What is the most dangerous pest of potatoes. The appearance and symptoms of the presence of a potato moth. Potato moth control measures

To obtain a high yield, you should know the main diseases and pests of potatoes in order to timely and skillfully fight them. The most common pests of potatoes: stem nematode, Colorado potato beetle, bear, wireworms, winter moth caterpillars, potato moth and many other "fans" to eat root crops. Among the diseases are: potato rot, macrosporiosis, potato cancer. Today we will talk about them and other dangerous pests of potatoes.

The most dangerous potato pests

Wireworms and false wires

Pests of the larva of the click beetle and darkling beetle, damaging the tubers and stems of potatoes. Their body is dense, worm-like, yellow in color, about 20-25 mm long.

Signs

They harm the fact that, gnawing the tubers, they make long, narrow channels in them. Such damage is a favorable environment for pathogens that cause rot. During the growth period, pests damage the root system, the base of the stems, therefore the plants significantly lag behind in development or wither.

The control of potato pests - wireworms and false wireworms - is carried out using regular crop rotation, using legumes.
Spring and autumn digging of soil to destroy pest larvae.
Liming of acidic soils;
Throughout spring and summer: loosening the soil, killing weeds;

Colorado beetle

Beetles are dangerous pests of potatoes, destroying the tops and tubers, which leads to a decrease in yield. They are very voracious and actively reproduce. A characteristic feature of these beetles is that they are capable of flying over great distances in search of food. They can also accumulate in the soil during permanent potato cultivation. The main danger is the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle.

Control measures and prevention

A decrease in the number of the Colorado potato beetle is facilitated by the manual collection of larvae and adults;
Regular weeding, loosening of soil and hilling of plants.
To combat Colorado beetles, biological and chemicals(biological product "Bitoxibacillin", "Boverin"; chemical: "Cymbush", "Dilor", "Volaton").

Potato nematode

The female has a spherical body, and the male has a worm-like body. Female nematode first white, gradually darkens to brown. After fertilization, the females lay eggs, their number is up to thousands, then they die off and turn into cysts that remain in the soil. The viability of larvae and cysts in the soil can be more than 10 years, so it is very difficult to deal with these pests.

Signs

Plants affected by a nematode significantly lag behind in growth, the lower part of the leaf may wilt, few stems are formed, the root system develops poorly, the tubers are small or nonexistent. With a weak infection - outward signs invisible. Damage will appear only after harvesting, inspecting the tubers, you can see small cysts.

Control measures and prevention

Before planting plants, urea is introduced into possible foci of infection, which is then watered with infusion on potato sprouts;
Careful selection planting material;
It is recommended to water the wells with liquid chicken droppings immediately after planting potatoes;
To combat nematodes, special preparations are also used, one of which is "Nematicide" (introduced into the soil 2-3 weeks before the planned planting of plants);
When harvesting, carry out a thorough inspection of the tubers - eliminate the infected potatoes;

Potato moth

Signs

The pest damages not only potatoes, but also such plants as: eggplants, tomatoes, peppers.

The main pests of the caterpillar, penetrating under the peel, into tubers or stems. In the foliage, the caterpillars eat up the inner tissues of the leaves, making many moves, contaminating them with their excrement. After such an intervention, the stem of the plant dies off.

Control measures and prevention

To combat caterpillars, use a solution of 10% karbofos (45 g per 5 liters of water).

Stem nematode

Signs

Tiny roundworms (0.3 -0.4 mm) that live in soil and potato tubers. The danger is that the affected plant does not differ in appearance from a healthy one, which makes it very difficult to fight the pest. Basically, the larvae of the stem nematode pass into young tubers from the mother tuber, or from the soil. Actively developing, by the time of harvest, the tubers become covered with gray spots with a metallic sheen, the peel in some places peels off and underneath it one can see destroyed tissue.

Control measures and prevention

Since infection in most cases occurs through the affected tubers, for the purpose of prevention, the quality of seed potatoes should be carefully monitored;
Carry out autumn digging, weed removal and post-harvest destruction of plant residues.

Medvedka

The insect is a pest, lives in the soil, digs passages in the ground, harms young seedlings, gnawing underground parts and tubers.

