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Carrot diseases can be fungal or viral in origin. Some of them appear when growing a crop, others appear only during the period of storage of fruits. To prevent ailments or cope with them in time, it is necessary to study the symptoms and methods of struggle.
How to understand that a carrot is sick
Carrot diseases are generally similar in symptoms. It is possible to establish what kind of ailment struck the culture with a careful examination. In general, the following signs make it possible to understand that plantings need treatment:
- blackening and thinning of the stems;
- yellow, brown, brownish or black spots on shoots and tops;
- light yellow or grayish translucent drops on the green parts – the so-called bacterial exudate;
- holes on petioles and leaves;
- light or dark bloom on tops and stems.
If diseases developed during storage, then they can be recognized by dark spots, rotten or dried areas on root crops.
Causes of diseases
Carrot diseases always develop under the influence of external factors. The likelihood of ailments increases:
- density of landings;
- excessive frequent watering;
- planting carrots in contaminated soil;
- non-compliance with the rules of crop rotation;
- no loosening and weeding.
In some cases, diseases develop even if agricultural practices are followed, if the seed material is initially infected with a fungus. During storage, vegetables suffer from ailments when basic conditions are neglected, and also after harvesting too early or late.
Infections often affect carrots through cracks and wounds on root crops.
Diseases of carrots during storage
Some crop diseases during storage develop against the background of high humidity and too warm temperatures. Others appear even under normal conditions, if the root crops were infected during their stay in the garden.
White rot or sclerotinia
The disease sclerotinia develops most often on acidified moist soils with an excess of nitrogen. During cultivation, it practically does not make itself felt, but manifests itself mainly during storage.
You can recognize the disease by the appearance of soft spots on root crops. At first they do not differ in color from healthy tissues, but then they become covered with a fluffy white coating and wet drops. The latter, hardening, turn into dark growths.
Sclerotinia can spread to carrots from cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage and pumpkins
You can prevent white rot in the beds by preventive spraying with copper preparations. It is also recommended to pay attention to potash top dressing. If the disease manifested itself during storage, all infected fruits must be destroyed, and then the cellar should be treated with sulfur bombs.
Wet Bacterial Rot
Fungal infection affects carrots when stored in too warm and humid conditions. On the tops of the root crops, dark brown soft areas first appear, then they are covered with mucus and fall inward. The crop quickly rots, the infection can spread to healthy vegetables when stored in close quarters.
It is impossible to cure damage from carrot disease on root crops. It is necessary to completely eliminate the infected vegetables, and then treat the cellar with a solution of bleach, prepared at the rate of 400 g of powder per bucket of water.
Wet bacterial rot can infect carrots in the garden and cause the tops to dry out.
Alternaria (black rot)
Alternariosis develops in conditions of heat and high humidity. In some cases, the disease affects the plant at the seedling stage. The stems darken at the base and become thinner, the seedlings quickly die. But most often, rot manifests itself during storage – dry black spots appear on carrots, penetrating deep into the fruit up to 1 cm.
The development of alternariosis is promoted by excessive watering during heavy natural precipitation.
Root crops affected by alternariosis cannot be saved, they can only be thrown away. For the prevention of planting disease, it is necessary to spray with Rovral or other fungicidal agents during the entire growing season.
Dry rot (Phomosis)
Dry rot affects plantings at the end of the growing season. Appears as gray-brown oblong marks on the tops of the leaves, quickly moves to root crops and can cause serious damage to the harvested crop. With dry rot, dark spots with a whitish coating appear on the tops of carrots, which gradually grow.
It is impossible to stop the negative process, so diseased root crops are simply destroyed. For the prevention of phomosis after harvesting, tops are removed from carrots. In principle, regular application of phosphorus-potassium fertilizing helps to prevent dry rot in the garden.
Dry rot during storage actively develops at temperatures above 10 ° C
Gray rot (botrytis)
Gray rot often affects weakened root crops during storage – those that had time to wilt in the sun before harvesting or are slightly frozen. The disease is manifested by wet brown areas on carrots, which eventually become covered with a grayish coating and tuberculate sclerotia.
Rot quickly spreads to healthy vegetables in the neighborhood, and can ruin the entire crop. Affected carrots must be immediately eliminated. Keeping the crop at a temperature of no higher than 2 ° C helps prevent the spread of botrythiosis. During the cultivation of the planting, it is necessary to spray prophylactically with a Bordeaux mixture of 1%.
The development of gray rot during storage of carrots is facilitated by humidity in the cellar above 65%
Diseases of carrots during cultivation
Coping with carrot ailments that appear during the growing period is usually easier. Some of them respond well to treatment in the early stages. If you start spraying plantings in time, you can save not only the crop as a whole, but also individual affected plants.
Brown spotting (cladosporiosis)
Cladosporiosis affects carrots at any stage of the growing season. First, constriction stripes appear on the stems in the lower part, and brown marks with a dark border appear on the leaves. With this disease, the tops of carrots twist and look as if they were scalded with boiling water. On ripening root crops, you can see large light brown spots, which are rotten areas.
