what care it is provided with. Cucumbers are susceptible to various diseases that reduce yields and increase the cost of caring for planting material.
Cucumbers are susceptible to many diseases
Varieties of diseases
Diseases of cucumber varieties deprive the farmer of the expected harvest and spoil the look and taste of the planting material. Diseases of cucumbers and their treatment are not terrible for experienced gardeners, but for beginners, they will become a threat of a loss-making situation.
Diseases of cucumber seedlings affect the final product. The question of cucumber disease and their treatment is often asked, since this phenomenon deprives people of the expected harvest. Diseases of cucumbers are typical for cucumbers that grow outdoors. If you grow them in a greenhouse, then the special microclimate and tight space reduce the threat of morbidity.
The spectrum of diseases that cucumbers are exposed to:
- fungal;
- bacterial;
- viral.
In addition, cucumbers are often not exposed to pests in the greenhouse. The only way to avoid the effects of diseases of greenery and fruits is to know about them. The farmer must know all the diseases that this crop is susceptible to, how to deal with them and, most importantly, how to prevent them. You can avoid contamination of planting material if you follow the rules of agricultural technology and take responsibility for the process of planting and caring for the plant. Disease prevention plays a decisive role in crop cultivation. The further growth of the cucumber depends on it.
Common types of diseases that cucumbers are exposed to are fungal diseases. The reason lies in the unstable climate: changes in temperature and humidity. Most often, the plant is exposed to diseases:
- Powdery mildew.
- Cladosporium.
- Sclerotinia.
- Root rot.
- Ascochitis.
- Anthracnose.
- Fusarium wilting of cucumbers.
- Green mosaic.
- White mosaic.
- Bacteriosis
Cucumber mosaic refers to fungal diseases
Symptoms of diseases
Powdery mildew or downy mildew is manifested by external signs on the leaves of a cucumber. Sometimes peronosporosis spreads to the trunk. The main symptom of peronosporosis is the appearance of white spots on the leaves. Without treatment for the disease of peronosporosis, plaque increases, as a result of which the leaves turn yellow and dry. Rarely found in the greenhouse.
Peronosporosis disease is fungal. The plant dries up because peronosporosis takes all the useful and nutrients from the plant. The risk of exposure to peronospora disease increases for those cucumbers that are grown in high humidity conditions and fed with excess nitrogen fertilizers. The fungus of downy mildew spreads at the time of watering and under the influence of the wind.
Fungal cladosporia is characterized by dark spots on the foliage that dry out as a result. The fungus also spreads to the vegetable, spoiling its taste. Disease cells are stored in last year's planting stock. More found outdoors than in greenhouses.
White rot, or sclerotinia, affects the entire plant. First of all, you will notice white spots, which then become soft and cause rotting. Excessive moisture in the soil and air is a favorable environment for the spread of rot fungus.
The ubiquitous root rot affects all types of planting material from old to young. The symptom of rot is a brown coating on the stems and root system of the plant. After infection, the growth of the vegetable is inhibited, as a result of which the latter dies. At night, there is a sharp temperature drop, and this time is a favorable period for the spread or occurrence of the disease. If you water the cucumbers with cold water. then the risk of their infection increases.
Root rot is manifested by a brown bloom on the stems of cucumbers
Ascochitosis destroys the plant completely. The first signs of the disease are yellowing spots on the edges of the leaves, which then turn black and cause the affected areas to die off. If the planting material is infected with this disease, then the fruits will be deformed.
Anthracnose appears on the leaves as light brown spots. If the anthracnose lesion has reached the fetus, then anthracnose sores with pink mucus will form on the fruits.
Fusarium effect on cucumbers entails a rapid withering of the vegetable part of the cucumber. They can wither within a day, that is, this disease soon manifests itself, destroying the landing.
Green viral mosaic appears as yellow discoloration and wilting on leaves. After they begin to turn yellow at the edges and dry, this characteristic manifestation passes to the fetus.
White viral mosaic appears as white and yellow spots on leaves and white stripes on fruits. Its effect is more destructive than the green mosaic.
Bacteriosis affects the growth of cucumbers, manifesting itself as ulcers on the cotyledons. The spots on the leaves are brown in color and have a sharp outline. The rate of development of the disease increases under the influence of temperature changes. Sources of bacteriosis are seeds and plant debris on the site. With peronosporosis, the edges of the leaves also turn yellow, after they turn yellow and dry, they fade. Peronosporosis disease is also common, like all the previous ones.
Leaf ulcers - symptoms of bacteriosis
Treatment of diseases
The decisive measures to combat powdery mildew are sowing cucumbers on the same plot of land no earlier than four years from the harvest period. Crop rotation has a strong effect on the planting material and its quality. Diseases need to be fought in the bud, or high-quality prophylaxis with folk remedies should be provided.
If cucumbers are grown in a greenhouse, then the temperature regime should be maintained not exceeding twenty degrees, and the soil should always be moistened. Watering is recommended to carry out with warm settled water. These are methods of popular prevention of morbidity. If you have already found characteristic spots on the plant, then it is recommended to spray the infected area with a solution of cow dung. This is a common disease control measure. Continue the fight in the form of spraying for nine days and after nine days, repeat the prophylaxis.
To avoid cladosporia in greenhouses, ventilate more often. As it becomes infected, the plant is treated with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture. Bordeaux mixture is a commonly used disease control measure.
Prevention of sclerotinia is also based on crop rotation. If it is necessary to treat the disease, then the site is covered with lime and coal, carefully crushed. The greenhouse should be regularly ventilated and infected leaves should be removed first.
There is no recommendation for the treatment of root rot, as root rot cannot be treated. The only thing you can do is high-quality care and preventive treatment of planting material from root rot with a four percent solution of lime.
Ascochitis of cucumbers is treated with the usual Bordeaux mixture
Ascochitosis has no difficulties in treatment; a sufficient control measure is the treatment of the plant with one percent solutions of the Bordeaux mixture. Anthracnose is treated only at an early stage of development, anthracnose is removed by spraying plants with solutions of copper oxychloride and Bordeaux mixture.
Fusarium wilting of cucumbers is not amenable to treatment, the fight is prevention. To prevent disease, the soil should be treated with manganese before planting.
The treatment for green mosaic is to transplant to another location if the cucumber is young. The white mosaic is rendered in the same way as the green one. Other ways of dealing with the disease are ineffective.
Bacteriosis is treated by processing with Bordeaux mixture and removing infected areas.
Cucumbers grown in a greenhouse at home are less likely to suffer from diseases, but more often they are infected with spider mites. For the impact of spider mites on planting material, the environment in the greenhouse is more favorable.
The spider mite is attached to the bottom of the leaf. The activity of the spider mite is that the spider mite sucks the juice from the greenery of the plant. Also, a spider mite wraps its cobwebs around a plant. The spider mite reproduces, leaving its larvae in the plant. In a week, a female spider mite can lay up to hundreds of eggs. The plant dries out under the influence of a spider mite, previously weakening, losing color and withering away from the mite.
The main symptom of the disease is that the edges turn yellow. Yellowness resembles rust. After the leaves turn yellow, the wilting stage begins. When the leaves turn yellow, the process moves on to fruit development. This causes either the yellowness of the fruit, or wilting and rotting. Most often, cucumbers in a greenhouse are less susceptible to disease.