How to get rid of scab on potatoes - tips for beginning agricultural technicians

how to get rid of scab on potatoes
How to get rid of scab on potatoes

Good afternoon! This year was not particularly fruitful for potatoes. Just a few tubers from the root. And it was especially disappointing to find tubers affected by the fungus.

Therefore, we were forced to fill more than half of the cellar with purchased potatoes.

But now there’s another headache: in order not to suffer from the influence of scab next year, a number of preventive measures will be necessary. I’ll talk about how to get rid of scab on potatoes and prevent further contamination of the soil right now.

Potato scab - the fight against the disease

Potato is one of the most popular and widespread crops in world agricultural production. People call it the second bread. For many, it remained, remains, and will remain the main culture on the site.

With the development of new technologies for the cultivation of vegetable crops, oddly enough, it is harder and harder for us to grow a future crop every year. With the advent of new pesticides, pests and diseases are rampant in our fields with even greater strength and aggressiveness.

Important!
If earlier it was possible to get 500-1000 kg per hundred square meters, now 100-200 kg is a good result, and for some, the main task is to grow at least what was planted. And not everyone succeeds.

Recently, among all diseases of potatoes, common scab has spread. Tubers affected by it lose all their taste and commercial qualities. The starch content is lost by 30-40%. The yield of affected potatoes is reduced by 50-60% due to a significant increase in the amount of waste.

The disease also affects the future generation, the eyes on the tubers lose their seed, which leads to a decrease in seedlings. But that is not all that the disease can bring. Other fungi and bacteria can penetrate into the already affected cavities and cracks, which can already completely affect the tuber.

The disease affects both tubers, stolons, and roots - i.e. underground organs of potato. Brown contours form on the tubers. Bulges and transverse cracks may appear on the tubers. The deep form of the common scab is the most harmful. Such cracks in diameter can reach 1.5 cm, and in depth up to 1 cm. The edges of the ulcers have a torn crust.

The appearance of scab on plants may depend on the characteristics of the variety and the conditions for growing potatoes. Warm weather and moderate humidity are ideal conditions for the development of scab. After the tuber is completely infected, the scab moves to another until all the tubers are infected.

But the scab is curable, and you can get rid of it, or at least mitigate its effect on plants. But here it is not individual events that are important, but their complex.

An important condition in the fight against scab is the choice of potato varieties. It is necessary to grow only zoned and reliable varieties of potatoes.The following table varieties should be noted: Tiras, Racurs, Polyana, Yavir, Lady Rosetta, Riviera, Vesta, Dara, etc. This is the most effective measure to deter common scab.

After selecting a variety, you must select the type of soil. A high nutrient content negatively affects the development of the disease. The physical characteristics of the soil also affect the disease on sandy and loose soils than on heavy and clay soils.

Advice!
Always the main way to prevent diseases and pests was crop rotation. Disputes of the disease can persist at the place of potato growth up to 5 - 7 years, but their main part after 3 - 4 years is not a danger to plants.

In view of this, potatoes are not recommended to be returned to their original place no earlier than after 3 years. It is also not recommended to grow potatoes after beets and carrots, as these crops are affected by the same disease.

The next remedy is fertilizer. So acidic fertilizers like superphosphate, ammonium sulfate, or all sulfate-containing fertilizers, inhibit the development of pathogens of common scab.

When applying organic fertilizers, you can do yourself a disservice - to add the causative agents of the disease to healthy soil, especially in unripe manure, their amount is much more than in rotted manure.

But this does not mean abandoning organic fertilizers, on the contrary, their proper application contributes to the development of favorable microorganisms, which are direct enemies of the causative agents of common scab.

The last and direct way to fight, of course, is and will be fungicides. Dressing seed is always an effective means of control. Of these drugs, the following can be distinguished: Fungazil 100 SL, Rovral, Aquaflo, Maxim 025 FS, etc.

The meteorological conditions throughout the year remain important in the development of the disease. Dry years with elevated temperatures have a much better effect on the development of scab than cool and humid ones.

