Diseases of hosts: main signs, recommendations for treatment, prevention

Summer residents and gardeners choose the host for the original appearance, unpretentious care. In order to maintain the decorativeness of the culture at the proper level, they create favorable conditions, study the signs of hosta diseases, and methods of treatment.

Plant characteristics

Native to Japan, this plant is used in landscaping shady gardens and has a variety of leaf patterns. Growing hosta does not provide for bright light, so the culture occupies shady areas unsuitable for other plants.

Gardeners are drawn to the variety of long-stemmed leaves and colors ranging from milky to purple.

There are up to 4 thousand varieties of hostas with leaf lengths from 10 cm to 1 m.

From the popular varieties in demand in Europe and Russia, there are:

• Alex Summers with a gold stripe around the edge and a bluish tint;
• August moon with yellow leaves;
• First Frost - a chameleon variety that changes color from blue to green;
• Captains Adventure, characterized by an unusual "waffle" structure of oval sheet plates;
• Allegan Fog with twisted white-green leaves.

Hosta belonging to the genus Agave is a perennial herbaceous plant. The flowering period stretches from June to September. When the bell-shaped flowers of white, purple, lilac tones fade, seed pods form.

Every year the culture increases its green mass and looks like an island with tropical vegetation.

Decrease the decorative effect of hosta sun, frost burns, pests and diseases that are difficult to immediately determine due to the thickening of the bushes.

Diseases

High summer temperatures together with high humidity, excess nitrogen in the soil lead to fungal diseases. Along with rot and spotting, the culture is affected by a specific virus that develops only on the host.

Virus X, HVX

Hosta Virus X (HVX) was discovered by the American scientist Lockhart at the end of the 20th century. The disease is transmitted through juice that has fallen on garden tools or hands during leaf trimming, dividing the bush. When touching he althy plants with undisinfected chopper or unwashed hands, the virus penetrates through cuts and wounds into the tissues of the culture, begins to feed and multiply.

Signs

Before the discovery of the virus, yellow spots, small inclusions, strokes, rings were taken for the unusual color of the host. But in the future, it became clear that this is a disease that leads to insufficient growth, leaf curl.

Distinguishing features of Hosta Virus X (HVX):

• different density of fabrics, non-uniform coloration in areas of one sheet;
• effect of "spreading ink" on the veins of leaf blades - interveinal chlorosis;
• blurry spots, mosaic;
• deceleration of bush development, dwarfism;
• discoloration of flowers, no set.

Resistant to Siebold's host virus and its hybrids, but this fact does not guarantee the exclusion of the risk of disease.

Treatment methods

When a virus is detected, it makes no sense to save the plant, since the disease cannot be treated, it spreads to all parts of the host, gradually leading the plant to death. It is advisable to burn a sick host, soak the inventory in formalin or manganese solution.

Phyllostictosis

Phyllosticosis or brown spot affects both indoor and garden crops. The fungus Phyllosticta develops rapidly with excessive humidity and air temperatures above 25 ° C.

How to identify

A characteristic sign of the introduction and spread of the fungus is the formation of brown spots with black dots. The affected areas of the hosta dry out and die. The advanced stage of Phyllosticosis leads to the death of the plant.

How to treat

Leaves and flower stalks with foci of fungal spores burn, reduce the frequency and volume of irrigation hosts. If the plant is severely affected, remove the entire culture.

Since the disease is easily transmitted to neighboring plants, the diseased host is transplanted to a separate area. Brown spotting is controlled by spraying every 10 days before flowering. Fungicides Strobi, Vectra, blue vitriol are suitable for processing hosts. Experienced gardeners use a solution of colloidal sulfur prepared from half a glass of dry matter and 10 liters of water.

Grey Rot

Gray mold mushrooms are omnivores. They affect herbaceous plants, flower and fruit crops. The disease is not only common, but also dangerous. If measures are not taken in time, the plant will die. The botrytes fungus forms a mycelium on the culture with a large number of spores that fall on neighboring plants with the wind.

Signs

Signs of gray mold are distinguished depending on the stage of development of the disease.

Initial stage

Spores of the fungus Botrytis are manifested by the appearance of ashy plaque, rotting, deformation and drying of the tops, edges of the leaf plate. In the early, treatable stages, part of the leaf dies off.

Launched case

In advanced cases, gray rot spreads over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe plate and stem, which subsequently dry out, lie on the ground and crumble. In this case, the plant is removed from the ground and destroyed.

Treatments

Gray mold is easier to prevent than to cure. The first tillage is carried out in early spring during the first loosening of the soil. Planting sites are sprayed with copper-based contact preparations (Abiga-peak, Hom, Oksikhom) from a spray gun.