Control measures and prevention

To fight the bear, they use baits made with their own hands from boiled grains of corn, millet, barley, pickled with metaphos (25 g). Add 15 g of vegetable oil to 0.5 kg of grain and mix well, then lay it in the holes of the bear or directly into the soil, a few days before planting the plants. When shoots appear, they are laid in the aisles.
During mass reproduction of the pest, the soil of plants under the root is watered with a solution of 10% karbofos (30-50 g per 10 l of water), the consumption of the solution is 6-8 l per 1 sq.
Also nice results shows the finished granular preparation "Medvetox". It is introduced into the furrows between the beds or along their perimeter, then watered abundantly. The granules work for more than three weeks without disintegrating, even in very moist soil. Having eaten one granule of the drug, the bear dies within a few hours.

Caterpillars of the scoop

Caterpillars damage potato tops and tubers. During the growing season, they penetrate the foliage (sometimes in the stems and tubers) and make many moves. Damaged tissue becomes a good environment for development various microorganisms that cause the development of rot (dry and wet). Stems wither, deform, dry out or break in places damaged by scoop caterpillars.

Control measures and prevention

To combat caterpillars, scoops use drugs: "Decis", "Cymbush".

Potato diseases

Late blight (potato rot)

Signs

This disease affects all parts of the plant: potato tubers, stems and leaves. The first signs appear on the lower leaves of the plant, which are more protected from direct sunlight, dark brown spots appear on them, and on the reverse side - a white bloom. This phenomenon means that there is a fungus on the plant that causes late blight disease. After some time from the infected foliage, the disease is transmitted to the tubers.

The disease spreads especially quickly during rains, since the spores of the fungus are washed off the plant and absorbed into the soil. When harvesting, the disease is rather difficult to identify, only after a few weeks the tubers become covered with typical spots. Having cut the potatoes, you can see brown streaks on the pulp. Affected potatoes cannot be stored, as a rule, they soon rot.

Control measures and prevention

Use healthy tubers for planting (for more confidence in quality, sprout potato tubers before planting);
Do not place potatoes near tomatoes when planting, and note that it is not recommended to plant potatoes for several years in a row in the same area;
In the growing season, huddle the plant higher so that the resulting tubers are not too on the surface.
The best effect in the fight against late blight is shown by spraying the tops with chemicals. At the moment the plants reach a height of about 15-20 cm, carry out preventive treatment with a solution of copper sulfate (for 5 liters of water - 5 g of the drug);
At the first signs of infection, spray the plants with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid, which you can easily prepare yourself (remember this recipe, it will come in handy more than once in the fight against other diseases and not only potatoes).

How to prepare Bordeaux liquid

To prepare Bordeaux liquid, you will need two containers (preferably glass);
Pour 3 liters of water into one container and dissolve 120 g of quicklime in it;
In a second container of 3 liters hot water dissolve 60 g of copper sulfate;
Pour one liquid into another and mix thoroughly. That's it, the solution is ready for spraying!

Rhizoctonia

Signs

A fungal disease that affects shoots, stems and tubers. Tubers that were germinated in the dark are especially susceptible to disease. Dark or brown ulcers appear on their sprouts, leading to partial death of the sprouts. Affected shoots can give side shoots also affected by the disease. On the formed tubers, rhizoctonia appears in the form of hardened dark lumps, easily peeled off. With this disease, there is a slower emergence of seedlings, a lag in development, premature wilting and, as a result, a loss of yield of 15-20%.

Control measures and prevention

Planting with sprouted tubers (previously soaked in a 1.5% solution boric acid), in a well-warmed soil, not less than 8-9 ºС;
Control the condition of the soil: observe optimal watering, do not allow the appearance of a crust on the surface;

Common scab

Signs

Young shoots and growing tubers are especially susceptible to the disease. The scab appears on the surface of the tubers in the form of rough, dry sores, which, as they grow, merge into a rough crust. The tissues of young shoots are destroyed, the germination rate decreases, the affected tubers rot. Plants are more susceptible to this disease - growing on sandy soils, less - on clayey.