In view of the foregoing, it should be noted that scab is a local disease. It is developed where the soil reaction is neutral. Soils with an acidic or slightly acidic reaction are free from this disease.

Fighting scab on potatoes

If you dug potatoes affected by scab, then although you have harvested a good crop, you certainly will not experience the joy of this. To prevent this from happening again next season, I’ll show you how to get rid of scab on potatoes.

Scab on potatoes
Scab on potatoes

Here's what ru.wikipedia.org writes about this disease. “Potato scab has several different species caused by different types of actinomycetes, fungi and deuteromycetes: ordinary, powdery, silver, tuberous (oosporosis) and black (rhizoctonia) potato scab.

Scab spoils the appearance of potato tubers, worsens potency, taste and seed qualities of potatoes, and can affect tuber tissue, increasing waste. Potato tubers that are severely affected by scab are unsuitable for eating and sowing. ”

Attention!
The dark brown tuberous growths on the skin of the potato are scab. Scab is very easily transmitted by the spores of the fungus from the ground, inventory, infected potatoes, and you can not immediately recognize its presence. Therefore, if you want to get rid of scab on potatoes, you should take drastic measures.

Firstly, let the whole potato harvested this year for food: choose, of course, tubers that are not very affected and do not choose clean, seemingly not sick tubers from seeds for this crop. The fact is that if most of the crop is infected with scab, then this mushroom will spread throughout the potato.

Secondly, there are varieties of potatoes that are resistant to this disease. It makes no sense to list them, you will find everything on the Internet. But as in the first case, the new variety should not be mixed with the old crop!

Crop rotation will help get rid of scab on potatoes, that is, plant potatoes in the same place after 3-4 years.But this, of course, is not always possible, therefore there is a way out - plant pulses of green legumes after harvesting.

It is these siderates that help saprophytic microorganisms - fungi and bacteria - multiply, which, in turn, together with soil bacteria have a beneficial effect on soil formation and inhibit the development of scab on potatoes.

Before planting, seed potatoes can be treated with Fitosporin solution - 10 g per 5 l of water for 20 kg of potatoes.

During the period when the tops of potatoes begin to close, you can spray the crops with microelements - potassium permanganate + vitriol + boric acid - you need to take 3 grams each for 1 liter of water - this amount is enough for 10 sq.m.

There are rules that must be observed constantly and impeccably:

  • when planting potatoes, you can not make fresh manure or incompletely decomposed compost;
  • it is impossible to lime the soil: this error is very common where areas for potatoes are diverted on acidic soils. To reduce the acidity of the soil, ash can be used;
  • potato fertilizers and superphosphate are best suited for potatoes;
  • After harvesting, be sure to burn or remove all the tops from the site.

How to get rid of potato scab

To prevent the spread of scab, use the full range of protective measures. Keep crop rotation to prevent infection from accumulating in the soil. Land for potatoes should be prepared in advance, cleaned of scab pathogens with the help of green manure.

Important!
After collecting early vegetables or throughout the season - from spring to the end of summer - sow on the field where you plan future potato plantings, lupins, peas, beans, mustard, rapeseed. After flowering or the formation of the first fruits in legumes, bury these medicinal plants in the ground to a depth of 15-20 cm.

This technique contributes to the development of saprophytic fungi and bacteria in the earth, and they are opponents of scab pathogens. In addition, green manure improves soil quality. The best predecessors for potatoes are corn, table beets, carrots, cabbage.

If your potato is often sick, choose varieties that are relatively resistant to common scab: Snow White, Bronnitsky, Bryansk novelty, Vyatka, Zhukovsky early, Lyubimets, Lasunak, Lugovsky, Master, Skoroplodny, Sokolsky, Effect.

Do not feed potatoes with fresh manure and other undecomposed organic fertilizers. And vice versa, the harmfulness of the scab is reduced if well-rotted organic matter 2-3 years old (500-600 kg per hundred square meters) is introduced into the ground.

Mineral fertilizers are useful in which the ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus and potassium is such a ratio of -1: 1 or 2: 1. To plant potatoes proved to be more resistant to scab, directly under the bushes make copper, manganese and boron.

