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Growing tomatoes requires a lot of care and attention. For their successful cultivation, it is necessary to ensure regular watering and top dressing, as well as loosening, the formation of bushes and a number of other activities. But even with the most careful care, the gardener can lose his crop due to exposure to various viruses, bacteria, fungi or pests. Diseases of tomatoes develop gradually, and often the farmer cannot detect the problem at an early stage of occurrence. To save tomatoes, the gardener must be prepared in advance for such a situation. The basis of preparation is the ability to identify the symptoms of the disease and take timely measures to eliminate it. Also an important point in the process of growing tomatoes is the prevention of possible diseases. All the main points of the fight against the most common ailments and measures of protection against harmful microflora and pests will be discussed in the proposed article.
The most common diseases
The main causative agents of diseases in tomatoes are fungi, viruses and bacteria. They can be in the ground or move through the air, get on the surface of the plant along with water. A feature of fungal pathogens is the fact that they can remain in a dormant state of spores for a long time until favorable conditions for reproduction occur. Thus, the appearance of the first symptoms of the disease may occur much later than the moment of infection.
Each disease has its own symptoms, which must be known and identified in a timely manner. When they are observed, measures should be taken immediately to treat the tomatoes. Among all the possible ailments of tomatoes, the most common are:
Mosaic
The viral disease is transmitted by contact with insect vectors (aphids) or the remains of former vegetation. Infection occurs through damaged areas on the trunk of a tomato.
Symptoms of the disease can be observed on the leaves of tomatoes and its fruits:
- tomato leaves curl, yellow or brown spots, stripes appear on them. With severe damage, tomato leaves die off;
- the trunk and leaves of the tomato become very fragile;
- on the surface of vegetables you can see rounded spots of a changed color;
- inside the vegetable there are necrotic spots of green color.
It is worth noting that the disease virus may be present initially on the surface of tomato seeds. In this case, infection of already adult tomatoes can be avoided only if strict rules for processing planting material are observed. So, tomato seeds before planting should be treated with a manganese solution or a special chemical preparation. Breeders, in turn, offer farmers hybrids that are resistant to this disease: “President”, “Anyuta”, “Belle” and some others.
Unfortunately, already infected tomato bushes cannot be cured of the disease. Among the effective methods of control, one can only apply such preventive measures as choosing a tomato variety that is resistant to the disease, treating tomato seeds before sowing, observing the light, temperature and humidity conditions of cultivation, and regular feeding of tomatoes with nutrients.
Fitoftoroz
This is a fungal disease that occurs when the fungus of the same name, phytophthora, gets on the tomatoes. Phytophthora often damages tomatoes in open areas of the ground and shows its symptoms in autumn or summer in adverse, rainy conditions.
The characteristic symptoms of the disease are brown spots on the leaves and fruits of tomato. Shrinking, dark spots can also be seen on the trunk. A vivid example of the manifestation of late blight symptoms is shown in the photo below.
To prevent the disease, it is necessary to observe the humidity and temperature conditions for growing tomatoes. Proper irrigation can also greatly reduce the likelihood of tomato disease. So, experienced gardeners for watering tomatoes use plastic bottles with a cut off bottom. By touching the neck of the container in the ground at the very root of the plant, you can get an excellent reservoir for easy and safe watering of tomato bushes.
To prevent the disease, you can use special preparations or some folk remedies, for example, an infusion of garlic with potassium permanganate. Whey also allows you to protect tomatoes from late blight. It is necessary to spray plants for prevention regularly when favorable weather is established for the development of the fungus, after prolonged rains, sharp temperature fluctuations. Preparations “Fitosporin”, “Barrier” and some others can also be used for preventive purposes. The category of the most effective drugs include “Famoxadone”, “Mefenoxam”, “Mancozeb”. These drugs are able to cope with the disease even with significant areas of plant damage, but after using them, tomatoes should not be consumed for 3 weeks.
Blackleg
This fungal disease can be found under two names at once: black leg and root rot. The disease often occurs at the stage of growing tomato seedlings, as well as in adult plants if the irrigation regime is not followed.
The main symptoms of tomato disease are blackening and rotting of the roots of plants, and then their cuttings. In addition to this, root rot can cause tomato leaves to wilt and dry out. Brown spots appear on the surface of the leaf plate during the spread of the disease.
