Growing cucumbers is a laborious process. It is important to monitor care and prevent the occurrence of diseases. Anthracnose of cucumbers is a dangerous disease that can not only reduce productivity, but also completely destroy the bush.
Cucumber Anthracnose Treatment
Disease characteristics
Anthracnose of cucumbers is a type of fungal infection that spreads throughout the bush, touching even the fruits. There is a second name for the disease - Median.
The source of the disease is a fungal bacterium, it penetrates the structure of the fetus, to a depth of 5 mm. After this, the fruit ceases to be suitable for sale and consumption.
Symptoms
Anthracnose cucumbers have the following symptoms:
- Yellow spots begin to form on the leaves, grow and grow in size. In this regard, the leaves begin to dry and disappear, holes form on the surface of the sheet;
- Brown spots begin to develop on the fruits, which then turn into small pads: if the disease is started, they will converge and an ulcer will appear on the surface of the cucumber.
Causes
Anthracnose cucumber begins active development at a temperature of from 4 to 30 ° C. An ideal condition for its development is considered high humidity (about 90%). Most often, the spread of the disease occurs in the temperature range from 20 to 25 ° C. In this case, the incubation period is from 4 days to a week.
At low temperatures, the incubation period is 10-14 days. When the air humidity does not exceed 60%, the disease does not manifest itself in any way and does not affect the growth of the cucumber and ripening of the fruits.
An infection can be transmitted from a diseased plant to a healthy one in several ways. The most common methods are rainwater, direct contact of two plants, watering, airing the greenhouse, farmer's clothes or parasites.
Preventative measures
It is important to remember that anthracnose affects not only cucumbers. Even melons or watermelons can be affected by this disease.
Anthracnose (or copper pickle of cucumbers) is characterized by the fact that it is able to reduce the amount of yield by 2 or 3 times. And even when the infected bush is removed, bacteria can persist in the soil for a long time. For this reason, it is imperative to prevent the disease, because it is better to spend time and energy on preventing the disease than its treatment.
The main methods of prevention are:
- all infected plants must be removed from the garden and burned;
- planting the next crop of cucumbers in this place should be carried out no earlier than a few years later;
- seeds should be collected only from proven unhealthy fruits;
- give preference to varieties that have a high immune system;
- do not forget to disinfect the seeds before planting;
- disinfect the soil and tools;
- the soil should be fed with organic matter or biological products.
Infection control methods
Only chemicals are suitable for treatment.
If you do not take prevention into account, then you can get rid of anthracnose using certain methods that experts have deduced. Treatment should be carried out not with folk remedies, but with chemical preparations.
First of all, seeds should be disinfected. For these purposes, it is recommended to use a drug called TMTD. About 2 g of the drug should go to 2 kg of seeds. Such actions should be carried out several days before the proposed landing. This drug will act throughout the growing season of the plant. It will save not only bushes and fruits, but also will immediately disinfect the soil.
If you managed to find the first symptoms of the disease on your site, then you need to immediately use the Bordeaux mixture. You can also use a solution from a drug called Polyram. It will allow you to get rid not only of anthracnose, but also protect the plant from powdery mildew. Sick plants can be treated with copper sulfate. If we consider modern means, then the preparations of Tsineb and Tsiram will come to the rescue.
Root watering
If the anthracnose of the cucumber began to develop in the lower part of the stem, closer to the roots, then you can conduct slightly different activities. To do this, prepare Bordeaux liquid 1% and pour into the root system of each bush. But before that, you need to pour enough water into the soil (at least 1 liter per bush), otherwise the soil will completely dry out and the plant will die.
For this, it is advisable to use a solution of the drug Abiga-Pig. It is introduced in the same way as Bordeaux liquid. Please note that the treatment of the cucumber should be carried out every 2 days until the disease is completely destroyed.
Conclusion
Copper is a very dangerous disease that can destroy not only the yield of cucumber. But also affect other surrounding cultures. Therefore, you should be especially attentive to cucumbers, so as not to be left without a crop.