On one hundred square meters, it is necessary to spend 40 g of copper sulfate, 20 g of manganese sulfate and 25 g of boric acid. Water-soluble manganese is especially useful, because just when it is not enough, scab is especially rampant. It is important not to overdo it with lime. You can make only its small doses (5-8 kg per hundred square meters) together with organics, and even better in the autumn for digging.

Do not forget to increase the rate of potash fertilizers by 30% and at the same time apply boric acid. But it must be understood that when liming, manganese is poorly absorbed by potatoes, and the development of scab is enhanced.

To significantly reduce the damage to plants by scab, it is necessary to water the field from the moment of mass tying - tubers and until they reach 2-3 cm in diameter. At this time, the humidity of the earth in the zone of tuber formation should be at least 75-80%.

5 ways to save the crop

Let's start by analyzing the site where such potatoes were harvested: what varieties were grown there before, where they were brought from and how they got to the garden. Most likely, with one of the next planting material of a rootless variety, one of the types of this common potato disease penetrated.

Advice!
There are many varieties of potato scab, but the methods of spreading the infection are the same for everyone - planting tubers and soil from the site on which infected plants were planted at least once.

Potatoes could be successfully grown for many years in one place if pathogens had not settled in the soil. Unfortunately, scab soil is not easy to cure.

Careful selection and processing of tubers

The effect:

  1. protection of tubers from pests and diseases;
  2. yield increase;
  3. improvement of taste;
  4. extension of storage periods.

Every year, for planting, select only healthy (at least by sight) tubers and, with a view to prevention, treat them with Prestige. Before the flowering period of potatoes, it will protect the tubers from wireworms, bears and larvae of the raspberry, as well as a number of fungal diseases, including some types of scab and late blight.

But after the flowering of potatoes, the concentration of protective substances in the tissues of the plant becomes too small to stop pests and suppress the disease.

You can reduce the risk of scab disease with EM technology. So, pre-planting treatment of tubers with biological preparations (especially in combination with regular watering) heals the soil well, increases crop productivity, and also improves the taste and keeping quality of tubers during storage.

It is necessary to apply this agricultural technique annually. Preplant treatment with Topsin M and Fundazole also effectively reduces the incidence of scab tubers.

Use of scab resistant varieties

Effect: the ability to grow a healthy potato crop in the infected area.

If the soil in your garden is still contaminated with scab, and you have no other place to plant potatoes, you can only look for varieties that are resistant to scab. For example, Borodyansky pink, Vodograi, Kosen-95, Serpanok, Kupava, Dubravka, Desiree.

Follow growing rules

Effect: avoid conditions that contribute to the activation of the pathogen; prevent the development of the disease during the growing season.

Attention!
Increased soil moisture contributes to the active spread of scab on potatoes, if the aeration of the soil is impaired. Acidity is also an unfavorable factor: the higher this indicator, the more active the pathogen. If the soil is rich in humus, the causative agent of the common scab will not threaten it.

Conversely, fresh organic fertilizer and undecomposed plant debris contribute to the development of the disease. An obligatory method of preventing scab on potatoes is also crop rotation - it is undesirable to plant potatoes in the same place for several years in a row, since spores of the pathogen and substances contributing to its development accumulate in the soil.

At the same time, the best precursors for potatoes will be winter crops, green manure (soy, vetch, rape, mustard).

Harvest correctly

Effect: obtaining healthy tubers with high keeping rates and guaranteeing future quality seed.

First of all, get rid of the habit of digging potatoes only when it is "fully ripe". You should not wait until the tops of dried tops lie on the crests of potato plantations calcined by summer heat. During the summer, all kinds of diseases accumulate in its leaves and stems.

Therefore, as soon as the tops begin to turn yellow, it needs to be cut and removed from the field or burned. And dig up the tubers when the peel on them is still easily peeled off. In this condition, all the scratches and damage on the tubers heal easily and are tightened during the week of storage in a dark, dry and warm place.

Before this, it is useful to dip them into a working solution of a protective biological product in order to protect against possible diseases. After a week, it is advisable to wash the tubers from the adhering earth, dip them in a protective solution of salicylic or benzoic acid (300 mg per 1 liter of water) and dry in the shade.