To prevent the disease, it is necessary to treat them with a preparation from the category of fungicides before planting tomato seeds in the ground. Also, a preventive measure to prevent the development of the disease is the disinfection of the soil by heating and providing drainage in containers with seedlings. If, nevertheless, the disease has overtaken already grown tomatoes, then you can use the drug “Rossa” or “Pseudobacterin-2”.
Cladosporiosis
Tomato cladosporiosis (brown spot) is a rather dangerous, rapidly developing fungal disease that affects the leaves of tomatoes, and then the fruits themselves. Harmful fungi enter the body of a tomato through small lesions and wounds left, for example, after pinching or removing leaves. A favorable condition for the development of cladosporiosis of tomatoes is high humidity.
In the process of development of this disease of tomatoes, a number of characteristic signs can be observed:
- light yellow concentric spots appear on the surface of the leaves, a brown “fluffy” coating can be observed on their back side;
- damaged areas of tissue on the sheets of tomatoes become brown over time and dry out. At the same time, the leaves of tomatoes curl, sometimes fall off;
- the existing flowers wither and fall off, brown spots appear on the already formed fruits at the place where the stalk is attached.
There are various ways to treat this disease. Among folk remedies, spraying tomatoes with a solution of baked milk and iodine is highly effective. For 5 liters of water, add 15 drops of iodine and half a liter of milk. When spraying, you need to carefully treat the back side of the tomato leaves. Wood ash decoction and whey solution can also be used to prevent and control tomato disease.
It is also possible to protect tomatoes and treat them from the disease with the help of broad-spectrum fungicides, for example, using the drug “Bravo”. Tomatoes can also be treated with a self-prepared mixture of chemicals. To do this, add 1 tbsp to a bucket of water. l. copper sulfate and 3 times more sulfur. Also, it is necessary to additionally add polycarbacin to the mixture in the amount of 1 tbsp. l. The resulting mixture is used for spraying tomatoes. You can use the solution for seedlings of tomatoes or already adult plants.
To do this, you need to shed the soil in the trunk circle of a tomato with a working solution.
Vertex Rot
This tomato disease is not caused by fungi or harmful microflora. The reason for the development of the disease are unfavorable conditions for growing tomatoes: high atmospheric temperature and lack of moisture in the soil. Also, disease-provoking factors are the low content of potassium in the soil and its salinity.
A sign of the disease is the appearance of a brown rounded spot on the top of the fetus. Vegetable tissues under the dark skin begin to rot, over time, the damaged area becomes soft. At the slightest touch, such tomatoes can fall off.
To prevent the disease, it is necessary to regularly water the tomatoes, preventing the soil from drying out. Calcium deficiency can be prevented by liming the soil, as well as introducing various top dressings containing this trace element. For example, the drug “Brexil Ca” contains both calcium and boron. You need to use the product for spraying tomatoes on a leaf (10 g of the substance per bucket of water).
Preparations such as Megafol or Sweet can also be used to protect tomatoes from blossom end rot. They allow tomatoes to better absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil, as well as transport the energy received to the most distant leaves and fruits of the tomato. Under the influence of these drugs, tomatoes ripen faster, become more juicy, accumulate a large amount of vitamins, acquire resistance to low temperatures and stress.
Other types of rot
Diseases can attack tomatoes completely unexpectedly. The number of possible diseases sometimes frightens even the most experienced farmer. There are several types of rot alone. Below are the most common putrefactive diseases of tomatoes, their photos and treatment.
Gray mold
A manifestation of this tomato disease is a gray coating on the stem of a tomato. As the gray spot spreads, the stem ceases to pass nutrients and moisture, contributing to the death of the tissues of the vegetative organs of the plant. The further development of the disease is manifested by the appearance of a gray coating on the tomatoes themselves.
The treatment of this disease of a tomato consists in removing the section of the trunk or leaf damaged by the fungus, as well as treating the tomato with fungicides. To prevent the disease, you can use the drug “Gliocladinol”.
White rot
The primary symptom of infection and the spread of this disease is a white coating on the lower sheets of tomatoes. Gradually, the leaf plates of tomatoes become watery, lose their usual green color. The disease eventually damages the entire tomato bush, rising from the bottom up. Tomato fruits are also covered with a white fluffy coating. Moreover, this is typical both for vegetables that are at the stage of ripening, and for already quite mature fruits.