Control measures and prevention

For planting, choose only healthy tubers pretreated in a formalin solution (for 50 liters of water, 0.25 liters of 40% formalin). Dilute formalin in large capacity into which you can lower the wicker basket of potatoes. Soak the potatoes in the solution for 3 minutes, then let the liquid drain and pour the tubers onto the spread mat. Cover with a tarp for 2 hours. Please note that sprouted tubers cannot be processed.
Avoid growing potatoes on too limed soils and fertilized with fresh manure - this is a favorable environment for active propagation of scab in the soil.
Spend pre-sowing treatment soil with fertilizers; ammonium sulfate (35-40 g per 1 sq. m.), potassium-magnesia or superphosphate (30 g per 1 sq. m.), or just before planting potatoes, add manganese sulfate (2 g per well) to the wells, well mixing with the ground.

Macrosporiasis

Signs

This disease spreads to foliage, stems, and potato tubers mainly in the first half of the period of active growth. The disease manifests itself in the form of many dry dark brown spots over the entire surface of the leaves, at first with clear contours, and later they increase in size and merge into solid blackness. The foliage dies off, and after a while the trunk is also affected by gray-brown ulcers that rot in rainy weather and dry out in the sun.

Control measures and prevention

Adhere to the principle of fruit change (in one place you can grow potatoes once every three years);
Plant potatoes as far away from tomatoes as possible, as this crop is also susceptible to this disease;
Apply potash and phosphorus fertilizers to the soil;
For prevention - spray the potatoes once a week with a solution of copper oxychloride (20 l of water / 80 g of the preparation) or 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid;
Good results are shown by treatment with Polycarbicin preparations (20 g per 5 L of water), Arcerid (25 g per 5 L of water).
For greater efficiency in the fight against macrosporiosis, drugs should be alternated, as addiction occurs.

Signs

Very dangerous fungal disease, belongs to the number of quarantine potato diseases. Upon detection this disease, the tubers are to be destroyed, and the soil of the site is disinfected, then the soil is no longer suitable for growing potatoes.

At the first stage, small white growths appear on the plants infected with the disease, similar to the heads of cauliflower, later they darken and finally turn black, turning into a mass of mucus. Cancer can spread with infected tubers or soil on them, tillage implements.

Control measures and prevention

One of the most effective measures against the spread of potato cancer, the cultivation of disease resistant varieties is.

Each separate type of pest spoils various components of potato tubers, leads a different way of life. For effective fight with an uninvited guest, it is necessary to identify the type of pest, use necessary funds.

Learn how to make the most effective one at home, as well as which one is best to choose in the store.

It has a yellow-brown color, body length does not exceed one centimeter. Longitudinal stripes are visible on the chitin, appearance the pest is familiar to all gardeners. Adults, larvae completely destroy the leaves and fruits of potatoes. When a beetle appears in the garden, the yield is reduced by 60%.

There are several ways to deal with a beetle:

application of systemic chemical (Sonnet, Commander,). Apply the product at least three times to achieve the desired result. Carry out the last processing no later than twenty days before harvest;
spraying potato tubers with preparations of bacterial / fungal origin (permitted to use, Boverin). Remedies against malignant larvae, which do not have a protective chitinous layer, are very effective. Peak positive influence funds fall on the 7th day after spraying. Repeat the use of funds as needed

Additionally, you can spray potato bushes with strong infusions of tansy, peppermint, black currant.

Advice! To increase the chances of a successful fight will help mechanical removal adults and larvae of the Colorado potato beetle.

Wireworm and false wire

The female nematode has a rounded body, the male resembles a worm. Females are initially white, then darken to brown tint... After fertilization, one female can lay several thousand eggs. After some time, they die off, turn into cysts, and then remain in the soil. In the spring, they begin to actively eat potatoes. The life span of cysts is up to ten years, so it is quite difficult to overcome nematodes.

It is very difficult to cope with nematodes, they will help to get the desired result helpful advice experienced gardeners:

before planting potatoes, treat the soil with urea; after harvesting, it is recommended to use lime;
chicken droppings, which are abundantly irrigated in the soil, are capable of destroying almost 90% of harmful larvae;
alternate cultures on land plot growing potatoes every three years;
in a specially designated place, treat the dug bushes with bleach;
severe nematode damage requires the use of a drug called Bazudin, which copes well even with wireworms.

Garden moth

The pest is a small butterfly laying larvae. The moth harms not only potatoes, but also tomatoes, eggplants, peppers. Adults do not cause significant damage to the crop, the main damage is caused by the larvae. Immediately after birth, they actively feed on tubers, stems, and are able to gnaw through the peel.

