Diseases of garlic and the fight against them, photos of diseased plants

Garlic is susceptible to diseases, like other garden plants. Diseases of garlic and the fight against them (you will see the photo below) will be described here. Despite the fact that this crop is an insecticide, various types of mold can cause fungal diseases of garlic, which will significantly spoil your harvest. Garlic diseases cause a lot of trouble for gardeners, but the result is worth it - this vegetable is very healthy. However, to be honest, it is profitable to grow it for sale.

Garlic adds piquancy, complements, and emphasizes the taste of meat or vegetable dishes. But in addition to its taste, it is also useful not only as a culinary product, but also benefits the garden. To protect the garden and vegetable garden, they use not only planting this vegetable, but also treating it with compounds of which it is the main ingredient.

Pests and pathogens do not like garlic phytoncides, which have a detrimental effect on them. Very often you can see beds of strawberries, sweet peppers, eggplants and other vegetables from the garden, planted together with garlic.

Most often, weak plants suffer from diseases, so before planting any variety of garlic, it is recommended to first fill the planting material with hot water (about 50°C) and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. After heat treatment, the garlic cloves can be sprinkled with crushed chalk, and a careful selection of all spoiled cloves can be made. In order not to provoke the appearance of pathogenic organisms, the time interval between sowing this crop in one place should be at least 3 years.

Photos of garlic diseases (manifestation of fusarium):

Rust on garlic - how to treat it?

This is a rather dangerous disease that affects crops of bulbous crops. Rust of garlic is manifested by the appearance of yellow lines, which become wider and wider, covering the entire leaf. Sometimes the symptoms have another visual manifestation - yellow round spots (which then turn red), slightly convex in shape.

This disease can cause significant damage to crops: plants lose leaves, the accumulation of organic matter is significantly reduced, the heads cannot fully develop and remain small. There is no need to talk about the taste and commercial qualities of such garlic, however, preventive treatment of the cloves before sowing helps reduce the likelihood of disease manifestation. The slices can be filled with a 40% formaldehyde solution (40 ml/120 l of water) - two hours of exposure will be enough. The beds themselves should be shed with a solution of Fitosporin-M (15 ml per 10 l). You can also use copper oxychloride (an inorganic fungicide) or Bordeaux mixture (1% solutions) for these purposes.

If the disease has already appeared, that is, the leaves are covered with rust, the crops can be treated with copper sulfate or the fungicide Hom. It is the same copper oxychloride. Especially good results are obtained by mixing the drug with finely grated tar soap. Irrigation of the stems is carried out at intervals of 10-14 days, but a month before harvesting the procedure should be stopped (copper salts are harmful to our body).

Rust on stems, photo:

For treatment, you can also use the same drugs that are used to combat another garlic disease - downy mildew. Alirin-B, a broad antifungal agent, gives good results in the fight against rust, especially in the initial stages, and increases plant resistance to disease (immunizing fungicide). The drug Gamair suppresses a wide range of fungi. Fungicides Kuproksat, Champion, Medyan Extra 350 SC, class. also recommended for use.

Viral diseases

The appearance of such pathologies is provoked by various viruses.

Mosaic

This disease usually appears due to damaged leaves of the plant. In addition, elevated temperatures from +19 to +240C are a favorable environment for its development. The carrier of the virus is a tick.

The main symptom is a change in the shade of the above-ground part of the plant. In particular, spots and stripes appear that have yellow or light green colors. Subsequently, the leaves wither and become deformed.

To get rid of the pathology, it is recommended to use a solution of the drug “Karbofos”. To do this, you need to dilute 50 g of the product in 10 liters of water. This amount is enough to process 100 square meters of planting. Before the procedure, it is recommended to remove the affected parts of the plant.

Yellow dwarfism

This pathology affects the head of garlic. The disease is not transmitted either through soil or pollen.

Signs:

Yellow stripes appear on the leaves.
Leaves wither and change shape.

The plant stops growing.
The heads are reduced in size.

Once the disease is detected, the affected parts of the plant should be removed. After this, it is recommended to treat with EM preparations and normalize plant nutrition

Downy mildew or downy mildew of garlic

With this garlic disease, the reaction begins with yellowing of the upper part of the stem, after which it dries out. The plant's growth slows down, it weakens, the stems turn pale, then turn yellow and become deformed. Downy mildew can become a real epidemic, affecting extensive crops of this crop. Regions where a humid climate prevails are especially susceptible to this disease.

However, the peronosporosis fungus is very sensitive to bright light and elevated temperatures, and in the heat it simply dies. It turns out that in clear, warm weather it is practically not activated, but in rainy weather, on the contrary, it develops very successfully. These features of the fungus (Peronospora destructor) are used in the prevention and control of fungal diseases.

Downy mildew of garlic, photo:

Studies have shown that the occurrence of the disease occurs from contaminated seed material, as well as from organic elements remaining in the soil after planting and harvesting. It is noteworthy that infection of healthy plants can occur with the help of fungal spores carried by the wind over considerable distances.

