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The desire of everyone to provide the family with fresh healthy vegetables from their garden and preparations in the winter is commendable. The future harvest, no doubt, is laid at the seedling stage. Most gardeners grow seedlings on their own or have at least tried to do so.
Healthy seedlings not only delight the eye, but also nurture hopes for a decent future harvest. And the greater the bitterness of disappointment when you invest your strength and soul, and the result is not pleasing. Hands go down.
Possible errors should be analyzed in order to prevent them in the future and eliminate them in the present. It happens that spots appear on tomato seedlings. Spots are different, as are the causes of their occurrence.
Sunburn
The presence of white spots indicates a sunburn. It may even happen that the plant turns completely white, and only the stem remains green. Tomato seedlings received a sunburn, resulting in tissue necrosis or necrosis. Unprepared plants were immediately exposed to the sun, another reason is improper watering during the daytime, in which drops remain on the leaves, and do not focus the sun’s rays, like lenses. As a result, plants get tissue burns. How to avoid burns?
Water plants under the root in the early morning hours or late afternoon, when the rays of the sun are indirect and cannot harm;
From the moment the sprouts appear, the seedlings should be on a sunny windowsill;
Before planting in open ground or a greenhouse, gradually accustom tomato seedlings to the sun. Take out in the sun, starting from an hour, gradually increase the time;
The first time, after planting tomato seedlings in the ground, cover it with some material. For example, lutrasil, or just burdock leaves.
If tomato seedlings have already received a burn, then experienced gardeners are advised to spray the leaves with Epin. It not only stimulates plant growth, but is also an anti-stress drug and improves immunity. It will no longer be possible to reanimate the places of burns, but the plant will receive strength to get out of stress and will not receive additional burns. Dilute 40 drops of the drug in 5 liters of water and spray the plants.
Dry spotting (alternariosis)
The disease manifests itself first on the lower leaves in the form of rounded brown spots, over time the spots increase and acquire a gray tint, their surface becomes velvety. With a large lesion, the leaves die off.
In warm, humid weather, with significant daily fluctuations, the disease progresses. To prevent damage to tomato seedlings with white spot, follow preventive measures:
- Ventilate the room, avoid high humidity and high temperature;
- In greenhouses, remove all plant residues that are food for pathogens;
- Choose disease-resistant tomato seeds;
- Observe crop rotation;
- Treat the seeds before sowing.
Chemical preparations to combat the disease: Kuproksat, Thanos, Quadris, Metaxil.
See the video for tips from an experienced gardener:
White spotting (septoria)
Dirty white spots with a brown border on tomato seedlings indicate that your plants are sick with septoria. The lower leaves are damaged first. Dark dots can be seen on the surface of the spots. The spots merge over time, forming necrotic lesions of the leaf plate. In resistant varieties, the spots are small, 1–2 mm. The leaves turn brown and fall off, then the entire bush dies if the disease is not fought. Septoria develops if the agrotechnical conditions for the growth of tomato seedlings are not met: high humidity and high temperature.
Control measures:
- Choose disease-resistant varieties and hybrids;
- Observe crop rotation;
- Avoid high humidity and temperature, ventilate the room, water moderately;
- Disinfect greenhouses or replace the entire soil;
- At the first stage of the disease, spray with a fungicide: Thanos, Title, Revus.
The sooner you start treatment, the more likely it is to save the plants and get a harvest.
Brown spotting (cladosporiosis)
This fungal disease develops gradually. The symptoms are as follows: light green spots appear on the upper side of the tomato seedlings, on the reverse side of the leaf they are covered with a grayish bloom. Over time, the disease affects more and more leaves, the color of the spots changes to dark brown. And from the inside, the plaque becomes brown, the spores of the fungus are ripe and ready to hit new plants. Despite the fact that clasporidosis does not affect the stem, tomato seedlings die, as the process of photosynthesis stops in the damaged leaves. Leaves curl and fall.
Causes of the disease: high humidity and high temperature over +25 degrees. As well as the presence of rotting plant residues in the soil, which are home to fungi in the winter. Preventive control measures:
- To prevent the development of the disease, monitor the humidity, greenhouses must be regularly ventilated;
- Affected bushes should be removed and burned;
- Observe crop rotation, do not plant tomatoes in the same place for several years in a row;
- Avoid thickening of plantings, which leads to high humidity;
- At the initial stage, you can cut off the affected leaves and burn them;
- Watering should be moderate. It is not necessary to water tomato seedlings often and plentifully;
- Choose tomato varieties that are resistant to brown spot.
Traditional methods:
- Dilute whey (1 liter) in 10 liters of water, spray tomato seedlings;
- Watering tomato seedlings with a weak solution of potassium permanganate weekly saves from the appearance of brown spot;
- Garlic tincture (500 g of grated garlic per bucket of water), spray the plants;
- 1 liter of milk, 30 drops of iodine per 10 liters of water. Make a solution of the indicated ingredients, spray tomato seedlings;
If folk methods do not help, and the disease is gaining momentum, then it is worth turning to chemical preparations. You will be helped by: “Khom”, “Polyram”, “Abiga-Peak”, “Bravo”. Or prepare a solution from the following mixture: take 1 tbsp. l. polycarbacin and copper sulfate, 3 tbsp. l. colloidal sulfur in a bucket of water (10 l). The biological means of control include the drug: “Fitosporin – M”.
Black bacterial spotting
On the leaves of tomato seedlings, the symptoms of black bacterial spot look like small spots of light green color. But soon they increase and become brown.
Bacteria penetrate the leaves through natural holes and through any mechanical damage. The bacterium begins to actively develop at high humidity and temperatures above +25 degrees.
Control measures:
- Purification of the soil from plant residues in which the bacterium can persist;
- seed dressing;
- Do not thicken the plantings;
- Observe crop rotation;
- Remove affected leaves;
- Treat tomato seedlings with preparations: “Fitosporin – M”, “Baktofit”, “Gamair”.
In difficult cases, go to the chemical means of struggle: “Khom”, “Oksihom”, Bordeaux liquid.
Mosaic
A viral disease that infects tomato seedlings. Dense plantings, high humidity and temperature lead to the development of the disease. Initially, the mosaic appears in the form of mottling, then separate areas of light green and yellow green color appear.
The leaves are deformed, thinner, peculiar outgrowths are formed on them, by which a mosaic can be diagnosed.
The virus can persist for a long time in the soil in the presence of plant residues in it; its carriers are insect pests: aphids and thrips.
Virus control measures:
- Observe crop rotation;
- Carefully remove and burn all plant debris;
- In the greenhouse, disinfect the soil by spilling it with a solution of potassium permanganate. Or replace the soil by removing the top layer by 15 cm;
- Disinfect seed;
- The soil prepared for tomato seedlings, steam or bake in the oven;
- Destroy insect pests in time;
- Disinfect tomato seedling boxes, garden tools;
- Weekly treat tomato seedlings with serum (a liter per bucket of water);
- Choose resistant varieties and tomato hybrids for planting;
- Avoid sudden changes in temperature.
Mosaic is ubiquitous, simple agricultural practices will save your plants from infection.
Conclusion
In order to prevent the disease of tomato seedlings, most often there are enough preventive measures to protect plants and comply with growing conditions. Be careful when cleaning the soil from plant residues that harbor pathogens.