After the appearance of the first leaves, spraying with systemic agents is carried out - Acrobat, Previkur, Profit Gold, Fundazol, Skorom. After 2 weeks, the event is repeated.

If preventive measures are not followed, and the first signs of the development of the Botrytis fungus are visible on the leaves, the hosts are immediately treated with Fundazol, Topaz, Ridomil Gold.

At the end of the growing season, plant residues are collected and burned.

Root collar rot

The disease is caused by various types of fungi that develop rapidly in thickened shady plantings with excessive moisture and deepening of rhizomes.

How to Diagnose

Root collar rot is recognized by the discoloration of the leaves. The plates first turn yellow from the edges to the center, while maintaining density, then discolor and dry out. If you pull on the stem, the leaf will fall off, exposing the root neck with a characteristic coating.

How to cure

To fight and prevent root rot, a solution is poured under the root, consisting of 1 tbsp. l. Previkura and liters of water. Effective treatment of bushes with the following preparations:

• biologically active Phytolavin, Trikhovit, to a greater extent helping young plants;
• Trichodermin, acting on a wide range of fungal and bacterial diseases;
• Topaz - a means of systemic action;
• medium toxicity by Maxim;
• Mikosan, which forms the host's immune defense.

Productive spraying with copper sulfate and Bordeaux liquid.

But it's better not to risk the he alth of the culture. When the first leaf turns yellow, the host is removed from the soil, the rhizome is washed, and inspected for rot. The affected areas are cut out with a sharp knife, the sections are treated with fungicides or crushed activated carbon. The sick host is left for 1-2 hours to dry, then planted in a separate container.

Rust

Rust is more likely to infect hosta varieties with a yellow border during the dry season with insufficient watering. The disease dries up the leaves, disrupts metabolism, the process of photosynthesis.

No measures taken will return the decorative effect to the plant. To prevent the loss of moisture by leaf plates, the crop is planted in the shade, the soil is not allowed to dry out.

Pests

More often than diseases, attacks by slugs, beetles, caterpillars, leaf nematodes and rodents harm the host.

Slugs and snails

To a greater extent undersized thin-leaved hosta varieties are attacked by slugs and snails. Some leaves of the crop, located close to the soil, only show up from under the ground, as they are already being eaten by pests. As a result, after the sprout blooms, holes are visible on the leaf plate. Sticky silver trails of mucus on the host signal a gastropod attack.

Pest control begins in early spring, sprinkling the ground with ashes, tobacco, pouring vinegar, placing beer traps. You can place wet cardboard sheets or newspapers under the bushes, and in the morning collect the mollusks that have accumulated under the objects.If folk remedies do not bring results, use drugs Thunderstorm, Bros from slugs, Slug-eater. The pellets are placed under each bush three times during the summer.

Beetles and caterpillars

Beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars can cause great damage to the host. Insects eat leaves from the edges, gnaw holes. Harm the stems, damage the buds and blooming flowers. If there are few insects, mechanical collection is effective, watering by sprinkling. With the threat of destruction of the plant, the host is treated with Karbofos, Iskra, Intavir. Since the pupae overwinter in the ground, they dig up the soil for prevention in the fall.

Foliar nematodes

Microscopic roundworms of the genus Aphelenchoides, up to 1 mm long, penetrate through lesions and mouths located on the wrong side of the leaf. Brown stripes remain in the path of parasitic activity. Later, the leaves stop developing, dry up.

Folk remedies in the fight against nematodes are powerless. The only effective way to disinfect the land where insects hibernate is to spill the soil with boiling water to a depth of 20 cm, cover with a film for slow cooling.

From chemicals, gardeners produce contact and systemic poisons that are sprayed on bushes:

• Dimethoate;
• Karbofos;
• Lindane;
• Phosfamide.

Because the products listed are toxic, follow the instructions for use.

Rodents

To protect the stems and roots of the crop, covered with mulch for the winter, from the teeth of rodents, the host is buried in the ground along with a fine-mesh metal mesh fixed around the rhizome, and poisonous baits are scattered nearby.

Treatment and prevention of the most common host disease

The most common crop disease, Hosta Virus X (HVX), has no cure. In order not to infect he althy plants, after use, garden tools are treated in a disinfectant solution.

It is difficult to exclude the virus from entering the garden plot, but it is possible to reduce the risks.

It is recommended to choose planting material in proven nurseries and compare the pattern of the leaves of the proposed plant with the image of the variety in the catalog. If there is a mosaic, strokes, spots on the leaf plate that are not declared for this variety, then the plant cannot be purchased.

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