To prevent the disease and treat tomatoes at an early stage of the development of a fungal disease, you can use a solution of copper sulfate, urea and zinc.
brown rot
Symptoms of this disease can be seen on tomato fruits. So, when tomatoes are infected with brown rot, a dark putrefactive spot forms on the tomato fruits along the perimeter of the stalk. Its diameter can be only 3-4 cm, however, the damage inside the fetus is much larger than one would expect.
The disease occurs when the fungus enters the tomato fruit through the existing damage in its skin. The fungus can be brought in by a breath of wind or a drop of water. As a preventive measure, tomatoes should be treated with Bordeaux mixture or copper chloride.
All fungal diseases of tomato develop in a humid environment, which means that the fight against them consists, first of all, in restoring a normal microclimate. It is also worth noting that regular feeding of tomatoes and the formation of bushes in the morning can act as preventive measures.
stem necrosis
Signs of this viral disease can be observed in fully grown tomatoes at the stage of ovary formation. A symptom of the disease is the appearance of small dark green cracks in the lower part of the tomato stem. In the process of the development of the disease, air roots appear in places of cracks, while a general wilting of the leaves of the plant is observed, the bush falls and dies.
The source of the disease is infected seeds or contaminated soil.
The soil where infected tomatoes grew must be etched with a 2% solution of Fitolavin-300.
Mučnistaâ rosa
Sometimes on tomato leaves you can see strange formations that resemble flour dust. This symptom signals the infection of tomatoes with powdery mildew. At the site of such a spraying, ulcers appear on the tomato leaves over time, and the tomato leaves themselves turn yellow and fall off under the influence of the disease.
To prevent the disease, it is necessary to follow the rules for watering tomatoes, as well as to correctly use nitrogen-containing fertilizers, without overdoing them. When observing the first signs of the disease, the amount of phosphorus and potassium in the soil, on the contrary, must be increased. If a disease occurs, tomatoes can be treated with a soda or manganese solution, infusion of garlic or wood ash. For the treatment of tomato disease at the stage of progressive development, you can use the drugs “Topaz”, “Fundazol”.
All of these diseases can significantly harm tomatoes, destroy them, or significantly reduce the yield of vegetables. Tomatoes with strong immunity obtained as a result of proper plant care can independently resist diseases. Timely detection of the problem and its elimination at an early stage of development allows you to maintain the health of the tomato and prevent the destruction of the vegetable crop.
More information about tomato diseases can be found in the video:
Malicious tomato pests
In addition to all sorts of diseases, insect pests can pose a serious threat to tomatoes. Many gardeners do not even know about their detrimental effect on tomatoes, however, you need to know the enemy “by sight”. After all, only in this case it is possible to take a set of measures to save plants and crops.
Root Eaters
Insect pests live not only above the ground, but also in its thickness. So, sometimes, for completely incomprehensible reasons, tomatoes begin to die, and it is not possible to save them, since the cause of death is not clear. And the reason for this may be a small worm or an insect that eats the roots of tomatoes.
Khrushchev
This pest is known to many as the May beetle. A quite attractive flying insect can cause delight and surprise in adults and children. However, before the appearance of the beetle, the insect remains in the form of a larva, which is quite voracious and, being in the soil, is not averse to feasting on the roots of tomatoes. As a result of the destruction of the root system, tomatoes begin to wither or even die.
In the fight against pest larvae, a tomato can be helped by the mechanical removal of the “enemy” when digging the soil. Also, an effective way to combat the pest is to mulch the soil on the trunk circle with sawdust pre-impregnated with urea. On store shelves you can also find chemicals that will destroy the larvae of these pests (Rembek, Antikhrushch).
You can protect tomatoes from a pest by pre-soaking the roots of tomatoes before planting in a solution of Aktar 25.
Drotyanka or wire worm
The wireworm is the predecessor of the click beetle. Worm-shaped larvae are orange in color and have an oblong shape. These tomato pests are capable of devouring tomato roots or even stems.