If the disease affects the seedlings in the early stages, then the seedlings usually die. Mature plants tolerate cladosporiosis better, but the yield against the background of the fungus is halved.
Brown spot develops most actively at 20-25 ° C
At the first symptoms of brown spot, plantings should be sprayed with fungicides with a high copper content. To prevent the disease, the soil is regularly loosened and cleaned of plant residues, and potash and phosphorus supplements are also applied.
Bacteriosis
Bacteriosis is an infectious disease that affects vegetable plantings at the growing stage. In the photo of the tops of carrots, light spots are noticeable during illness, they gradually increase in size and darken. Then grayish and yellowish drops of exudate appear at the base of the stems. Black stripes form on the petioles of carrots, and brownish dents and ulcers on root crops.
Bacteriosis-infected carrots emit a strong putrid odor
It is impossible to cure bacteriosis, so infected vegetables are removed from the garden. For preventive purposes, plantings must be treated with XOM three weeks after germination.
Rhizoctonia (felt rot)
Felt rot is manifested by grayish spots that occur under the skin of carrots during the ripening period. Over time, a brownish-purple fluffy coating appears over the marks, and then black sclerotia form. With a disease of carrots, the leaves turn yellow and dry out.
Felt rot develops on acidic clay soils
Root crops affected by the disease must be removed from the garden as a matter of urgency. The remaining plantings are sprayed with copper chloride, and the soil is limed.
Mučnistaâ rosa
A common carrot disease occurs most often in hot and dry weather with a lack of moisture. A powdery light coating forms on the tops, which gradually turns gray, and then becomes covered with black and dark brown dots. Affected leaves dry up and die, and sluggish root crops, which are greatly reduced in size, also indicate the disease of carrots during cultivation.
Powdery mildew can transfer to carrots from celery and related crops
In the initial stages, the disease is treatable. Planting carrots must be sprayed with Fitosporin-M, ash or iodine solutions. Processing is carried out 3-4 times in a row at intervals of several days.
Red rot
Among the diseases of carrots with a photo with a humidity above the norm, you can find red rot. When infected with a fungus, depressed grayish marks with purple dots appear on the roots. As the disease develops, the tops turn yellow and dry out, the vegetables become covered with a bright crimson bloom.
Affected root crops should not be eaten – they must be dug up and destroyed. A good prevention of red rot is to follow the rules of crop rotation and regular liming of the soil.
Red rot can appear during storage of vegetables at elevated temperature and humidity.
Root deformation
Root deformation develops against the background of nematode damage to the culture, with insufficient watering, or due to mechanical damage to root crops during weeding. Carrots grow bifurcated or crooked, their taste characteristics decrease, juiciness is lost.
Root deformation cannot be considered a full-fledged disease, but it is still necessary to fight it. In order for carrots to grow even and neat, attention should be paid to liming the soil and controlling soil moisture shortly before harvesting – the beds should not dry out. At the beginning of the growing season, seedlings should not be overfed with nitrogen.
Carrot roots often twist when planting in too cold soil.
Soft bacterial rot or bacterial canker
A dangerous bacterial disease causes carrots to rot before harvest. Soft white growths appear on the roots, which gradually harden and darken, and then collapse, leading to the death of the vegetable. In some cases, the disease appears already during storage – in this case, the entire crop may suffer, since bacterial cancer spreads rapidly.
To prevent the disease, it is necessary to treat the soil with fungicides even before planting carrots. The harvested crop should be kept in a cool, dry place and regularly sorted out, removing rotten vegetables in time.
During the cultivation of carrots, you can learn about bacterial cancer by darkening the leaves and the appearance of mucus on them.
Cerkosporoz
Fungal disease develops in conditions of high humidity at low temperatures. The tops are covered with brown spots with a light middle, gradually these marks grow and fade. The leaves are deformed and dry. A gray coating forms on the surface of the spots, after it covers the entire tops of the leaves, the greens turn black and rot.
You can fight against cercosporosis in the early stages by spraying with fungicidal preparations. As a preventive measure, it is necessary to monitor the degree of soil moisture – carrots should not grow on waterlogged soil.
With cercosporosis, the crop does not die completely, but suffers, as carrots grow shriveled and small.
Preventive measures
Most carrot diseases are easier to prevent than to treat. In order for plantings not to suffer from fungi and infections, it is necessary:
- disinfect seeds and soil at the beginning of the growing season;
- choose varieties resistant to fungal diseases for cultivation;
- follow the irrigation schedule, do not overmoisten the carrots and use only settled warm water;
- do not plant a crop in the same place for more than two years in a row.
It is necessary to store carrots at a temperature of 1-3 ° C in a dark room with a humidity level of no more than 85%. For the winter, only healthy and large vegetables are harvested without damage. You need to lay them in dry plastic or wooden boxes, it is advisable to sprinkle the roots with chalk and sand, mixed in equal proportions.
Conclusion
Carrot diseases can appear both at the beginning of the growing season and after harvest. Only some ailments can be treated, mostly the affected vegetables have to be eliminated. For this reason, it is very important to pay attention to quality disease prevention.