To prevent the disease at the very beginning, before sowing, it is recommended to warm the heads in bright sun for a day or two, at a temperature of +40°C. The harvested crop should be treated in the same way. You can fight this scourge using complex fungicides such as Tiram (according to instructions), Fentiuram (3 kg/10 l of water), Polycarbocin (40 g/10 l of water), Arcerida (30 g/10 l of water). The same solution of Thiram (2-3%) can be used to treat the cloves before sowing, keeping them in suspension for about 20-25 minutes. You can also treat young plants with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture; the fungicide Polychom is suitable for treating shoots.

Folk remedies

Advice : Experienced gardeners advise using safer means in the fight against diseases, namely herbal infusions and other gentle mixtures.

Infusion of shag . You need to take 250 g of shag and a spoonful of hot pepper. Pour the mixture with two liters of hot water and leave in a warm place for 3 days. Then filter and bring the volume to 10 liters. Some people add an additional 30 g of liquid soap to the finished mixture. Plants and soil are sprayed once every 6-7 days in May, and then in July.
Wood ash . You need to take 10 g of ash, a teaspoon of hot pepper and a tablespoon of crushed tobacco. This mixture is suitable for pollinating plantings 2-3 times per season. This remedy is also effective as a preventive measure.

Garlic bacteriosis or bacterial rot

There are much fewer varieties of bacterial diseases of this plant than fungal ones. However, a disease such as bacterial rot causes significant damage to the yield and presentation of garlic heads. Garlic bacteriosis affects plants during the growing season, as well as during storage of already collected stocks. Perennial forms of pathogens attack the plant exclusively during the growing season, and cloves infected with bacteria rot during growth and do not sprout. On tubers, the disease manifests itself in the form of yellowish-brown wounds on the surface of the clove, which subsequently invade the entire garlic clove. Another manifestation of the disease is expressed in the transparency of the cloves, which then turns into mucus with a strong unpleasant odor.

The germs of bacteria live in organic crop residues. They penetrate into the seed through microtraumas, and pests such as nematodes, onion flies, and tobacco thrips only aggravate the situation by being carriers of bacteria. Additionally, the plant’s immunity is weakened by factors such as poor soil and burns acquired during the growing season. Garlic is also at risk of becoming infected with bacteriosis if it has not fully ripened, has not been sufficiently dried after harvesting, or has been stored in a damp room (as well as in high temperature conditions).

Bacterial rot of garlic, photo:

Preventive measures to combat this disease include maintaining a time interval between sowing in one place (minimum 4 years). Treating the soil with Hom also gives good results. It is not recommended to plant garlic next to late-season vegetables; do not rush into harvesting - allow the heads to fully ripen. It will be good if you pre-fertilize the soil with phosphorus fertilizers. Crop residues should be carefully removed, and the land itself should be deeply plowed. Do not remove the tops prematurely; let them dry for about 10 days at a temperature of 23-30 °C.

The use of insecticides to stop the activity of insects is an excellent preventive factor; also do not forget to treat the seed with a formaldehyde solution, as indicated above. Observe the storage conditions for tubers: humidity should not exceed 70%, temperature can vary from +1 to +4°C for winter varieties or +16..18°C (with a humidity of 60-70%) for spring varieties.

How to determine what has affected the plant?

It is very easy to determine whether garlic is affected by a disease or a pest . It is enough to look at its appearance and determine whether the disease is fungal or bacterial in nature, or whether the plant has been affected by small insects called pests.

In both cases, untimely protection can lead to the destruction of the crop.

Diseases

All garden crops of the onion family are subject to attacks by various harmful insects and the spread of fungal and viral diseases.
The main damage to garlic is caused by diseases caused by fungi . Often the reasons for their occurrence lie in violations of garlic cultivation systems.

When garlic is planted very densely, there is poor air flow to the leaves and roots.
Excessive soil moisture.
Violation of crop rotation rules.
The presence of a large number of weeds and remnants of last year’s vegetation in the garden bed.
Inappropriate storage conditions for garlic.

Garlic fusarium - control measures

It is sometimes called a disease of hot climates, since fusarium is most active in the south, where it is very hot in summer or not very cold in winter. Crop losses due to damage by fusarium can reach impressive proportions - up to 70-80%. Central Russian regions, especially in hot summers, are also sometimes a risk zone. Fusarium rot of garlic, in other words, bottom rot, affects the seed in the ground. Remains of past harvests and irrigation water may contain fusarium spores. For sowing, whole cloves should be carefully selected without damage, since the presence of any microtrauma is a direct entry point for the fungus.