In the fight against the pest, you can use the same methods as with the larvae of the May beetle. Among the non-traditional methods of mechanical collection and destruction of the pest, one should single out a method involving vegetable peeling. So, a few days before the proposed planting of tomatoes, vegetable peelings or peeled vegetables fixed on skewers are laid in the soil. Immediately before planting tomatoes, skewers with vegetable residues and pests collected in them are removed from the soil and destroyed.
Medvedka
This is not a small insect at all, which reaches a length of 10 cm, during its life cycle it can eat a lot of root crops and plant roots. In particular, the insect loves to feast on the roots of tomatoes.
The pest lives in moist soils, near water bodies and at a high level of groundwater. The insect has well-developed, massive forelimbs, which serve as a device for digging holes in the ground. The pest creates nests and lays a large number of eggs. After 3 weeks, they become a whole colony of pests that can eat the roots of all tomatoes in a short period of time.
You can fight the pest in various ways, for example, with the help of pungent odors and noise. So, to combat the pest, peeled onion heads or foul-smelling pieces of rotten meat are buried in the soil near the trunk. Noisy turntables are installed above the ridges. The pest can also be lured for subsequent mechanical destruction. As a bait, you can use rotted manure or beer. To combat the bear, some chemical agents are also provided, for example, Medvedox, Thunder.
The listed pests of tomatoes, being in the ground, are not visible to the gardener and therefore pose a particular threat to tomatoes. It is often possible to detect a problem only when there are clear signs of the death of a tomato. It is possible to prevent the development of such a problem situation with the help of preventive measures, by sifting the earth and dressing it before planting tomato seedlings in the ground. When parasitizing pests already on adult plants, the use of only special chemicals can be effective.
Pests on the leaves
Tomato pests on the leaves can be very small, however, they are usually quite easy to detect with regular inspection of the tomato.
aphid
This pest moves in colonies. Aphids are small and can be black or green. The pest settles on the back of the tomato leaves and sucks out all the juices from it, as a result of which the tomato leaves wither, curl and may fall off. When a pest invades, tomato bushes can die in a short period of time.
In the fight against aphids, insecticides are highly effective. The treatment of leaves with this substance should be carried out during the day, in the absence of strong wind and rain. Among the most well-known, effective drugs against the pest, we can recommend Proteus and Confidor Maxi.
whitefly
These small butterflies often live in greenhouses and greenhouses. Pests lay their larvae on the inner surface of the tomato leaf. As a food product, the pest larvae consume tomato juice, which leads to the same result as when exposed to aphids.
To combat the pest, you can use the means “Phosbecid”. It is added in an amount of 10 ml to a bucket of water, after which it is used to spray tomatoes in the morning and evening.
Scoops
While cutworms are in caterpillar form, they can cause significant damage to tomatoes. Pests up to 3 cm long are capable of largely devouring tomato foliage or completely destroying plants. At the same time, caterpillars are able to devour not only greens, but also the tomato vegetables themselves.
Parasitization of the pest occurs only in a dry, fairly warm environment. Often scoops lay their larvae on weeds, the removal of which can be a preventive measure in the fight against the “enemy”. You can also fight the pest with the help of Proteus, Arrivo, Strela preparations. Experienced gardeners are also advised to use a folk remedy based on the use of a soapy solution with the addition of ash and wormwood.
spider mite
In conditions when there is no rain for a long time, and the weather is characterized by a particularly high temperature, another pest is activated – the spider mite. It parasitizes on the inside of the leaf, enveloping it with cobwebs. To maintain its vital activity, the tick sucks the juices from the leaves of the tomato, as a result of which the leaf plates of the tomato become brown and dry.
You can eliminate the pest by spraying tomatoes with an infusion of garlic or onion peel. Among the special chemicals for pest control, you can use Actellik or Fitoverm.
Conclusion
The listed tomato pests pose a particular significant threat to the crop. To prevent their parasitism, weeds should be regularly removed from the ridges, loosen and dig up the soil. Pungent odors, as a rule, are also a deterrent for pests. This knowledge allows you to protect tomatoes from malicious pests. If preventive protection measures have not brought the desired result, then special chemicals should be used. It is also always worth remembering that tomatoes with strong immunity, with timely watering, feeding and bush formation, are not afraid of many diseases and pests. Therefore, competent care of tomatoes is the most effective preventive measure in the fight against ailments.