Potato leaf curl causes

In addition to the well-known phytophthora, nightshade crops can undergo many other diseases. Curling leaves in potatoes is a fairly common problem. To understand how to cure plants, you need to determine the causes of this phenomenon.

Causes of potato leaf curl

Causes of curling

Why do potato leaves curl? There may be several reasons for this.

1. Use of herbicides.
2. Wrong th care.
3. Diseases: viral, bacterial.

To understand why the leaves of the potato curl, you need to look for concomitant symptoms. If this is a disease, then curly hair will be accompanied the formation of spots of various shapes of dark color, brittle shoots, stunting and other symptoms.

Herbicides

Herbicides are chemicals that are used to eliminate unwanted vegetation in areas. They can be directed and general. Directed preparations destroy plants of a certain type, and the general effect on all crops.

When the general action herbicides hit the soil or the bushes themselves, the potato leaves curl.Even if a herbicide has not been used at your site, it can bring it from neighboring fields with a wind stream. It is recommended to use herbicides in the autumn when preparing the soil for planting, but not during the period of crop growth.

Improper care

Often, potatoes are curled due to non-observance of agricultural practices. Often, this is too abundant watering or lack of moisture. If the bush is sluggish, this does not mean that it needs to be poured.

With an excess of moisture, the metabolism in the tops is disturbed. The plant can not absorb such an amount of water, so moisture accumulates in the sinuses, underground. As a result, small roots begin to rot, the leaf part curls.

Viral diseases

Curl foliage can cause mosaics. The virus destroys up to 70% of plants. The edges of the leaves of the upper tier become wavy. The disease does not affect the lower tier of foliage. The infection is transmitted mechanically, often insects are carriers.

If the potato leaves are folded vertically, along the middle vein is a symptom of the twisting virus. The structure of greenery becomes rigid, its inner part is painted in lilac color. The growth of the bushes is significantly slowed down, the tops change their color from saturated green to paler, almost white. The disease progresses in arid conditions. The infection persists in the tubers, most often, is introduced during planting.

Disease of the columnar at the very beginning is manifested by chlorosis of the deciduous part of the upper tier. Then the leaves of the potato curl to the core. The development of the leafy part slows sharply. Bushes become small-leaved. Subsequently, chlorosis begins to appear on the leaves of the lower tier, as a result, the bush withers, and processes similar to threads form on the tubers.

Bacterial diseases

A disease can ruin a crop

Most often, a black leg affects a potato. Twisting of potato leaves begins from the top, after which blackness appears at the base of the stem and rhizome rots. The disease destroys 50% of the plants.

Curly potato leaves may be a symptom of black scab. The plant begins to slow down its growth at the initial stage of growth. The spores of the fungus persist in the soil and on the seed material. Twisting the leaves on young shoots is the first symptom. Then the stem and root system decay, as a result of which part of the seedlings perishes.

The fungus remains in the soil and progresses on all remaining specimens. When black scabs are damaged, ulcers 2 cm in diameter appear on the root crops. The crop cannot be stored, root crops quickly begin to rot.

The scab can be of several varieties.

1. The white leg is on the stem, at the base there is a white coating in the form of a gun.It progresses in a warm, humid climate.
2. Root crop spotting – manifests itself in rainy, cold weather. Round brown spots form on the tubers. This symptom can be easily confused with wireworm injuries.

Treatment

Treatment will depend entirely on the cause of the metabolic disorder. If potato leaves are curled due to the use of herbicides, then nothing will come of it. It all depends on the amount of the drug that got into the soil and on the plants themselves. If industrial fields are nearby and the herbicides were sprayed from a helicopter, then, most likely, the yield will decrease by at least 50%, and most plants may die.

If twisting is the result of improper care, the situation can always be corrected. When waterlogging the soil, it is recommended to conduct a deep cultivation of row spacing. If the lower leaves have already begun to rot, they must be removed so that the rot does not creep up. In arid climatic conditions, to preserve moisture in the soil, mulching is carried out with grass or foliage. A solution of copper sulfate is often used to process and treat plants.

Preventive measures

To prevent potatoes from being attacked by pests and all kinds of viruses, all seeds must be disinfected before planting. The main method of combating viruses and bacteria is to comply with crop rotation rules.You can not plant potatoes for several years in a row in one place. Throughout the growing season, fungicides and antibacterial drugs are sprayed. The chemical preparations Bactofit, TMTD, Polycarbocyte, Fitosporin, Prestige, Maxim are well established.

Chemical preparations have a complex effect against all types of diseases. Processing is carried out 3 times:

• before planting;
• during the appearance of sprouts of 20 cm;
• at the beginning of the appearance of buds.

Before planting, you can use a solution of manganese or boric alcohol. All work with chemicals should be carried out according to the instructions. The main thing is to have time to conduct processing before flowering. No chemicals are used during flowering. After infection with one of the above diseases, potatoes in this area can be planted again only after 6 years, not earlier.

Conclusion

Twisted leaflets on potatoes are a very common occurrence. The reasons can be very different, but the main one is non-compliance with the rules of agricultural technology. Many gardeners neglect t with a crop rotation system and do not pay proper attention to the preliminary processing of tubers before planting. Many infections and fungal spores can persist in the soil for several years, remain on tubers and be carried on the paws of insect pests.

Potato leaves begin curl when metabolic processes are disturbed. This may be due to a lack of vitamins, soil acid, drying out or waterlogging of the soil. It is far from always possible to save the harvest. With the defeat of many ailments, it is advisable to immediately remove all affected bushes, burn them. In the infected area, for 6 years it is not worth planting nightshade crops.

The impetus for the development of bacterial and viral ailments is too hot and humid weather. Fungal spores and virus cells under such conditions begin to multiply rapidly. In the process of reproduction, pathological cells absorb nutrients from foliage, externally this manifests itself as twisting. Continuation of the article …