This technique will eliminate a lot of external infection, accidentally caught in the tubers, and improve their keeping quality during winter storage.

Important!
The described methods of protection, as a rule, are used by adherents of "classical" growing technologies. Unfortunately, such methods also have a drawback: pests and pathogens that survived after processing potatoes with pesticides acquire immunity (resistance) to them, and in order to get rid of them the next time, the concentration of drugs will have to be increased.

This can go on ad infinitum. In addition, in many cases, the decay products of pesticides accumulate in the fruits of plants. In other words, the use of chemicals is not the best solution in terms of the environmental cleanliness of the grown products.

Prevention of scab

Effect: protecting potatoes from scab and gradually cleansing the soil from the causative agent of the disease. Among the safe methods of combating scab of potato vegetables, agricultural technology called Gumireactor has proven its effectiveness.

It is able to solve most of the problems associated with the protection of potatoes and other plants during the growing season, and also gradually clear the soil of pathogens. Of course, it takes time to treat infected soils.

A gumireactor is not an instant “switch” of all evil spirits in the garden, but over several seasons of systematic use, this technology will ensure the ecological safety of plants grown and also strengthen the friendly “team” of microorganisms that help the soil to be healthy.

Which is better, fight or prevention?

It turns out that we devote most of the land to potatoes. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to observe crop rotation and, as a result, the occurrence of a mass of diseases, in particular, scab on potatoes, is probably the most common phenomenon.

This disease begins with small convex sores, which not everyone pays attention to. But if you do not take action, the disease begins to progress. Just imagine the neglected form of scab, when the tubers are no longer ulcers, but cracks with torn edges.

Advice!
What threatens us with scab on potatoes? The vegetable is quite edible. Only now its nutritional value is reduced, the starch level drops to 40%. Numerous bacteria settle in ulcers with pleasure, then during storage various rot begin to develop faster.

Yields are falling too. More than half of the potatoes go to waste. The disease also affects the next crop not in the best way. Sores covering the tubers damage the eyes. If subsequently of them sprouts will hatch. they are very weak and there will be no good yield from them.

The scab can simply be ignored, but over time it will be more and more, as it spreads from tuber to tuber and retains its debate in the ground for about 3 years. And you can not only take measures, but also prevent the onset of the disease.

Scab on potatoes, methods of dealing with it

In general, of course, any disease is easier to prevent. The most important condition to avoid not only the appearance of scab, but also many other diseases, is the observance of crop rotation.

It is not recommended to plant potatoes in the same place from year to year. If this condition is not feasible, as very often happens, favorable conditions for the development of the disease must be avoided, that's all.

This disease develops especially rapidly in warm and humid weather on soils with neutral PH or alkaline. Most often, you can meet the disease on sandy, loose soil.

If you do not have the opportunity to change the place for planting potatoes, then you should not bring fresh organic matter to the site, it is better to use rotted compost.

To somehow restrain the development of the disease, you can acidify the soil. To do this, dilute 20 grams of ammonium sulfate in a bucket of water and pour 0.5 liters under each bush. This should be done at the time of tying the tubers.

Attention!
For cultivation, choose the varieties that are most suitable for your climate and resistant to disease. Another good method, not only against diseases, but also against rodents, is the screening of planting material. To do this, just hold the seed potatoes in the sun for several days.

If you notice the first signs of the disease on your potato, immediately take measures, it is always better to carry out prophylaxis than then fight the disease.

How to get rid of scab potatoes

Scab is an extremely unpleasant phenomenon for a summer resident. Most often, potatoes suffer from this scourge. At the same time, both the yield and the quality of what is left are falling. Indeed, when infected with scab in potatoes, the content of nutrients, vitamins, and starch decreases. Damaged areas must be cut during cleaning, and this is an extra work and extra time.

How to recognize a disease?

The disease begins to manifest itself at the stage of the appearance on the roots of young potato nodules.

