Varieties of Potato Rot

It is not easy to preserve the potato crop grown in your home garden until spring, even if all measures are taken to ensure long-term storage. For a number of reasons why stored vegetables begin to deteriorate, potato rot takes first place.

Varieties of potato rot

Dry rot

The most common fungal disease of vegetable crops in the south Fusarium dry rot of potatoes is dangerous in the south and southeast, as well as in the Russian Far East. The danger of dry rot is that it can damage up to 40% of the entire potato crop. The second name for this fungal disease is fusarium brown potato rot.

The causative agent of dry Fusarium disease of vegetables, which causes rotting of root crops, is a fungus that damages the root crops and root system of the plant, spreading through infected soil through the remains of vegetation and with info cited potato tubers.

Signs

The primary signs of brown bacterial rot of potato can be detected at the flowering stage of the plant:

• the upper tier of the leaves of the potato bush begins to lighten, and subsequently fades,
• the lower layer of the foliage becomes brown, in conditions of high humidity it may acquire a bloom with a pink or orange tint,
• vascular rings are observed in the section of the stem,
• the tubers affected by dry Fusarium disease become dull, with a gray and brown hue, slightly foci spotted, By which the potato flesh dries and the peel wrinkled on top.

The result of infection of the potato with a dry Fusarium disease is the complete drying of the plant: diseased tubers sprout poorly in the form of thin filamentous sprouts.

Wet rot

The causative agents of wet bacterial potato rot are saprophytic bacteria, which infect root crops weakened by pests and other diseases.

The disease manifests itself exclusively during the storage period when the temperature is exceeded regimes and ventilation conditions are not observed.

A contributing factor for the development of the disease on potato tubers is the cultivation of a vegetable crop on waterlogged soil.

Signs

The main symptoms of damage to potato tubers are:

• decomposition of tissues of affected potato tubers and their subsequent growth into the mucous mass,
• specific putrefactive pungent odor from infected tubers.

When planting overwintered infected potatoes, they can expect their wet rot during growth at the initial stages after planting. A provoking factor is cold soil. The presence of rot-affected planting material becomes a source of infection of weakened tubers (damaged and frozen), and then spreads to healthy ones.

Ring rot

The disease is caused by bacteria

Potato tubers are affected by ring rot at the stage of root crop formation, in the process of damage to vegetables with mechanical methods of harvesting and with direct contact of harvested potato tubers with an infected disease new tops. Ring rot is provoked by an aerobic bacterium.

Signs

Pathogens begin to fill the vascular rings of vegetable tubers at the end of the winter period and the beginning of spring, and this causes rotting, the signs of which include:

• growing rotting potato tubers into a white viscous mass,
• unpleasant smell from vegetables,
• voids inside the potato pulp.

Until the moment of the tuber cut, it is possible to guess the damage to the plant by withering the individual stems in the common bush:

• brown spots appear at the ends of the leaves,
• in some cases foliage becomes white due to a lack of chlorophyll in it,
• the foliage of the upper tier turns yellow and curls,
• the surface of the leaf plate becomes mottled,
• the lower tier of leaves fades and fades, the edges of the leaves curl upward.

Slightly affected by ring rot, potato tubers are almost identical in appearance to healthy root crops, however, in the transverse size you can see the yellow lines running along the vascular ring, the tissues are softened.

Black leg

Black leg develop aetsya microbial action, the villagers in the weeds, and then extended to vegetable crops. At the same time, microbes remain active at a temperature of 2 ° C to 32 ° C.

Signs

It is impossible to visually determine the presence of signs of damage to potato root crops in the early stages.

The black leg, according to the description, exhibits symptoms when it creates favorable conditions in the form of increased dampness or excessive dryness. Moreover, among the most common signs of the presence of microbes, there are:

• blackening of the lower part of the potato bush,
• yellowing of the leaves,
• general withering of the plant,
• rotting of tubers with darkened skin and cracks,
• liquid with a characteristic smelly odor.

As a result, in the basal part the black leg begins the process of softening the sprouts, potato tubers black spots and begin to rot. Infected bushes are easily torn out of the soil layer. Mucous secretions can be seen from the sections of the stems.

Measures to combat rot

It is important to properly store vegetables

Control measures for various varieties of rotted potatoes include treatment and prophylactic methods.

To prevent the activation of putrefactive fungi Compliance with the general rules for storing vegetables in the basement or at home on the balcony is of no small importance. Creating favorable conditions allows you to stop their activation, inhibiting development at a dormant stage.

General prevention

The main preventive measures include a number of simple, timely measures:

• balance of fertilizers when growing potatoes, allowing to develop a plant resistance to diseases, avoiding an excess of nitrogen components and the obligatory inclusion of potassium,
• the use of healthy tubers for planting, purchased from reliable sellers,
• planting a vegetable crop in uncomplicated soil, avoiding lowlands where there is an excess of moisture,
• and running around mechanical harvesting methods, leading to frequent damage to tubers, rejecting damaged potatoes during storage,
• planting green manure, acting as organic fertilizers,
• following crop rotation and storing vegetables.

Prevention by type of pathogen

The control measures taken for therapeutic prophylaxis depend on the type of pathogen.

Against brown rot

There are no preparations for the fight against dry (brown) rot. Planting material for protection against the disease is pre-treated with phytosporin (50 g per 100 kg), bactofite (up to 0.5 kg per 100 kg). Before laying potatoes for storage, vegetables are often treated with 0.2 l of Maxi KS, provided for 1 t.

Against wet rot

Bacterial rot stops development if you create the optimal mode of storage of vegetables – from 1 ° C to -2 ° C – and provide good ventilation. In such adverse conditions for pathogens, bacteria remain inactive. During storage, rotted root crops are removed together with neighboring ones.

Against ring rot

In addition to basic agricultural techniques for the preliminary treatment of plants in the fight against pathogens, gardeners use fungicidal preparations that they prefer to fight with diseases, treating tubers before planting and before storing them.

Against the black leg

Get rid of the microbe that causes the disease of possibly handle if the tubers insecticidal or fungicidal compounds such as TMTD. Make such measures is recommended before planting.