Cabbage clubroot is an insidious disease caused by a fungus. Cabbage is a very common vegetable crop. Its plantations can be found in almost every garden plot. This vegetable is healthy and appetizing, but it is not easy to grow. Protecting cabbage from clubroot and pest attacks and following growing rules is quite difficult even for an experienced gardener. It is almost impossible to get rid of this disease.
What is clubroot
Everyone is susceptible to carinatum cabbage varieties and cabbage crops: turnips, radishes, lettuce.Its fungal nature makes treating the plant impossible. The part of the infected plant located above the surface of the ground looks depressed: the leaves become limp and begin to curl. This happens even if the soil is well moistened.
If clubroot appears, you need to pay attention to the root. If the disease has formed, then you will be able to see the rhizome completely covered with growths, which turns into branches that look unpleasant, even ugly. The real roots die rather quickly and the plant ceases to exist.
But this is not the worst thing. Since clubroot is a fungal disease, its spores, multiplying, quickly fill the entire area, affecting other crops. Everything that a gardener grows in his garden is under threat of destruction. Therefore, the sooner protection is organized, the more soil will be saved.
In addition to cabbage, other crops can also become diseased:
- radish;
- swede;
- mustard;
- watercress;
- daikon.
If clubroot appears on cabbage, not all gardeners know how to fight it. At an early stage, symptoms are quite difficult to detect.
When a plant begins to show its painful condition, it is no longer possible to restore its strength and health, but you can save everything that is nearby. To do this, you need to know how to deal with clubroot on cabbage.
How does the disease manifest itself?
Before getting rid of infected plants, you need to be absolutely sure of the authenticity of the symptoms. The first sign by which clubroot can be identified is fading leaves. With full confidence that this phenomenon was not discovered due to dry soil, it is necessary to dig up the future head of cabbage and carefully examine the roots of the plant.If they have raised sores, then this is cabbage clubroot, which can affect the roots of other plants.
The symptoms that form on the roots literally choke the plant. The small roots that provide nutrition to the vegetable lose their ability to grow. Cabbage development stops. Soon the development of growths becomes so active that the head of cabbage dies.
All plants diagnosed with cabbage disease must not only be removed, but also destroyed. It is not difficult to free the soil: the roots of the plant die, the connection with the soil is lost, and the cabbage is easily pulled out.
It should be noted that growths on the roots of a cabbage head can reach the size of a fist, and then begin to rot. This creates a cyst in the ground that spreads and affects healthy plants.
If the disease is not prevented, fungal spores may recur within five years.
Damage to a cabbage head by clubroot can occur at almost any stage of its development. Young seedlings whose growth is active and rapid are more susceptible to the disease. Increased soil acidity can accelerate the development of the disease.
Externally the clubroot cabbage manifests itself by wilting leaves. Slow development indicates problems with the plant. At first, cabbage leaves have a light purple hue, which changes to yellow over time. If measures are not taken to save the crop, then after a short period of time all the plants will dry out, and the spores will continue to spread underground.
Spores that are dormant in winter tolerate cold well. As soon as weather conditions become favorable, they begin to grow.Zoospores are formed, which enter the plant through root hairs. Producing growth to impressive sizes, the mounds block the development of the plant, which is why the high-quality supply of moisture stops and prevents the receipt of nutrients.
Cause of clubroot infection
The risk of clubroot appearing in a garden plot occurs most often when cabbage seedlings are purchased from unverified places. Working for the sake of profit, unscrupulous sellers save money on cultivating soil and seedlings. As a result, you can easily introduce clubroot into your garden, but getting rid of it will be very problematic, especially without knowing what to do in this case.
Spores of the fungus Plasmodiophora brassicae live in the ground for at least 5 years. This is a parasite that skillfully camouflages itself at first. So, in the early stage of development, the sores are very small, and with the naked eye they are difficult to distinguish from real roots.
As it grows, the growth increases in size and begins to replace the roots of the plant. When ripe, spores are also dangerous because they remain in the ground for a long time. Any plant belonging to the cruciferous family can provoke the growth of fungal spores, even if it is a simple weed.