At the same time, small dry spots form on the roots themselves, in the lower part, and on the tubers sores or warts from light brown to black, depending on the pathogen.

By the way, the scab can be caused by several pathogens. Depending on their type, ordinary, black, silver and powdery scab are distinguished. They can be distinguished in appearance and degree of damage to potatoes. But the development of these infections and measures to combat them are very similar.

What contributes to the development of the disease?

The most favorable conditions for the development of all types of scab - air temperature 20ºС and soil moisture 50-70%. In other words, the best conditions for the development of the potato itself will be wonderful for an unpleasant disease.

Also, scab loves good loose soil, with a lot of available calcium, an excess of nitrogen fertilizers, a lack of manganese and boron.

Control measures

  • use only healthy seed material sprouted in the light for planting;
  • Choose quality zoned varieties;
  • pickle tubers before planting. For this, you can use polycarbacin (0.4 kg per 10 liters of water);
  • observe crop rotation; do not plant potatoes in the same place in less than 4 years. Good precursors for potatoes are: corn, carrots, beets, legumes;
  • do not use fresh manure to fertilize potatoes; this is the best friend of scab. Only well-rotted organic fertilizers will do;
  • A good prevention from scab is to keep the soil moist at the beginning of plant budding.

A disease that dramatically reduces yield

Scab is manifested in the form of convex ulcerations on the tubers. During storage, these sores spread with great speed over the surface of the tuber and at the same time affect the eyes.

This leads to the fact that such potatoes become unsuitable for planting due to the lack of eyes. Perhaps some eyes still sprout, but they will give weak shoots, which of course will affect the crop.

Control measures

  1. Scab develops most strongly when the soil reaction is close to alkaline, therefore, when planting, it is impossible to bring fresh manure under the potatoes. It is better to use dung humus in spring.
  2. If you still planted tubers with small scab lesions, then you need to flowering when the process of tuber formation begins, thoroughly water the potatoes with water.
  3. When alkaline soil reaction (pH> 7), it is necessary to acidify the soil. To do this, add a solution of ammonium sulfate under the potato, at the rate of 2 tablespoons per 10 liters. Water, spending 0.5 liters. mortar on the bush. Watering with this solution should be carried out during flowering.
  4. Well, of course, it is impossible to artificially alkalize the soil by applying lime, dolomite flour or chalk before planting potatoes.
  5. One of the important methods of combating potato scab, if this is possible, is to observe crop rotation.It is useful to place potatoes after legumes.
  6. Before planting, it is necessary to light-harden the tubers.
  7. Use varieties that have relative resistance to scab, such as Vestnik, Detskoselsky, Pamir, Resource, Sokolsky, Zhukovsky early, Energy.

Fighting Potato Scab

Common scab is considered the most common and harmful among all types of scab. Most often, tubers are affected on light sandy and highly calcareous soils, and especially in dry and hot summers.

Important!
In re-known areas where the disease is rampant, physiologically acidic forms of mineral fertilizers (superphosphate, ammonium sulfate, potassium sulfate) must be introduced. They will improve plant nutrition with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, sulfur.

Non-root top dressing is also required: manganese sulfate (2 g), boric acid (3 g) and copper sulfate (2 g) per 1 liter of water. It is especially relevant where scab is common. They also use it for spraying potato crops (10 m2) in the closing phase of the tops.

The treatment-spraying of seed tubers before planting can be carried out with the following preparations: Agat25K (13 g is dissolved in a liter of water per 100 kg of tubers), Fitosporin M (10 g / 5 l of water per 20 kg of tubers), Krezacin (10 drops / 2 l of water per 50 kg of seed potatoes).

It is good to treat the seeds of mid-ripening and medium-late potato varieties with Prestige before starting the germination of tubers (70-100 ml / 1 l of water per 100 kg). It is important that at least 3/4 of the surface of the tubers is treated.

In the absence of these preparations, seed potatoes are treated with a solution of trace elements of boron, manganese and copper. To do this, take 10 g of boric acid, vitriol and potassium permanganate, dissolved in 10 l of water (per 100 kg of tubers). Tubers are moistened with this solution, simmer for 2-3 hours under burlap or film, and then planted.

