What to do if brown or brown spots appear on beet leaves, how to treat them

It is a generally accepted fact that the health of plants can be judged by the condition of the tops. If the beet leaves are stained, what to treat to save the harvest becomes the main problem for the gardener. Before choosing an effective remedy, it is important to determine exactly what caused the damage - a disease or insect pests.

How to protect the future harvest from diseases

Beet leaf diseases can manifest themselves in different ways. They may develop a white coating, spots of gray, white, brown, yellow, red or brown, which over time lead to perforation of the leaf plate and, subsequently, to the death of the leaves.

Sometimes, to prevent damage, it is enough to treat seeds and root crops with Fundazol or another fungicide before planting. But, if the cause of the damage is different, this measure will not be enough.

There may be several factors that provoke the appearance of spots, dots and holes on beet tops:

1. Unsuitable soil: too acidic, waterlogged, lacking in nutrients. So, with a lack of potassium, yellow spots appear on the leaves, and with a deficiency of sodium, red spots appear. To eliminate mineral deficiency, fertilizers of industrial production or organic origin are used.
2. Insufficient watering, especially during the period when plants are growing green mass. In this case, cracks appear on the sheets.
3. Diseases of beet leaves of various etiologies. Most often these are fungal infections, but viral and bacterial infections also occur. In this case, characteristic spots and dots appear on the leaves, the tops turn yellow and die before the due time. Root vegetables may not be externally damaged, but when storing affected vegetables, you can lose most of the harvest.

In the latter case, it is important to promptly identify signs of beet leaf disease, correctly determine its cause and select the appropriate treatment. To protect plants from fungal diseases, they practice treating seeds and root crops with Fundazol (10 g per 0.5 l of water) or other fungicides.

Beet diseases: signs and causes

Spots on beet leaves can appear for various reasons. Determining why the leaves have changed and look unhealthy is important in order to choose the most effective method to combat the problem.

Brown spots on beets - what are they?

If the leaves of an adult plant ready for harvest change color, brownish spots cover the leaf blades, and subsequently the fruits, the cause is most likely Phoma. The spots are initially small, slightly elongated in shape. Then they merge, dark spots of spores appear on them, which fall on the fruit. The foliage withers, dries and dies.

The root crop becomes wrinkled and rots after being placed in storage. Dry rot begins at the bottom of the fruit and moves toward the base. When cut, the fruit is dark, with dark gray or brown spots. Affected fruits piled up form pockets of black rot.

As a preventative measure, seeds are treated with Fundazol. Young shoots are treated with fungicides such as Strike or Benomyl, and copper preparations.

As a preventive measure, crop rotation is used (the gap between beet plantings in one area should be at least 3 years), timely harvesting, and the application of mineral fertilizers, in particular potassium and especially boron, the lack of which provokes the death of the fruit’s growth point and opens the gates for the pathogen phomosa.

Since the source of infection is the remains of affected plants, they must be immediately removed and destroyed. It is best to use disease-resistant varieties and hybrids.

Why do young beet leaves turn light and dry out?

The simplest reason for the appearance of light spots and drying of crop leaves is improper watering and fertilizing.If you carry out the procedure in sunny, hot weather, the likelihood of burns on the leaves increases after drops of water and nutrient solutions get in contact with them.

But the reason that similar changes appear or have appeared on the leaves may be mycosis - downy mildew. At the same time, some leaves lighten, become covered with a gray-violet coating on the underside, curl down, dry out and die. The central leaves in the rosette are the first to suffer. The disease manifests itself during periods of prolonged rain and after the temperature drops below +16 ºС.

Affected shoots are treated with 1% Bordeaux mixture or 0.5% copper oxychloride solution. Spraying is carried out twice with an interval of 10 days. Before sowing, the seeds are treated with fungicides. Prevention consists of maintaining crop rotation, timely weeding of beet rows and removing weeds from the site.

Beet seedlings die before they have time to grow: what’s wrong with them?