Fighting methods
Methods for dealing with clubroot on cabbage roots will be ineffective in the later stages of the disease. In this case, you can try only one method: to promote the development of adventitious roots. To do this, the head of cabbage must be hilled high and watered systematically.
Before digging the ground at the end of autumn, you can dust the soil with lime. However, the most effective way to avoid re-infection with clubroot is to avoid planting cruciferous vegetables in this area of the garden.
Of course, damaged parts of cabbage roots should not be stored on the site. It's best to burn them. Since it is almost impossible to cure an infected plant, certain actions can be taken to make the soil safe for plantings that will appear on the site next year.
Seed treatment
Before placing seeds in the ground, they must be treated, knowing how to treat them. You can do this in several ways:
- placement in an immunostimulator;
- treatment with hot water for 20 minutes;
- soaking for 6 hours in a mustard solution, the concentration of which is 1.5%;
- placing in a solution of ascorbic acid, treating the seeds for 16 hours;
- cooling during the day, the ideal place for this manipulation is a refrigerator, the temperature in which is not higher than 2 OWITH.
This method, of course, is not a panacea, because clubroot cabbage disease can spread to the garden plot and with seedlings. But if the infection is hidden in the cabbage seeds, it can be eliminated using the above-described treatment methods during planting.
Soil treatment
If the area was once affected by clubroot, the soil must be cured. First of all, it is recommended to grow plants in this area that kill clubroot spores on cabbage: tomatoes, potatoes, onions and garlic, beets. These crops can cope with them in 2-3 years.
In one season, fungal spores can destroy such combinations of plants as, for example, tomatoes and spring garlic. There are crops that, on the contrary, should be avoided if there is a risk of damage: you need to pay attention to emerging weeds.Narrow beds can be a good way to stop the development of the disease: this technology helps prevent the primary lesion when growing cabbage.
It is recommended to pay attention to the possibility of mixing clean and contaminated soil. This must be prevented. The prevention carried out will reduce the likelihood of the disease spreading so that the cured land produces a good harvest.
Agrotechnical methods
Options for controlling clubroot on cabbage may be different, but you cannot do without using agricultural techniques. It is imperative to monitor the replenishment of the deficiency of potassium and calcium components in the soil, and to avoid a lack of zinc, chlorine, and boron. The humus content can be increased up to 2.5 times compared to normal. Nitrate will not harm plants.
Kila is very cunning. When fighting it, issues related to watering should not be ignored. It must be carried out very competently: waterlogging the soil can adversely affect it, as can overdrying.
Traditional methods
The truly effective control measures against clubroot on cabbage are those that combine different measures. You should not ignore folk remedies.
Experienced gardeners call the most popular ways to process cabbage:
- treatment with Bordeaux mixture - this product effectively eliminates soil problems;
- adding a small amount of wood ash to the hole - then water the plant;
- watering with lime milk;
- regular loosening with the addition of mineral fertilizers.
If clubroot, a cabbage disease, appears, few know how to fight it, but simple folk techniques are familiar to everyone who strives to obtain a bountiful and high-quality harvest at their summer cottage.Anyone can use folk remedies, because these are proven methods that do not require special financial costs.
How to prevent the spread
The first thing that will help prevent the appearance and spread of clubroot is a careful inspection of the purchased seedlings. If it does not inspire confidence, it is better to refuse cabbage.
Prevention will help prevent the occurrence of this disease. These are the following measures:
- Mandatory hilling of the future head of cabbage after it has been fed, the plant must be watered. This contributes to the formation of a more powerful root system.
- Cleaning up all stalks after harvest. Helps prevent rotting of possible growths.
- Pulling out all infected plants and burning them on a metal sheet. Do not walk around the garden in your usual shoes and clothes at the moment. The tool for work must be separate, which is best destroyed later.
- Maintaining the soil acidity level at an average level. The earth should not be too acidic or, conversely, under-oxidized.
- Feeding plants with potassium, calcium, magnesium, chlorine preparations.
- Add dolomite flour to the hole at the time of transplantation.
It would be useful to alternate crops planted in the same area. Varieties that appear in garden beds must contain a mark on the packaging indicating resistance to the development of this disease.
