One of the most common carrot problems is wilting. It affects both the aboveground part of the culture, and the underground. The topping haulm is an alarm that indicates serious illness. If you do not take measures, you can lose most of the crop.
Why do carrots wilt right on the beds?
Healthy and strong carrots after digging out of the ground, and properly stored, are able to maintain their presentation for a long time. If the root crops after extraction quickly become flabby and soft, then the gardener made an agrotechnical mistake.
Crop failure
Due to improper crop rotation, any crop can suffer, carrots are no exception. In violation of the planting order of vegetables, the land is depleted, diseases are activated, and productivity is noticeably reduced.
The main rule of crop rotation - root crops are re-planted on the site no earlier than 4 years later.
Favorable precursors for carrots:
- cabbage;
- potatoes;
- onion;
- garlic;
- Strawberry.
Adverse:
- beet;
- celery;
- parsley;
- radish.
Good neighbors for carrots are tomatoes and legumes.
Excess moisture
Overmoistening negatively affects the quality of root crops. This situation is observed with heavy rainfall or too frequent watering. Moisture accumulated in root crops causes them to crack and provokes fungal diseases.
Cracks and fungus lead to softening of carrots - it quickly fades, loses its original hardness.
How to avoid waterlogging carrots:
- Do not plant crops in areas with a high occurrence of groundwater;
- observe the regime and norm of watering carrots;
- 14-20 days before harvesting, stop irrigation completely.
Excess nitrogen in the soil
Nitrogen introduced into the soil in the form of mineral fertilizers accumulates in root crops. This not only makes them harmful to humans, but also leads to quick damage.
Root crops saturated with nitrates are more vulnerable to diseases and poorly stored. To avoid an excess of nitrogen in carrots, feed it with complex fertilizers diluted in a lower dosage than indicated in the instructions.
Not high quality seeds
The future crop depends on the quality of planting material. To prevent loss from disease, the seeds must be pickled before planting. If this is not done, then carrots run the risk of developing black rot, bacteriosis, and cercosporosis.
Causes of withering and softening of carrots
Healthy carrots have strong, bright green tops. Gardeners are not aware of many diseases of culture, since during the growing season they proceed secretly, and appear only during storage. But if the tops wither, it’s immediately clear that the crop must be saved.
There are carrot diseases that practically do not appear in the summer. They are activated already during storage, causing softening and rotting of root crops.
Bacterial soft rot
Symptoms of the disease appear even during the growth of root crops, and develops after bookmarking for storage. The disease is transmitted through the ground. It is also able to tolerate the larvae of a carrot fly.
It provokes the disease:
- the cellar is too warm;
- enhanced fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers;
- bookmark raw or frozen carrots.
The development of bacterial rot can be guessed from the sluggish and darkened tops, and the mucus that appears on it.
White rot
This is the most common carrot disease. It causes sclerotinia - a type of fungus. Affected root crops quickly soften, become wet, but do not change color. Then they are covered with a white coating, similar to cotton wool.
Carrots, affected by white rot, and put into storage, at first is no different from healthy root crops. Then the root crops quickly deteriorate, and it is no longer possible to save them.
The spread of white rot contributes to high temperature and humidity. The fungus is very contagious.
Gray rot
This fungal disease usually manifests itself during storage on root crops, but sometimes the tops can also be affected. “Dusty” clots appear on the leaves. Root crops become hairy, they are not suitable for food and storage.
With a non-aggressive form of gray rot, root crops should be dug up as soon as possible - if you cut off the affected parts, carrots can be eaten.
Powdery mildew
This fungal disease, which activates in warm and damp weather, affects all parts of carrots, including tops - a white powdery coating appears on it, which gradually thickens and becomes gray.
The affected tops lose their ability to photosynthesize, the whole plant is inhibited, it is unable to grow and produce crops.
Signs of powdery mildew:
- root crops - sluggish and soft;
- leaves - in a white-gray coating, later they become dark, twist and die.
Powdery mildew provokes dryness, wind, as well as an excess of nitrogen in the soil.
Cercosporosis
This fungal disease is easily diagnosed by external signs - light brown spots appear on the leaves of carrots. This disease is ubiquitous, it is especially common on waterlogged soils. Usually occurs in rainy weather, closer to mid-summer.
With a severe defeat, the leaves begin to die prematurely, and the root crops are smaller, shriveled and soft.
Such carrots are not suitable for bookmark storage.
Fusarium rot
This is a fungal disease that spreads through the ground. If it is infected, then no crops can be grown in it until complete disinfection. The disease provokes an increased air temperature during harvesting.
With fusarium rot, root crops are affected. They become covered with ulcers, crack, then the carrots become shriveled and flabby. It loses moisture, becomes dry and becomes covered with a white coating with a yellow-pink tint.
Pests
Carrots do not belong to crops that cannot grow without special treatment with poisons. There are not many insects eating its root crops and tops. But if you start the beds, and do not pay attention to prevention, pests can spoil up to 90% of the crop.
Pests due to which carrots fade:
The main carriers of aphids are ants. It is necessary to destroy all ant nests on the site.
Pest and Disease Control
If the carrots wilt on the beds, and its root crops become soft, spoiled, wrinkled, then the harvest can no longer be saved. It is necessary to take measures at the very beginning of the disease, and even better before the problem.
If there are signs of damage, it is necessary to take measures adequate to the problem:
- The disease. Spray the beds with universal fungicides, for example, with Quadris or Bravo. Or use biologics such as Fitosporin-M or Gliocladin. They both treat and prevent disease.
- Pests. From aphids, carrots and moths, spray the beds with Inta-Vir, Actellic and similar broad-acting insecticides. Against the bear, use Medvetox. From a wireworm helps Bazudin or Aktara. Etonem-F biological product also helps with many pests.
Instructions for use and dosage of drugs you can study on their packaging.
Preventative measures
The most effective way to prevent the defeat of carrots and preserve the harvest is to forestall the appearance of the problem. Achieve this by agrotechnical means and proper preparation for storage.
Preventive measures:
- To disinfect the seeds, immerse them for 20 minutes in a light solution of potassium permanganate or Rovral fungicide (1 g per 1 liter of water).
- Treat the storage room with bleach. Dissolve 400 g of lime in 10 l of water. After completing work, ventilate the room.
- Whitewash the shelves in the cellar with lime mortar - dilute 1 kg of lime in 10 liters of water.
- A couple of weeks before sowing, apply the nutrient mixture to the soil. To do this, mix humus (5 kg), superphosphate (20 g) and potassium chloride (15 g). The dosage is designed for 1 square. m beds.
- Spray plants with Trichodermin, Gamair and other drugs that prevent the onset of diseases.
- Plant rot resistant varieties.
- Weed the beds in a timely manner, since weed vegetation is a source of diseases and pests.
- Thin out carrots at the initial stages of the growing season, as thickening of the plants provokes various diseases.
So that the carrots do not deteriorate ahead of time, do not rot or wrinkle, it needs to create favorable storage conditions.
How to avoid damage to root crops during storage:
- Keep the temperature in the store at 0 ....-2 ° С. The optimum relative humidity is 85-90%.
- Treat the storage with sulfur drafts.
- Destroy affected root crops.
- Do not wash carrots before laying in the cellar.
- Water the beds with warm, settled water.
Carrot, in comparison with many other vegetables, is an undemanding culture; therefore, many gardeners pay less attention to it than other vegetables. This often leads to a deterioration in the quality of root crops. Strict adherence to agricultural technology and the rules for storing carrots allows you to avoid crop loss.
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Russia. City Novosibirsk
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