Top rot on peppers: what to do, how to treat, photo

Blossom rot on peppers causes damage to the side surfaces of the fruit. First, small watery spots appear. Gradually, they increase in size and occupy a significant area, then dry out, which leads to a deterioration in taste. Blossom end rot most often develops due to hot weather and insufficient watering, although it can also be associated with pathogenic bacteria. The treatment of the disease is complex, using dressings, drugs and folk remedies.

Symptoms of blossom end rot

Blossom end rot is a disease that affects peppers and many other crops (tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini). Has two forms:

1. Infectious – associated with pathogenic bacteria, infects neighboring plantings.
2. Non-infectious – occurs only with a lack of moisture, has nothing to do with fungi or bacteria.

In both cases, the main symptoms of the pathology are watery spots that appear on the sides of ripening fruits. They increase in size and acquire a dark brown color. Then they dry up and are pressed inward. The spots shrivel, unite along the fruit and increase to 8 cm in length.

Blossom rot practically does not affect the upper parts of peppers, which is typical for a similar tomato disease.

Pathology is dangerous because it can lead to the death of the bush. Plants are lagging behind in development, the taste of fruits is deteriorating. They cannot be eaten or sold. Even because of small spots, you have to throw away the crop.

Causes

Blossom end rot on peppers on fruits in a greenhouse appears for various reasons. Often they are associated with improper care, as well as with adverse weather conditions. The most common causes are described below.

Lack of calcium

Often there are soils depleted in calcium compounds. Moreover, even when summer residents apply appropriate fertilizers (for example, calcium nitrate), this also does not save, since there are other reasons:

1. The soil contains a lot of sodium, magnesium or potassium. They interfere with the absorption of calcium.
2. Another reason for rot is that there is a lot of nitrogen fertilizer in the soil. They also interfere with the assimilation of the main element.
3. After a long drought, abundant watering is carried out, which interferes with the normal intake of calcium.
4. Rot can also appear in cases where the soil is too acidic (pH less than 5,5). In such an environment, not only calcium, but also other vital elements will be poorly absorbed.

High air temperature

Pepper blossom end rot is often referred to as a hot summer disease. If the weather is hot for a long time, more moisture evaporates from the surface of the leaves than normal. At the same time, the root system does not always have time to make up for the losses, and the plant begins to draw water from the fruit. As a result, dry patches form on their surface, and over time they die off.

Other reasons

Top rot on seedlings and adult pepper bushes can also appear for other reasons:

• deficiency of phosphorus and manganese, unbalanced fertilizers;
• humidity changes – rapid alternation of dry and humid air;
• irregular ventilation of the greenhouse;
• soil pH deviation from the norm – below 5,5 (acidic) or above 7,5 (alkaline);
• damage to the root system of pepper during transplanting seedlings or during loosening;
• lack of digging, as well as too dense soil (large mass fraction of clay).

Very often, fruits suffer from blossom end rot due to insufficient watering and too dry air.

Therefore, the treatment should be comprehensive, if necessary, it is necessary to carry out the destruction of pests with special insecticides.

How to deal with blossom end rot on peppers

To combat blossom end rot, chemical, biological preparations, as well as folk remedies are used. The danger of the disease is that it is impossible to determine the form (bacterial or non-infectious) by external signs. Therefore, just in case, it is necessary not only to adjust the watering and feed with calcium, but also to do the treatment with the preparations described below.

Chemicals

Since pepper blossom end rot is often associated with a lack of calcium, the first thing to do is root dressing based on calcium carbonate and calcium nitrate (nitrate). Take 2 tbsp. l. each drug, diluted in 10 liters of water, mixed and watered plantings (250 ml per plant). In emergency cases, you can also carry out top dressing on the sheet, carefully spraying the entire aerial part of the plant.

To destroy bacteria, which can also be the cause of pepper blossom rot, one of the effective fungicides should be treated:

• “RAW”;
• “Bordeaux mixture”;
• “Abiga Peak”;
• “Cuprozan”.

Spraying peppers is best done in the late evening. When grown in open ground, processing is carried out in calm and dry weather.

For example, if you spray peppers with Abiga-Peak, you can start harvesting only after 20 days.