Sometimes it happens that beets, the leaves of which were the first to respond to infection, die immediately after germination or emergence. This can happen if the genetic potential of the seeds is too low, the sprouts do not receive enough moisture or there is a deficiency of nutrients in the soil, or fertilizers and fertilizing are not applied in a timely manner. In this case, the sprout will be weak and pale, why beet seedlings die early, there may be other reasons.

A disease such as root beetle can cause the death of seedlings at an early stage. The cause of the disease is fungi or microorganisms. Most often, plants on waterlogged, heavy, clay soil suffer.

Prevention consists of regularly loosening the beds, applying fertilizer and fertilizing.

Why do the leaves have brown spots with red edges?

If beet leaves become covered with brown spots with a red border, the cause is the fungal disease Cercospora. Most often, the disease occurs if, after germination, the maintenance of soil cleanliness is not at the proper level.

The lower adult leaves of the rosette are the first to be affected. Initially, small brown spots with red edges appear on the front side of the leaf blade and a light gray coating of fungal spores on the back. The spots turn into holes. As a result, the foliage dries, turns brown, and curls, which leads to the death of it and the core of the rosette, and then the entire plant. Even if the beets have the strength to throw out new leaves, the yield of root crops is significantly reduced.

Warm and humid weather favors the development of the disease. As prevention and treatment, fungicides are used to treat seedlings and keep the soil clean from weeds. You can use fungicides Rovtal, HOM, Propiconazole for primary treatment. Bordeaux mixture or other preparations containing copper for secondary use, after 2 weeks.

It is effective to thin out the sprouts after the appearance of 2-3 true leaves, and to remove weeded grass and dead wood.

The petioles of beet leaves turn black: what’s wrong with them?

The petioles of beet leaves often turn black as a result of plant damage by fungi of the genus Pythium - Fusarium and Debarianum. This disease is called beet root rot. It develops against the background of low air temperature, increased acidity and soil moisture, and poor aeration. The need for effective control measures is high, since the root beetle can lead to the death of 50 to 100% of seedlings.

The roots die and the nutrition of the seedlings deteriorates. The stem in the root part becomes thinner, rots, turns black and, as a result, dies.The root beetle develops on young shoots. After the appearance of 2 pairs of true leaves, the plants become resistant to the disease.

To prevent the disease, there is a need for effective control measures: liming the soil to reduce acidity, using seeds pre-treated with fungicides, observing crop rotation and agricultural practices, in particular, carrying out regular loosening to improve soil aeration.

Since fungal spores persist in plant litter that is not removed from the beds, it is necessary to promptly remove weeds, affected plants and beet tops from the area.

Beet pests

Often insects are the reason that beet leaves become covered with spots; what to do in this case often depends on the type of insect. Most often, the crop is affected by the following insects:

1. Beet weevils. Insects are ubiquitous. These are gray-brown beetles 12-16 mm long. They infect seedlings before the third pair of true leaves appear - they eat and bite the cuttings. The larvae eat parts of the root crop. In this case, the tops wither prematurely, and the fruits lose their presentation.
2. Aphid. These are small, up to 2.5 mm in length, black or dark green insects. They colonize the underside of leaves and eat holes in them. Damaged tops curl and dry out, and root crops lag behind in development.
3. Beet flea beetles - common and southern. Insects inhabit the area from early spring. The size of fleas is up to 2.3 mm. Their body is painted dark green. Pests gnaw out the soft part of the leaf blade in spots, leaving the skin on the underside intact. Over time, these areas turn into holes. White larvae with yellow heads eat beet foliage.
4. Beet bug, or beet bug. This is one of the main crop pests. Bedbugs have a body up to 7 mm in length, rusty brown or green in color with black dots. Shield beetle larvae are yellow-green in color. Adults eat the sprouts, and the larvae eat the lower part of the leaf blades.
5. Mining moth. Females lay eggs on leaf cuttings. The larvae - caterpillars of the spring-summer generations - eat up the foliage, and of the summer-autumn generations - they make passages and damage parts of the root crop.

It is recommended to treat affected shoots with organophosphorus and other groups of insecticides. They also treat the seeds. It is important to observe crop rotation and promptly remove plant debris from the site on which pest larvae persist. Good results are achieved by deep plowing for the winter, which leads to the death of wintering individuals.