Bell pepper is a favorite vegetable crop in many areas, although it cannot be called unpretentious. Only by investing energy, the gardener receives a voluminous crop of sweet and crunchy pods. The slightest omission in care - and the plantings become covered with strange spots, wither, dry. All these are warning signs: it's time to look for the causative agent of the disease. What diseases of pepper are considered the most dangerous, and which are easily eliminated? This question cannot be answered in a nutshell. Only common infections - ten types.
List of major diseases of pepper in the open field and greenhouse
Pepper is a thermophilic crop that is not used to wet and cool conditions. Gardeners manage to successfully keep peppers even in Siberia, but for this they have to resort to a number of additional measures: growing seedlings at home, applying fertilizers, bush formation and disease prevention. But even the strongest varieties in the climatic conditions of Russia sometimes get sick - they are exposed to a number of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases, as well as attack by pests. The result is a small, bitter crop or a loss.
The most common diseases of bell pepper:
late blight;
anthracnose;
cladosporiosis;
tobacco mosaic;
blackleg;
fusarium wilting;
white rot;
gray rot;
black bacterial spot;
cucumber mosaic virus.
We will talk about the signs of a particular disease and methods of treatment in the following sections.
Why do brown spots appear? We treat cladosporiosis
If brown spots appear on the lower part of the leaves near the ground, and then they move to the upper, then it is time to diagnose cladosporia, or brown spot. The spots are light at first, then turn brown, to a neglected degree covered with plaque. The longer the pepper bush is sick, the higher brown spots appear on it. In the end, the ovaries begin to darken and die off. The plant dies.
When the first symptoms of cladosporium are found, you need to prepare a solution of copper sulfate 2% and process the bush and neighboring plantings.
A preventive measure is spraying the bush with garlic infusion. If earlier there were warning signs on the site, then such treatment is included in the mandatory care program.
Another cause of brown spots is late blight.
In damp and cold climates, peppers suffer from late blight. This disease first appears as brown spots on the stems. Gradually, the growths move to the leaves, and if you start the situation, the fruits begin to rot from phytophthora. It is very, very difficult to save such a crop.
Measures are taken at the first signs of late blight - spotting of the stems. Start right away with spraying with fungicides - the Barrier and Zaslon preparations will do.
Anthracnose: causes, treatment
Anthracnose affects the roots and stems, and then the fruits of sweet pepper. In diseased plants, the roots are covered with dark brown spots. The bush stays behind in growth, its top withers and turns brown.Peppers right on the branches are covered with watery brownish traces. The spots grow quickly, depressing the fruit. As a result, the crop wrinkles hopelessly and falls off the bush.
Control measures at the first sign of anthracnose:
Spraying with 1% Bordeaux liquid solution.
Treatment with 0.4% copper oxychloride solution.
Treatment with copper fungicide.
A fungal disease can affect the bush at any stage from seedling to fruiting. Favorable conditions for the spread of the fungus - humidity, dew, rain. The pathogen remains on plant debris, non-disinfected equipment and work clothes.
Black bacterial spot
Seedlings and young plants recently transplanted into open ground are most susceptible to this disease. If the bush was attacked by pathogenic bacteria, then the following is observed:
Leaves turn black: dark spots with a yellow border appear on them.
The spots move to the stems.
The higher the humidity at high air temperatures, the more favorable the conditions for the disease. It is necessary to treat the bush with fungicide preparations: use "Oxyhom", "Skor", or 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid. It is better to dig up and burn heavily damaged peppers, and disinfect the soil.
Why do seedlings rot? Caution, black leg!
If optimal conditions are not created for seedlings - sufficient amounts of heat and light, moderate humidity, temperature stability, then young plants are easily susceptible to black leg disease. It is determined by the darkening of the stems near the very surface of the soil. If the sprouts are not treated, their legs rot, the bushes dry out.
To eliminate the disease and save the blackened seedlings will help an emergency measure - treatment with the fungicide "Zaslon". Watering should be stopped, the humidity should be normalized, the sun should be provided, and the most comfortable day and night temperature in the room should be created.
Curly leaves are a sign of the cucumber mosaic virus
If the bush is small-leaved, curly and elongated, then it is clearly affected by the cucumber mosaic virus. Outwardly, a sick pepper resembles a fern.
The causative agent has several strains, hence the differences in the course of the disease:
A short form, or green - the color remains, but the plant quickly loses its turgor and dries up.
Yellow - the leaves turn yellow, the shoots are deformed, the plant stops growing, and the appearance of generative parts can no longer wait.
Brown - the plant survives to bloom, some of its parts turn brown and dry from bottom to top.
Dwarf form - noticeable growth retardation, wilting and drying of shoots and foliage, crooked and small fruits.