Biological agents

To get rid of pepper rot, you can also treat with biological preparations. Their advantage is in short waiting times – even 3-5 days after spraying, it is already possible to harvest.

The most effective biological preparations include the following:

• “Fitosporin”;
• “Gamair”;
• “Alirin B”;
• “Baktofit”;
• “Fitop-Flora-S”.

“Baktofit” – one of the best bacterial preparations for the treatment of rot

Folk methods

Folk remedies for the treatment of blossom end rot of peppers are quite effective, but only in the early stages of the development of the disease. They are also used for prevention and treatment during fruiting, when it is too late to use many chemicals (due to long waiting times).

Among the popular and really working folk methods from the top rot of pepper, you can list the following recipes:

1. Mix a glass of crushed chalk and 1 liter of food vinegar with a concentration of 9%, dissolve in 30 liters of water.
2. Infuse bone meal (100 g per 2 liters of boiling water) for a week, then dilute to 40 liters and proceed to processing.
3. To cope with the top rot of pepper, insist three glasses of wood ash in 10 liters of hot water, wait two days and start spraying.
4. For the treatment of blossom end rot of pepper, 1 liter of milk of any fat content is taken, diluted with 9 liters of water and 2-3 treatments are carried out with an interval of one week.
5. Another way to treat rot is 10 drops of pharmacy alcohol iodine per 10 liters of water. You can add 1 liter of milk or 2-3 tablespoons of laundry soap shavings. Processing is also carried out 2-3 times per season on a weekly basis.

Pepper varieties resistant to blossom end rot

The developments of breeders in recent years have made it possible to obtain several varieties and hybrids of pepper that are resistant to blossom end rot and a number of other diseases. The most famous varieties include the following:

1. Miracle Tree F1 is a first-generation hybrid with good immunity at the stage of seedlings and adult bushes.

   

2. Agapovsky – a variety of pepper with high resistance to blossom end rot, intended for cultivation in open ground in the middle zone.

   

3. Latino F1 is another first generation hybrid that is resistant to many diseases, including blossom end rot.

   

4. Eroshka – a variety with good immunity to rot and viral pathologies; also has a high yield.

   

Prevention of blossom end rot in peppers

It is much easier to prevent the development of blossom end rot than to fight the disease. To prevent pathology, experienced gardeners recommend following these tips:

1. Carry out uniform watering, avoiding too much drying of the soil (when the soil cracks). Give water regularly at least once a week, in the heat – twice as often. In this case, you need to make sure that the surface layer of the soil has time to dry out.
2. Pepper is quite demanding on the composition of the soil. The soil should be light, i.e. not contain a lot of clay. The optimal composition is soddy (surface) soil with humus, black peat and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1:1. If the soil is too dense, add up to 1 kg of sand or sawdust per square meter during digging.
3. It is equally important to control the pH of the soil to prevent blossom end rot of peppers. If the environment is too acidic (pH less than 5,5), dolomite flour or slaked lime (200 g per 1 m²). It will not be superfluous to add wood ash (150-200 g per 1 m²). You can reliably determine the acidity index using indicator paper or a pH meter.
4. Loosening the surface layer of the soil must be carried out regularly. But this must be done carefully, going to a depth of no more than 3-5 cm. Otherwise, there is a big risk of damaging the roots, which can also provoke the development of vertex rot.
5. Pepper seeds should be purchased from trusted suppliers. If the manufacturer has not carried out dressing, you need to do it yourself, using a 1% solution of potassium permanganate or any fungicide.
6. Pepper bushes are periodically inspected and destroyed by aphids, spider mites and other pests that are dangerous in themselves and can also be carriers of diseases.
7. Also, to prevent the bacterial form of blossom end rot, it is necessary to disinfect the soil for seedlings by holding it for 20 minutes in the oven at a temperature of 150 degrees.

Compliance with the rules of cultivation allows you to avoid disease and get a good harvest.

Conclusion

Blossom rot on peppers is associated with a variety of causes, including insufficient watering, adverse weather, and unbalanced fertilizers. If you choose the right soil composition, as well as monitor regular (but moderate) soil moisture, the disease can be avoided. If the spots nevertheless appeared on the fruits of pepper, it is quite possible to cure them at an early stage – for this they use drugs, top dressings and folk remedies.