They eat out many passages in the foliage, pollute them with their waste. After such sabotage, the plant stem weakens, the potato slowly dies. Lack of therapeutic measures will lead to loss of yield over a sufficiently large area.

choose high-quality material for planting, the seeds can be heated to 40 degrees to prevent contamination of the future crop;
at each stage of planting, check the quality of the potatoes, the conditions for their storage;
before winter period carry out deep processing of the soil;
Before planting seeds in the soil, treat it with a strong solution of methyl bromide.

Scoop

They are small moths, body color ranges from brown to gray shade... Insects are unpretentious, quickly adapt to environmental conditions, and are resistant to poisons. The fight against scoop should be comprehensive and include many aspects. Larvae are most dangerous for potatoes: they penetrate root crops, actively feed on them, leading to the death of the plant.

This insect must be fought in a complex:

regularly destroy weeds that contribute to an increase in the population of the potato worm;
use pheromone traps aimed at destroying adults to prevent egg laying for the winter;
use insecticides, spraying with them will help destroy existing caterpillars. To do this, you need to purchase Decis, Cymbush.

Cicadas

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Potato flea

Many varieties are distributed around the world. Adult beetles, reaching three millimeters, actively feed on potato tops. Thin larvae have three pairs of legs and develop in the potato root system. When favorable conditions cause spoilage of large quantities of potatoes.

Hot weather or late planting contributes to the infection of tubers. You can spot a pest in potatoes by specific traces on the leaves.

You can cope with a flea using the same methods as with leafhoppers; also use glue trap baits. For small gardens, you can use a mixture of chamomile broth, ash, tobacco dust in equal proportions.

Prevent infection various pests planting potatoes is quite realistic, following the useful recommendations:

adhere to the rules of crop rotation (do not plant one crop in the same place every year, take a break for at least three years);
buy the seed product only in trusted stores, warm it up at a temperature of 40 degrees before sowing;
regularly inspect potato plantations, if pests are found, immediately engage in their extermination.

From the following video, you can learn more about potato pests and the rules for dealing with them:

Requires the farmer not only proper care and watering, but also knowledge of the intricacies of the fight against the Colorado potato beetle and complex diseases. Having learned how to cope with late blight, actinomycosis, rhizoctonia, macrosporiosis, phomosis and viral diseases, the farmer will be able to save the crop from death.

Pests

Permanent and most dangerous pest potatoes. It also damages eggplants, peppers, tomatoes.

Beetles are ovoid, convex above, flat below. Elytra with 10 black stripes. The length of the beetle is 6 mm. The larvae are worm-like, orange-red with a black head and two rows of black dots on the sides. The length of the larva is up to 16 mm.

The beetle develops in two generations a year. Beetles overwinter in the soil at a depth of 20-80 cm, mainly in areas emerging from under potatoes and tomatoes. In spring, beetles appear on the soil surface with the emergence of potato seedlings. The exit of beetles from their wintering places is uncommon: the beetles that overwintered closer to the surface come out earlier. In this regard, oviposition and hatching of larvae are extended over a long period. Some of the beetles remain in the soil until next spring.

At first, the beetles stay under the lumps of soil, at the base of the plants, crawling out onto the leaves only in the warm part of the day, feeding sluggishly. As the temperature rises, the beetles feed more intensively, mating and oviposition occur. In search of food plants, beetles can fly long distances. Females lay eggs on the underside of the leaves. One clutch can contain up to 60-70 eggs. Orange-yellow eggs against a green leaf background are clearly visible, which facilitates their collection and destruction. Fertility of the female is up to 600 eggs.

Egg development, depending on the air temperature, lasts from 5 to 17 days. The larvae develop for about a month. Then they go into the soil, where they pupate at a depth of 5-15 cm. The pupal stage lasts 6-15 days. Young beetles emerge from the soil with fragile, lighter covers. They immediately begin feeding, mating and laying eggs. Beetles of the second generation leave for the winter.

Control measures. Regular manual collection of beetles, eggs and larvae and their subsequent destruction. The efficiency of manual collection of insects is higher in warm hours of the day, when beetles and larvae are on the plants. Spraying potatoes in spring when larvae of 2-3 years (2-3 mm in length) appear and again after 8-12 days. Two sprays are carried out against beetles and second generation larvae. For spraying, drugs are used: karate, sherpa, fyori, sumi-alpha, arrivo or kinmix. From biological products, bitoxibacillin is recommended during the period of mass hatching of beetle larvae of the first and second generations. Spraying twice, with an interval of 6-8 days. The effectiveness of bitoxibacillin increases at an air temperature of + 20 ° C and above.