In order to prevent the virus from entering the site, you need to constantly get rid of weeds, pests such as aphids and other leaf-eating insects. If the bush is affected, it is dug up and destroyed.
Gray rot
It is easy to identify gray rot by the characteristic shade of putrefactive spots on fruits and vegetative parts. The fight against them is carried out using fungicidal agents. The bush is susceptible to fungus at any stage of development, so it is so important to monitor the state of the plantings daily or at least weekly.
Advice To prevent the disease from showing up in the next season, the soil under diseased peppers must be disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate, vitriol or boron.
Dangerous white rot
If you notice a white bloom on the bottom of the pepper stalk, then it's time to sound the alarm: the bush is infected with white rot, or, as botanists call it, sclerotiosis. If you start white rot, the pathogen will penetrate deep into the tissues of the plant. This can be seen in the dense black areas. Those bushes were hopelessly gone, the fruits on which were covered with a white coating, softened and filled with liquid. The only way out is to dig up and burn, so that the rest of the plantings will not suffer.
To prevent the bushes from getting sick with white rot, you need to carefully monitor the quality of the water for irrigation. Do not pour cold water on peppers! The optimum temperature is + 30⁰ С.
Tobacco mosaic: we urgently eliminate the disease!
Unfortunately, this disease cannot be cured on an adult bush. So that the neighboring beds do not suffer, the bush is urgently dug up and burned. It is important to remove all plant debris, as the virus lasts up to 5 years in the ground.
How to identify tobacco mosaic on a pepper bush:
leaves are deformed;
black stripes appear on stems and petioles;
the plates are covered with light yellow spots, similar to a mosaic;
the fruits grow small.
In order to prevent this misfortune, gardeners are attentive to the planting material. Seeds must be disinfected in a solution of potassium permanganate or iodine. Purchases are made only at reliable points.
A preventive measure against foliage diseases is to treat it with a milk solution (1:10). The procedure is performed every 10 days.
Fusarium
Fusarium wilting is another incurable disease of culture. It is very difficult to stop this process at the first sign: the plant withers in a matter of days. At first, the leaves become lemon-colored, then wither rapidly.
No fungicide can cure the disease. We'll have to dig up and burn the plantings. To avoid such situations, the bushes should not be poured and it is always necessary to loosen the soil, and it is also important to choose varieties and hybrids that are resistant to fusarium wilt.
Oedema is the reason for the appearance of pimples on pepper leaves
Oedema is not really a disease, but only a deviation from the norm of development in sweet garden pepper. On the lower part of the leaf, small pimples are found, sometimes they also appear on the petioles, stems. Gardeners are sounding the alarm, as this disease resembles white mold. If bubbles cover the stem too much, it will curl up.
An important sign of oedema that distinguishes it from rot is that the color of the leaves remains normal, the bushes develop correctly. Greenhouse plantings are most susceptible to the problem, since the reason is waterlogging of the soil. And there are no fungal and bacterial pathogens here.
The normalization of the microclimate in the greenhouse - control of air and soil moisture, and an increase in the amount of light will help to eliminate the pimples.
Signs of Nutrient Deficiency Than Handle Peppers
Sometimes it is too early to panic: the modification of leaves and stems indicates only a deficiency of nutrients in the soil. Measures still need to be taken, since a weakened bush is easier to invade viruses and fungal pathogens.
What elements are deficient in the following signs:
The reason for pallor and slow growth is nitrogen deficiency. This element is considered essential for the active growth of green mass.
The yellowness of the leaves along the edges is a sign of potassium deficiency. If you do not feed the bush, the fruits will have an uneven color.
If the roots lack phosphorus, this will affect the foliage - it acquires purple hues. This deficiency is rare.
Poor growth and deformation indicate a lack of trace elements, in particular boron (leaves curl downward).
A grayish tint on the upper leaves is observed with a lack of calcium.
Advice If the leaves are dry, they may have simply burned out in direct sunlight.
Prevention is the key to healthy plantings
A few simple rules for growing bell peppers, which will allow you to see diseases on the site much less often:
Choose modern, virus and fungus resistant varieties.
Controlling humidity is especially important for peppers placed in a greenhouse: excess water provokes many of the listed diseases. Do not forget about airing the greenhouse, water the plantings in moderation.
Do not place seedlings in the place where peppers previously grew, especially diseased crops. Pathogens could persist in the soil.
When processing a bush, do not allow mechanical damage.
Always use disinfected tools and clean clothing.
The garden bed should be free of weeds and plant debris.
Do not forget about your own safety: always use protective gloves and a mask when working with fungicides.
If the plantings turn yellow, darken, dry, wither, mold, lag behind in development, then it's time to study them for a fungal or viral disease. The sooner you tackle the problem, the more fruits you can save. And if you let everything take its course, you can lose up to 100% of the harvest, be careful!
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