One way to get rid of scab is by planting potato varieties resistant to this disease (Pushkinets, Nevsky, Kholmogorsky, Enchanter, Elizaveta, Lomonosovsky, etc.).

How to get rid of late blight and scab

Can I plant beans with potatoes? No you can not. Both plants are potassium-loving, and since beans develop faster than potatoes, they will "eat" it and it will experience potassium starvation. In addition, the beans will introduce excessive doses of nitrogen, which will cause scab on the potatoes. Potatoes have high light requirements, and fast-growing beans will obscure it.

Therefore, the tops of potatoes will grow enormous, and the tubers will be small, that is, the whole undertaking will lead to loss of crop. But if one bean is planted in all extreme plants and additionally between tubers along the perimeter of the potato field, this measure will force moles to leave the plantings.

Advice!
How to protect potatoes from late blight? Plant early varieties, they leave phytophthora, as they have time to ripen before it begins to rage. There are varieties of medium ripening periods that are resistant to late blight disease: Lugovskoy, Granola and others.

Phytophthora lives in soils poor in copper, so when planting, bring a copper-containing preparation into the wells, but in very small doses (on the tip of the knife). After the second hilling, prophylactically spray the bushes with a 1% solution (1 teaspoon per 0.5 l of water) of any preparation containing copper (Bordeaux liquid, copper sulfate, copper chloride).

If black spots appear on the lower leaves, do not wait until the leaves begin to turn yellow, but immediately water the bushes over the leaves with Fitosporin solution. Repeat watering every 2 weeks. The drug "Zircon" also gives good results when spraying the lower leaves of potatoes.

There is one old-fashioned method: at the first signs of the disease (black dots on the lower leaves), pour the tops of potatoes with ordinary yeast (100 g of yeast in 10 liters of water).

Why does scab appear on potatoes? Most often because there is a lot of nitrogen in the soil.This happens when large doses of manure are applied, after sowing and subsequent plowing of siderates (in particular, after winter rye or peas), when azofoski is applied under tubers, and so on.

Simultaneously with nitrogen, potassium should be introduced into the soil, then there will be no scab. Scab can appear on tubers and with excessive doses of calcium. That is, it is impossible to lime the field before planting or in the fall to make large doses of lime for the next several years. When planting, one should not bring too much ash under the tubers.

How to get rid of scab on potatoes? And why get rid of it if the scab is a purely cosmetic defect? It does not affect the taste and storage of potatoes. Gradually, excess nitrogen and calcium from the soil will be washed into the lower layers, and there will be no scab.

Is it true that planting white beans scares away the Colorado potato beetle from the potato field? True. It is enough to plant one bean along with a tuber on all edges of the field, and the beetles from the neighbors will not get to you. But if their larvae hibernated on your field, then they will not crawl from your site to the next.

Attention!
Against the beetle, the Sonnet drug works perfectly. A single spray is enough for the season before flowering. Consumption is economical - just one ampoule per 10 liters of water is enough to process potatoes on one hundred parts.

Potato tubers are badly damaged by wireworm strokes. Is there any way to get rid of it? You can radically get rid of wireworm with the help of the predatory nematode Nemabakt, which is usually sold in the Zashchita soil. When planting, apply a little of this soil under each tuber. But there is a grandfather way: when planting, put a handful of dry onion husks under each tuber.

Why does potato yield fall with good care? There may be several reasons. You may have been using your planting material for many years and a large viral infection has accumulated. Not all varieties can be used for a long time, especially for varieties of foreign selection.

There are our varieties, for example, Nevsky, Lugovsky, for planting which you can use your planting material for a long time, because these varieties do not accumulate infection for a long time. Another reason is the infection of the field with a nematode. When you harvest, carefully look at the tubers.

If they have small balls similar to poppy seeds, then these are nematode cysts. It is time to change the field and plant nemato-resistant varieties. After harvesting potatoes, sow rye before winter, mow it in spring and dig the soil along with rye. But maybe the soil is simply exhausted or crop rotation is disturbed. This often happens when, due to lack of space, potatoes are planted in the same place for many years in a row.