Nematoda is a worm 1-1.3 mm long. Damages overground parts and tubers of potatoes. To a lesser extent, it harms peas, carrots, tomatoes and other plants. Lives on sow thistle, dandelion, nightshade.

The source of infection is the planting material. From the infected planted tubers, the nematode passes into the stems, and then into the young tubers. Each female lays up to 250 eggs. Signs of infestation: shortened and thickened stem, small corrugated leaves. Gray spots appear on infected tubers, the tissue darkens, the skin falls behind, the flesh becomes rotten. In storage, the nematode moves from infected tubers to healthy ones. Mechanical damage to the tuber facilitates the penetration of the nematode into it. The increased temperature and humidity are favorable for the reproduction and spread of the nematode.

Primary infection can occur through the soil, through containers, inventory.

Control measures. Careful bulkheading of seed potatoes and discarding nematode infested tubers. Compliance with crop rotation: the potatoes should return to their original place after 3-4 years. Control of weeds that the nematode can live on. Digging the soil in the fall.

Diseases

Phytophthora

The most common and harmful disease of potatoes, causing premature drying of the tops and rotting of tubers. Cool and humid weather is favorable for the development of the disease. In addition to potatoes, the fungus affects tomatoes.

Signs of the disease become visible after flowering. Dark brown oily spots appear on the leaves. In wet weather, the spots grow rapidly, and on the underside of the leaves, in places of tissue damage, a plaque of conidiophores with conidia spores is formed. Wind and rain will spread the spores. Once on healthy leaves, the spores germinate, the seedling penetrates the leaf through the stomata. The healthy leaf becomes infected. Diseased leaf tissues turn black and dry. Elongated brown spots-stripes appear on the petioles and stems, eventually covering their entire surface.

Tubers are affected by late blight during the growing season and during harvesting. During the rains, the spores are washed off by water from the leaves, and together with it they penetrate the soil, infecting the tubers. During the harvesting period, tubers become infected by contact with infected tops. In the storage, infection of healthy tubers from diseased ones does not occur, although the development of the fungus continues in previously infected tubers. Infected tubers have brown, depressed spots. The tissue under the spots turns brown, gradually spreading into the depths of the tuber. Fungi and bacteria easily penetrate into tubers affected by late blight, causing rapid rotting of the tuber. Tubers infected with late blight, when planted in spring, give sick plants from which the infection spreads to healthy plants.

Control measures. Alternation of crops on the site. Potatoes should return to their original place no earlier than 3-4 years later.

Planting potatoes with healthy tubers: tubers intended for planting are carefully sorted in spring, discarding sick ones, germinating in the light 20-25 days before planting at a temperature of + 18 ... + 20 ° С.

Planting tubers in optimal terms(with early planting of tubers, potatoes are affected by late blight more often).

Two-three-fold hilling of plants during the growing season. Tubers located on the surface or close to the soil surface are infected with late blight more often and earlier.

Spraying plants during the budding period - at the beginning of flowering, when the first signs of the disease appear, with one of the following drugs: 1% Bordeaux liquid, copper oxychloride, arcerid or ridomyl. In wet years, if necessary, spraying is repeated 2-3 times with an interval of 5-8 days. The last spraying is carried out no later than 15 days before harvest.

Mowing and removing potato tops from the area 2-3 days before harvesting the tubers. This will avoid contact of tubers with infected tops.

Harvesting tubers in dry sunny weather, drying them well in the sun and wind.

Sorting tubers before storing them with a selection of diseased potatoes.

Common scab (actinomycotic)

Widespread potato disease. The causative agent of the disease - a fungus - infects potato tubers. On the tubers, the fungus forms cracking warts or ulcers. Ulcers can coalesce and cover the entire surface of the tuber or a significant part of it. Sometimes ulcers appear on stolons and potato roots. Affected tubers are poorly stored. Other fungi and bacteria penetrate the ulcers, the tuber rots. The starch content in diseased tubers decreases.

