Black leg of cabbage: how to fight, what to do, the right treatment

Diseases and harmful insects that damage various vegetable crops are serious problems that vegetable growers often face. Blackleg cabbage is the most severe disease that damages the roots and stems of vegetables.

The infection that triggers her is a fungus. Its spores hibernate in the soil, in the spring they fall on the roots of seedlings planted in open ground and begin to develop. From the roots, this fungus gradually begins to spread throughout the plant.

The symptoms of the disease are as follows: blackness appears first at the base of the shoots, then spreading to the entire stem, which begins to rot, deforms and is depleted. As a result, the plant dies. How to prevent the appearance of a disease on cabbage? What control measures are there for blackleg if the plant is already affected?

Some information about the disease

This fungus affects not only adult plants, but also seedlings. A black leg usually appears when the soil in the garden or in the containers where vegetable seedlings grow is too wet. When the fungus rises from the roots to the stems, they will become soft within a few days, the result will be the death of the vegetable crop.

Blackleg pathogens are fungi of the genus Oipidium or Pythium. The spores of these fungi are usually located in the upper part of the soil, they feed on dead parts of plants. With increased soil moisture, when the fungus enters the roots of cultivated plants, infection occurs.

If the disease is not detected in a timely manner, the black leg of seedlings or adult plants will spread to other plantings, as a result, all plants may die. It is necessary to start the fight as early as possible in order to get rid of the disease.

A disease may appear in seedlings or adult plants for the following reasons:

planted too often;
too much moisture in the soil - too much and often watering plants or groundwater coming too close to the soil surface;
the room where the seedlings grow is poorly ventilated;
too much difference between day and night temperatures.

The infection spreads especially quickly when the air temperature is too high or when the rooms are poorly ventilated. First of all, the weakest shoots are affected by this fungal disease.It is necessary to prevent excessive soil moisture, to ventilate the room where the seedlings and greenhouses stand more often.

It is better when choosing cabbage varieties for planting to pay attention to their resistance to adverse climatic conditions.

Prevention measures

Measures to combat this disease should begin with preventive measures to prevent the fungus from entering the soil or to destroy it in the soil before planting seeds or seedlings in such soil. What to do to prevent the development of this disease in seedlings? It turns out that the basic rules of prevention are simple, and even beginner gardeners can follow them:

The soil in which the seed material is sown must be disinfected. In winter, it should be well frozen, and before planting seeds, pour the earth with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (can be placed in an oven with a temperature of 180 ° C).Usually, the soil mixture for planting vegetables is purchased in specialized stores, but it is better to disinfect it before planting seeds. It is desirable that the pH of such soil be neutral. Since many vegetable crops do not tolerate high acidity of soils, seedlings grow frail in such soils, and therefore are more susceptible to various diseases.

Don't plant cabbage seeds too often. It is better to try to land them at a distance of 1 - 1.5 cm immediately than to dive or heal later.
Cabbage seedlings should be watered in moderation - the ground should not be too wet. The basic principle of watering is as the top layer dries.
The soil around the plants should be loose so that oxygen from the air can penetrate to the roots. So that water does not stagnate in the region of the root collar, there should be a layer of sand on top of the soil.
The fungus that causes the development of the black leg, manifests itself not only with strong soil moisture, but also with stagnation of air in the room. The room where seedlings are grown should be regularly ventilated.
Once every 7 - 8 days, cabbage seedlings should be watered with a solution containing phytosporin. It is possible to spray seedlings with a solution of soda or potassium permanganate for prevention.

How to deal with the black leg of cabbage

If symptoms have just begun to appear, you should shed the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, then carefully loosen the soil around the plants and pour a layer of ash, river sand or finely ground egg shells on top.

What treatment should be carried out at the first signs of the disease and what can be done if the cabbage has already had a black leg?

How do we deal with the black leg, if the disease has already begun to spread throughout the plant? It turns out that in this case, any chemicals and folk remedies will be powerless.

All diseased plants should be removed and destroyed, and he althy seedlings should be transplanted into other containers with disinfected soil.

Conclusion

The black leg of cabbage is one of those diseases that can only be prevented. If the root system has already been infected, it is impossible to save the cabbage. It is important to carry out preventive measures to disinfect the soil and seed, create certain conditions for the growth and development of seedlings in order to exclude the possibility of developing this serious disease.