Some amateur gardeners believe that mint does not need care: plant it and forget it. This is a misconception - like other cultivated plants, aromatic grass responds to care with high yields and does not create problems. If the plantings are not given any attention, they can get sick and be attacked by pests. For example, the appearance of a white coating on mint signals the presence of a common disease - powdery mildew. Only timely help will save the situation and allow you to enjoy the inimitable taste of a drink made from fresh leaves, as well as prepare them for future use.
Mint diseases and methods of combating them
People appreciate mint for its taste, pleasant smell and content of nutrients. However, this crop also attracts many pests and pathogens. Having planted herbs on your site, you should not leave it without proper attention.
Prevention measures:
- do not leave plants in one place for a long time;
- cut off the stems after harvest and burn them;
- reduce nitrogen content in the soil;
- apply phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.
Rust
A dangerous fungal disease is widespread everywhere. It is expressed in the appearance of orange pads on the back of the leaves, which become brown over time.
The occurrence of the disease is associated with cool weather, high humidity, and excess nitrogen in the soil.
Infected plantings need to be sprayed with fungicides, which is permissible only at the beginning of plant development. The risk of the disease also depends on the variety of mint.
Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew cannot be confused with anything: a whitish coating on the leaves and stems entangles plants like a cobweb. This phenomenon is typical for adult plants. Subsequently, the appearance of black fruiting bodies filled with spores is observed. The disease is stimulated by the August cold snap, heavy dew and increased air humidity. The fight consists of spraying the bushes with a weak solution of colloidal sulfur and pollination with ground sulfur. In autumn, deep plowing of the site is indicated. Interestingly, mint varieties susceptible to powdery mildew are not affected by rust, and vice versa.
Fusarium wilt
A fungal attack causes a slowdown in plant growth, loss of elasticity, and darkening of the lower part of the stem. In hot weather, the plantings dry out, in rainy weather they rot.The risk of Fusarium wilt increases in cold or dry summers in the absence of watering. The source of infection is plant debris and contaminated soil. Without treatment, most of the crop dies.
Phyllosticosis
Infection is indicated by leaves covered with small round white spots with a brown rim. Later, black dots - pycnidia - form in the center of the spot, and the leaves begin to fall off. The fungal pathogen remains to overwinter in plant debris and is activated at a temperature of +23...+28 degrees.
Anthracnose
The disease is expressed by brown spots that gradually turn white in the center of the leaves, which cover all organs of the plant. Serious damage leads to falling leaves, bending and thinning of the stems.
In most cases, the infection is hidden in plant debris.
Mint grown from seedlings has a higher risk of anthracnose infection. However, this disease is not so widespread as to cause significant damage to the crop.
Ascochyta blight
During the disease, spots with brown pycnidia, grouped in groups of 2-3, become noticeable on the stems and leaves. The growth of the bushes slows down, the stems become bent, and the leaves dry out and fall off. Often, the fungus moves from catnip or motherwort, so the proximity of these crops should be avoided.
Septoria
The manifestation of a fungal disease is light spots with a dark edging, round or triangular in shape. Black dots with pycnidia form in the middle of the spots. Cracks appear in this area and the fabric falls out over time. The infection most often affects plantings located in wetlands and places with close groundwater, at an air temperature of +22...+27 degrees.
Downy mildew
A dangerous disease that affects leaves and inflorescences.Symptoms include a barely noticeable, gray-violet coating on the flowers and greenish shapeless spots on the outside of the leaves. The development of the disease leads to deformation and falling of leaves, a change in the color of the inflorescences to brown and their drying out. Rainy weather activates mint rot. Infection occurs by preserving the spores and mycelium of the fungus in the harvest residues. The chances of disease occurrence are reduced in dry, elevated areas exposed to wind.
sprouting
The disease caused by microplasma microorganisms manifests itself from the moment the seedlings emerge. Plants are stained with an anthocyanin tint, are stunted in growth and do not form a root system. Otherwise, many thinned shoots with hypertrophied inflorescences are formed.
Mint pests and methods of controlling them
Insect pests, attracted by the bright mint aroma, negatively affect the development of plantings.
This culture has many dangerous enemies, including:
- mint flea;
- mint leaf beetle;
- mint mite.
Peppermint flea beetle
It annoys mint plants from the moment they grow, making holes in the leaves. Yellow bugs and larvae become active in warm, dry spring. In favorable seasons they cause significant damage to the crop. To combat insects during leaf formation, the Actellica solution is used.
Peppermint leaf beetle
A small green beetle with a bronze tint and its larvae gnaw at the edges of the leaves and make holes in them. A large concentration of the pest can destroy mint plantations. For prevention purposes, planting plants on ridges with wide row spacing is recommended. Treatment with infusion of chamomile and hot pepper is effective. In advanced cases, Metaphos or Chlorophos is used.
Peppermint mite
Mainly covers the southern territories.It comes to the surface of the soil in May and feeds on the juice of the upper part of the stems until August.
Deep autumn digging of ridges, burning of plant residues, replanting mint every two years and treatment with acaricidal preparations help to cope with insects.
In addition to these types of insect pests, the following are dangerous to mint:
- Cicadas. They prefer to suck the juices from young seedlings.
- Weevils. The larvae eat the root system, while the adults gnaw off the edges of the leaves.
- Meadow moths. A single specimen can destroy an entire plant.
- Drooling pennies. The damage is caused by adult insects and larvae that deform the shoots of the crop. They reveal themselves as foamy lumps located on the stems and in the axils of the foliage.
- Wireworms. Click beetle larvae they gnaw the rhizomes. They remain in the soil from potatoes or are transmitted from wheatgrass.
- Medvedki. They destroy the roots, causing the mint to die.
The fragrant plantings are also pestered by caterpillars of the burdock, round-winged moth, meadow moth and cabbage cutworm.
General pest control measures include the use of insecticides if the damage to plantings is too severe.
One-time spraying is allowed a month before harvest. This method is used as a last resort!
If you follow agrotechnical practices, preventive procedures are sufficient to minimize the risk of mint being affected by diseases and pests. In addition to the methods described above, plantings can be treated with a decoction of celandine, prepared from 200 g of leaves per bucket of water (let it stand for a day, after which a soap solution is added, and the decoction is ready). Some insects are repelled by an infusion of pine needles and a decoction of bird cherry branches.
You can add infusions to the list of environmentally friendly preparations for controlling garden pests:
- onion;
- garlic;
- tobacco;
- dandelion;
- yarrow.