The sources of infection are soil and planting material. Dry and hot weather is favorable for scab development. Various damage to the skin of tubers contributes to the infection.

Control measures. Alternation of crops: potatoes can be planted in their original place only after 3-4 years.

Careful selection of planting material: only healthy tubers must be planted.

Black scab (rhizoctonia)

The fungus infects potatoes, many nightshade, pumpkin, cruciferous plants.

The disease manifests itself on potato sprouts in the form of black spots and sores. Diseased shoots die off, often not having time to come to the surface of the soil. During the growing season, the fungus infects the base of the stems and roots. On diseased stems, in damp weather, an off-white felt coating of spores forms. Spores scatter around, infecting soil and tubers. The surface of the infected tubers is covered with numerous small black sclerotia, similar to lumps of earth. This form of the disease is therefore called black scab.

Sclerotia and mycelium of the fungus overwinter in the soil and tubers. Tubers and soil are the main sources of potato infestation in spring.

Control measures .. Rotation of crops on the site: return the potatoes to their original place not earlier than after 3-4 years. Selection for planting healthy tubers that are not infected with the disease. Timely weeding and hilling of plants.

The causative agent of the disease (fungus) affects potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants. The disease manifests itself on the leaves in the form of large (up to 7 mm) rounded or angular dry brown spots. An inconspicuous bloom of sporulation appears on the spots. The affected leaves dry up. The fungus rarely infects tubers, causing the appearance of brown depressed spots on them.

The most intense development of the disease is observed before the flowering of potatoes. For the development of the disease, a sufficiently high temperature of + 24 ... +25 C is favorable. The fungus is preserved on the remains of affected plants.

Control measures.

Compliance with the rotation of crops when returning potatoes to their original place not earlier than after 3-4 years.
Mowing the tops and taking them out of the garden before harvesting potatoes.
Removal of plant residues from the garden in autumn.
Digging the soil.
Spraying potato plants with 1% Bordeaux liquid, copper oxychloride or arceride when the first spots of the disease appear on the leaves and again after 6-8 days.
Mowing the tops and removing them from the site 3 - 5 days before harvesting the tubers.

Fusarium (dry rot of tubers)

The fungus infects tubers during storage and aerial parts of the plant during the growing season. Penetrating from the soil into the vascular-fibrous bundles, the fungus clogs them, which is why the plant quickly withers and dries out.

Depressed grayish-brown spots first appear on the tubers; The damaged skin shrinks and the flesh becomes dry and rotten. The rot quickly spreads throughout the tuber. The decayed tuber remains dry and light. Sporulation pads develop on the surface of the diseased tuber. Spores infect healthy tubers. Fusarium primarily infects tubers damaged by insects or mechanically damaged. Infection can also occur with mycelium if sick and healthy tubers come into contact with each other.

Mushroom long time persists in soil and plant debris. It enters the storage with the soil adhering to the tubers.

Control measures.

Alternation of crops with the return of potatoes to their original place not earlier than after 5 years.
Removal from the garden and destruction of diseased plants.
Laying of selected only healthy tubers for storage, free from mechanical damage and insect damage, without signs of other diseases.
Drying tubers before storage.
Cleaning and disinfection of storage facilities, periodic airing during storage of tubers.
Bulkheading of tubers during storage with the removal of potatoes showing signs of disease.

Fomoz

Fungal disease of tubers and stems. During the flowering of potatoes, elongated spots appear on the stems and leaf petioles. Later, spores develop on the spots. With the help of wind and rain, spores reach healthy plants. Sick plants lag behind in development, wither. On tubers, the fungus causes the formation of dark spots rounded shape. The tissue under the spots turns brown, cavities with gray bloom on the walls. After a while, diseased tubers completely rot.

Diseased tubers and plant debris are the source of infection.

Control measures.

Rotation of crops with the return of potatoes to their original place after 4 years.
Selection for planting healthy tubers.
Pre-harvest mowing of potato tops and removal from the site.

Ring rot

Bacterial disease is common. The aboveground organs of plants and tubers are affected.

The source of the disease is infected tubers. When diseased tubers are planted, bacteria penetrate from them into the vessels of the stem, and through the stolons - into the vessels of growing tubers. During harvesting of potatoes, bacteria can get on the tubers when they come into contact with diseased tops. Violation of the integrity of the skin of tubers during

cleaning or transport time makes it easier for bacteria to penetrate. The development of the disease during the growing season is favored by high temperatures and high humidity air.