Do I need to pick flowers from potatoes? If the field is small, it is better to cut off. And if in several hectares, then there isn’t much sense in this. And it’s better not to pick flowers, but buds, so that the potato does not waste in vain (and they are considerable) on budding, flowering and seed propagation.

If seed reproduction is not allowed, then the plant will put all its strength into the vegetative - tubers. A cliff of flowers gives an increase of approximately two tubers on each plant.

Is it obligatory to mow tops of potatoes? Mandatory, and you need to do this 2 weeks before cleaning. This will avoid contact of the infected late blight tops with tubers (the infection is transmitted in this way), as well as stop the further growth of tubers and give them the opportunity to grow a thick peel. Such potatoes better tolerate transportation and storage.

Important!
Why does potato rot during storage? Because you put it in a vault unsuspected, with a lot of land, dug it in rainy weather. In addition, in the soil there could be pathogens of various fungal and bacterial diseases that got on the tubers.

If it rains during harvesting, rinse the tubers with water from the hose, spray them with Fitosporin, dry them in the barn and only then store them.

Many-sided scab

WOODS on tubers is a fairly common occurrence, you have apparently not met with them, and whoever grows potatoes for decades, he knows that this is scab. You should not be very worried, after all, the scab is not late blight, but you need to beware.

And here's why: the spores of the causative agent of this disease are found both in the ground and on plant debris after harvesting, and on the tubers themselves. From here, as they say, we will dance. Why it became so many that the tubers in the warts, and how it happened. Immediately, in one year, you may not be able to get rid of the scab, but it is quite possible to reduce its harmfulness.

Scab - literally means shelli, rash, that is, bumps on the surface. There are only five types of scab: ordinary, black, powdery, silver, tuberous. The ordinary has four more types: flat, convex, deepened and mesh.

Here it is, many-sided! Scab is caused by several types of soil fungi, which are stored in the soil for a long time, are very resistant to drought and can withstand low air temperatures.

Specifically, what kind of scab on your tubers should be installed in the laboratory - after all, this is a disease and it is established only by laboratory means. We will talk about the reasons for the appearance of scab in general and how to cope with it.

Most of all in private gardens common scab is common. With this disease, convex scabs, or warts, pressed into the flesh are clearly visible. At the same time, the taste of tubers deteriorates, less starch accumulates in them, and their keeping quality is weakened. Severely affected tubers are unsuitable for planting.

Advice!
Black scab (otherwise called rhizoctonia, rhizoctonia) is more common in the northern regions. An ignorant person will never think that this is a disease, it looks like black lumps of kidneys adhered to the peel.

You pick it up with your fingernail and they will fall off. But if there are a lot of such lumps, they can destroy the shoots on the planted tubers and shoots you will not get. Especially if potatoes are planted in cold soil. Powdered scab forms small ulcers on the tubers.

With tuberous tuberous scab disease, slightly indented spots are formed, very similar to late blotches, but in contrast to it, the flesh under the spot does not rot.
Silver scab also appears on the tubers in the form of sunken spots with a silver sheen.

Lentils are mostly affected by scab - the smallest holes in the skin of tubers through which they breathe. Growing, they tear the peel in different directions, and sometimes in the form of stars.

Is it possible to deal with scab? Of course, in any summer. But be sure to consider that, as in other cases, a set of measures is needed here.

The culprit is manure

In the soil, pathogens of various types of scab live on various organic residues. Tubers on light and loamy soils with a slightly alkaline reaction are more strongly affected by it. The scab just loves the alkaline reaction of the soil. That is why tubers on peat bogs most often grow clean, smooth - after all, the soil is slightly acidic.

Therefore, if you planned to apply lime on potato beds, then take not the full rate, but half. For example, if you usually deposit 40 kg per hundred square meters, then take only 20 kg.

Attention!
And the potato will be useful (it prefers to grow on slightly acidic soil), and it will be beneficial for you, and there will be no splash of scab next year. It is for the future, because lime should be applied only in the fall, and in no case in the spring. And apart from manure.

