Beets are considered the most unpretentious crop, but, like any other vegetable, they are susceptible to various diseases. A healthy plant has succulent, green leaves with burgundy veins.
You can judge by the tops whether the plant is doing well or not. Therefore, it is important to be able to identify diseases and know why beet leaves turn yellow.
Beneficial features
The root vegetable contains a large amount of essential nutrients for humans. Beets are rich in vitamins C, PP, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, A and E. In addition, the vegetable includes a number of minerals, such as potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, chlorine, phosphorus, sodium and others.
The product has an antioxidant effect on the human body. Regular consumption of beets helps strengthen capillaries, increases the level of hemoglobin in the blood and heals the body.
Gardeners grow crops every year and carefully care for them. But it happens that a beet leaf dries out, changes color or becomes stained - this is a signal that something is wrong with the plant.
Causes of yellowing leaves
The condition of the tops is an indicator of the healthy development of the vegetable, so if the leaves of the beets turn yellow, this means that the plant’s condition is deteriorating. This symptom may indicate several factors: the crop does not receive enough moisture or lacks nutrients (most often it is a lack of nitrogen, iron, magnesium).
The tops turn yellow if the crop is affected by a viral disease or if the root system is sick. Changes in the color of tops also occur as a result of exposure to pests.
Lack of moisture in the soil
The most common cause of yellowing leaves is insufficient watering. If beets do not receive enough moisture, light and oxygen, then their tops grow small, weak and yellow.
Vegetables love water, so regular and proper watering is important, especially during the formation of root crops. In hot weather, it is recommended to irrigate the seedlings 3-4 times a week, using 3-4 liters of water per 1 m². For adult root crops, the volume of liquid is increased to 10 liters per 1 m², but watering itself is carried out less frequently - 1-2 times a week. About a month before harvest, irrigation is stopped.
Pests
If the beet tops have already turned yellow or are turning yellow, losing their elasticity, curling, or drying out, then pests may be the cause. The crop is affected by insects such as the flies, fly larvae and adult insects, flies, flea beetles and aphids.
Quite often, the vegetable is overcome by beet aphids, which can appear at the end of May and change 10 generations over the summer. Pests suck the juices from the leaves, causing them to curl and change color. Aphids greatly spoil the crop, so it is urgent to combat them in various ways.
It is recommended to attract natural enemies of aphids to the garden, which are beetles, ladybird larvae and hoverflies. These insects live in beds where the seeds of onions, cabbage, and carrots are sown.
To combat aphids and other pests, insecticides and various traditional methods are used. For example, you can treat the beds with an infusion of green dandelion leaves in water. Knowing about beet pests, it is easy to prevent the problem by taking preventive measures.
Diseases
When the leaves turn yellowish or yellow with a green tint, the plant may be suffering from a disease. There are several pathologies with this symptom:
- Brown rot. The infection affects the root crop. The development of the disease is accompanied by symptoms such as underdevelopment of leaves, changes in their color and death, a lag in the development of the root system and, at the very end, rotting of the root crop. The disease can also appear during winter storage of the product. When the first symptoms of infection are detected, the plant must be treated with boron.
- Downy mildew. A fungal infection that is often transmitted through the soil (if there were contaminated plant remains on it), wind and water.When an infection occurs, the affected leaves become deformed, a purple-gray coating appears on them, and the tops begin to wither and change color. To avoid infection, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the soil after harvesting and disinfect the seeds. During the period of growth and development, beets are treated with a mixture of wood ash and water, as well as a solution of water and whey.
- Black beet leg. Another name is root beetle. As the disease develops, the beet leaves turn yellow, lose their elasticity, and wither. Most often, the disease occurs when there is a large amount of moisture or on acidic soil. To prevent crop contamination, acidic soils are fertilized with lime, and the soil is regularly loosened.
- Cercospora blight. A fungal disease manifests itself in the form of spots on the tops. The spots have a light color and a brown border; as mycosis develops, the leaves turn black and wither. To prevent infection, the seeds are heat treated. If the disease occurs on an already growing specimen, then the tops are treated with chalk and fertilized with a 0.5% boron solution.
Nitrogen deficiency
Another reason for yellowing foliage is a lack of nitrogen. Beets require a number of substances in the soil to grow, most often nitrogen and potassium. With a lack of nitrogen, the tops become yellowed. The change in foliage color begins with the veins and tissues around them. Over time, the tops partially die off and the plant slows down.
Application will help correct the situation fertilizers, beets absorbs the necessary substances along with water, and its condition gradually improves.
Gardeners recommend fertilizing the crop with nitrogen-containing preparations. The best time for such manipulations is June. During this period, there is intensive growth of tops and root crops. The plant begins to feed.As a result, the root crop becomes dense and the leaves become juicy and elastic.
What to do if the leaves turn yellow
If the leaves turn yellow, it is necessary to determine the cause of the symptom as early as possible. Feeding and watering may be necessary water the beets regularly, since this plant is water-loving.
The use of natural nitrogen-containing fertilizers in the garden will be useful. Such fertilizers include mullein and bird droppings.
A special solution is prepared from the raw materials. Bird droppings are diluted in water 1:15, and the mullein solution contains 1:10 raw materials and liquid. To ensure that beets do not lose nutritious juices and their leaves do not turn yellow, preventive measures must always be carried out.
Prevention measures
The fight against crop diseases and measures against insect pests are of great importance in plant cultivation. Preventive measures include:
- regular watering;
- weeding the beds;
- correct crop rotation;
- digging up soil for the winter and removing plant debris;
- timely fertilization;
- the use of insecticides and folk remedies for pest control.
If you follow the gardeners' recommendations, the beet tops will look healthy, and the root vegetables will gain the necessary nutrients. As a result, you can get a rich harvest of healthy and tasty vegetables.