Signs of the disease appear before flowering and during flowering of potatoes. On diseased plants, yellowing and curling of leaves is first observed. Then the tops wither and dry out. The vessels of the stem of dead plants darken, they are filled with yellowish mucus containing a lot of bacteria. In diseased tubers, external signs of the disease are not visible. A diseased tuber is easy to recognize when cut. On a fresh cut of a diseased tuber, not far from its surface, a yellowish-dark ring of vascular bundles clearly appears. The tissue of the vessels is soft; from it, when the tuber is squeezed, yellowish mucus with accumulations of bacteria in it is squeezed out. On a cut of a healthy tuber, the ring of vessels does not differ in color from the rest of the mass of the tuber. The diseased tuber gradually decays.

Control measures.

Selection for seeds of healthy tubers that have no signs of disease and mechanical damage.
Removing diseased plants from the garden when examining potato plantings during flowering and later.
Pre-harvest mowing of potato tops and removing them from the garden.
Harvesting when the tubers are fully ripe, when their skin becomes coarse.
Drying tubers before storage with a sample of patients.
Digging the soil in autumn with careful incorporation of plant residues.

Potato viral diseases

In southern Russia, potatoes are affected by many types of viruses. The most common viral diseases listed below.

Mosaic. It affects potatoes and wild nightshades. The disease manifests itself on the leaves in the form of alternating light green and dark green areas. The mosaic (variegation) of the leaves is more clearly manifested during the flowering of potatoes. The virus persists in tubers. From a diseased plant to a healthy one, the virus is transmitted by sucking insects (aphids, bedbugs, cicadas).

Wrinkled mosaic. The leaves of diseased plants become wrinkled, acquire a light, often variegated (mosaic) color. They anchor, hang down. The stems become coarse, while making them fragile. The virus persists in tubers.

Striped mosaic. It affects potatoes and tomatoes. The disease manifests itself in the form of black angular spots of dead tissue on the leaves and black stripes on the stems and petioles. Diseased leaves dry up and fall off, starting from the base of the plant. The stems become brittle and die off quickly. Through the vessels, the virus penetrates from the tops into the tubers and remains in them until the potatoes are planted.

Rolling leaves. The virus infects potatoes and tomatoes. The leaves of diseased plants curl upward. Leaves become brittle, plants slow down their growth. The virus overwinters in tubers.

Measures to combat viral diseases:

use for planting tubers from healthy plants;
selection of planting material in the spring; culling of tubers with weakened, threadlike sprouts, with spots of dying tissue;
regular inspection of potato plantings and removal of plants with signs of viral diseases;

In this article, we'll show you how to deal with them.

Potato pests: wireworm

Description

This is a worm. You can often see how fresh potatoes are literally riddled with some kind of back doors. This is the result of the wireworm's activity. His moves are a real attack for the potato! You will not get off with cleaning the tuber. It will be much easier to throw it away! But you can't put all the potatoes in the bin! Therefore, urgent action is needed! Potato pest control is not an easy task, but only for those who do not know how to do it!

Wireworm Fight

Add ash, chalk and lime to the soil frequently. An excellent remedy is dolomite (lime) flour. Lime the soil in this way once every four years and be sure to do it well in advance. eggshell... Spread it regularly throughout the entire summer. In this case, the wireworm will no longer harm your crop, rest assured.

Potato pests: Medvedka

Description

How to deal with a bear

Potato pests: Colorado potato beetle

Description

By far, this is the most dangerous pest available. Distributed almost throughout Russia. The beetles themselves hardly damage potatoes. All harm comes from their larvae. So, how to deal with this pest.

Colorado potato beetle control

Use special spray chemicals.
Do not forget about manual collection and destruction of beetles and their larvae.
You can prepare the poison yourself. Pour into a bucket of potato peelings karbofos solution in the ratio of 2 tablespoons of the drug to half a liter of water. Dampen these cleanings. When planting potatoes, place them in the holes (depth - 30 cm). Hungry and overwintered Colorado beetles gather in these holes, absorb the poison and die.
Population declines very well Colorado beetles if in the morning to pollinate the tops of clean and sifted wood ash(ratio: 2 tablespoons per square meter).