By the way, about manure. He may also be the culprit in the appearance of the scab. That is why the recommendations always indicate - do not bring fresh manure (and even straw) under the potatoes. Well, why do you need scab on tubers?

What else does scab love? Cold, rainy summers when tubers have to be planted in unheated ground.A cloudy cool weather and frequent rains only exacerbate the big picture.

But the hot summer is also in her favor, and in the heat there is a surge in the disease. There is only one way out - watering, starting from the time of flowering, that is, tying the tubers until the time when they become 2-3 cm in diameter.

In the cellar - only dry

For seeds for the next year, it is necessary to select tubers intact or with single ulcers. The fact is that scab ulcers often form near the eyes, and affected tubers will have reduced germination - the number of stems in the bushes is reduced.

Since pathogens of other diseases can get into the sores during storage and then the tubers will rot, then they should be well dried before filling in the cellar. And in the cellar there should not be excessive humidity.

Then the tubers will be stored normally. The only inconvenience - when peeling such tubers, the peel must be cut thicker. Well-dried tubers in the cellar can be dusted with ash, sprinkled with dry rowan leaves, dry husk of garlic, lemon balm, wormwood.

What is the grade?

Pay attention to the varieties growing in you. Find out their resistance to this disease. Maybe you should choose medium-resistant (Scarlet sail, Blue, Spring, Inspiration, Lark, Nevsky, Svitanok, Fairytale, Lilac fog, Luck, etc.) or highly resistant to scab (League, Lugovskoy, Skoropelka Peter, Bullfinch, Snow Maiden, Wizard, etc. .). Red-tuberous potato varieties are less affected by scab.

Your assistants

So that the scab does not damage the sprouts and roots in the initial growth period, before planting seed tubers, treat with a solution of two components: boric acid (10 g) and copper sulfate (2 g) per 10 l of water. To process 50 kg of tubers, 1 liter of such a solution is sufficient.

Important!
After this, the tubers are dried, dusted with ash and planted in warm soil. You can take a mixture of such trace elements (per 10 liters of water): 2-5 g of copper sulfate, boric acid, potassium permanganate.

Now there are many drugs that prevent the emergence and spread of fungal and bacterial diseases. You can use them. Here, for example, Fitosporin-M. In its solution, tubers can be treated before planting, and then the plantings are sprayed.

Zircon also helps to resist potato diseases. Processing it is carried out on growing plants. And "Epin-extra" is your assistant in the fight against various diseases of potatoes.

Well, let's take a look back. For example, in Pomeranian villages, they have long fought with wireworm, late blight and scab in a very simple and affordable way: before digging the soil, ordinary table salt was scattered around the site, somewhere a couple of kilograms per hundred square meters. And that’s all.

I also tried this method. Great results! And do not be afraid of salinization of the soil - it will not be.

Since the scab does not like acidic soils, then take this fact into account. When planting, throw some acidic fertilizers into the wells: superphosphate or ammonium sulfate - a pinch - and mix with the ground.

Here is a symbiosis

Legumes do not allow scabs to spread: peas, beans, beans. Potatoes planted after them will always be clean. Indeed, crop rotation, that is, a change in crops grown over the years, is the most reliable means against all diseases.

You can also combine planting: throw 2 peas or one bean seed into each hole during planting. And if the scab has already hit all the potatoes, then green manure crops should be constantly prescribed in your garden. These are rye, oats, mustard, phacelia, etc.

Cleanliness of the ridges - garden health

I will not talk about the agricultural technology of potatoes and say that all methods of care should be timely. I want to say only one thing.

Advice!
You took note of the fact that the causative agent of the disease remains on plant debris. Therefore, in the autumn, walk along the beds, collect all the tops, roots, tubers, diseased tubers and remove them.

And let this preventive measure be your norm.

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1 Comment

  1. The article is very strange, the impression is that the author collected information from different sites and did not even read it himself. As it is customary to say now - very many letters! in some places it is indicated that scab flourishes on neutral soil, but it does not exist in Kislaya, lower acidic soil promotes scab distribution ... several times about crop rotation ...

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