The disease affects the plant during the growing season, temperature +15..30°C. High humidity levels favor this. Garlic fusarium appears even in the beds, when the stems begin to rapidly turn yellow or dry out, starting from the tips. Sometimes the stems are covered with brown streaks, and a pinkish coating collects in the leaf axils. Damage to the heads and lobules begins with the softening and appearance of fusarium mycelium in infected areas (its color can be white, yellow or pinkish).

The roots of the plant begin to rot and die, and the garlic, of course, dies. As for the already harvested crop, bottom rot becomes more active in warm rooms with high humidity. In this case, infection occurs quite quickly - the mycelium appears between the teeth, gains strength, and mummifies the heads.

Fusarium of garlic, photo:

Measures to prevent and control this disease are not particularly different from other methods used for other fungal diseases. Careful control of seed material, treatment with preparations such as Hom, Fitosporin or Maxim, soil disinfection with fungicides and removal of last year's organic residues - all together provide a sustainable preventive effect. The drug Quadris gives very good results; it is also used to treat rust. To prevent your garden from being affected by garlic root rot, control measures must be taken from all sides: monitoring the soil, treating the seed tines, observing the time interval between planting in the same place, maintaining the timing of sowing and harvesting. Well-dried tubers should be stored in proper temperature conditions.

Prevention rules

One of the main rules is compliance with crop rotation.
In the fall, you need to carefully clean the beds from last year's plant debris.
Planting material must be of good quality.
Before planting, the cloves must be etched in a solution of potassium permanganate or in a saline solution.
Since rot tends to accumulate in the soil, garlic can be planted in the same bed after 3-4 years.
Plantings need to be regularly thinned and weeds removed.

To successfully grow garlic varieties, it is also important to know about fertilizing, processing, propagation by seeds and the peculiarities of growing garlic as a business.

Neck rot of garlic

Often this disease does not come alone, but together with fusarium, bacteriosis, black and green mold. It even happens that an onion crop is simultaneously attacked by fungi and bacteria. There is nothing to guess here - the weakened immunity of the plant simply cannot cope. The complex of prevention and treatment should be aimed at suppressing all of the above-mentioned diseases.

Gray neck rot of garlic causes significant damage to the crop, which has already been harvested, stored, and also affects the heads during transportation. Unripe, under-dried tubers are the first to get sick. The fungus begins to attack crops during the ripening of the bulbs; the source of infection is the remains of past harvests that were not harvested in time. Gray rot penetrates into garlic tubers through external damage and is activated at the top of the neck. Disease spores are carried by the wind and settle on the stems. The most dangerous thing is that at first the disease is difficult to identify, since the visible symptoms are not very noticeable to the eye. Thus, the affected heads are sent to storage along with healthy ones, subsequently infecting all stocks.

Neck rot of garlic (left), black mold rot (right), photo:

Gray rot appears at the bottom of the stems as small whitish spots with greenish borders. At this point the stem breaks, turns yellow, and dries out. Gray spots appear on the head, which over time cover all the cloves. The softening of the teeth begins at the top, the lobules acquire a watery consistency and a sharp, unpleasant odor. At this stage, gray mold confidently captures the entire top of the tuber.

A thorough analysis of the harvested crop should be carried out, the affected heads should be removed, preferably burned. After which the storage area must be reliably disinfected with formaldehyde or sulfur dioxide.

This fungus feels good at a temperature of +20°C, and can actively develop at +3..+5°C. Based on this, for the harvested crop during storage it is necessary to provide an appropriate level of humidity (70%) and a temperature range of 0–2°C. Stocks should be periodically checked for affected tubers; the heads themselves can be sprinkled with crushed chalk. The better the garlic is dried, the lower the risk of infection with gray neck rot. As recommended above, it is advisable to pre-treat the land for sowing with copper chlorhexide (the drug Hom) or copper sulfate.

The cloves for sowing can be pre-disinfected with Thiram suspension (according to the instructions), and already grown heads with Fundazol. After processing (15-20 minutes), the tubers should be thoroughly dried and then stored. We observe the time intervals between sowings, as mentioned above, we cut off the stems from the ripened heads after they have completely dried, not very briefly.

It is also worth mentioning the soil type. Garlic grown on loam is more susceptible to gray rot; sandy loam soil is much preferable in this case.

Optimal storage conditions:

humidity - 70%;
air temperature - + 2 ° C.

General preventive measures

The general preventive measure is compliance with all agrotechnical rules:

compliance of crop rotation
selection of varieties adapted to the climatic conditions of a particular area;
high-quality deep soil aeration in the phase of autumn and spring preparation;
preventive tillage in the preparation phase;
compliance with watering and fertilizing;
loosening the soil in a circle and between rows after each moistening of the soil naturally or artificially;
high-quality disinfection treatment of planting material;
drying the harvested crop and maintaining optimal conditions in storage.

Black moldy rot of garlic

If the storage area for vegetables is hot and stuffy, then black rot (aspergillosis) will not take long to appear. With poor ventilation, black dusty spores appear between the lobules, and the teeth themselves lose their hardness. The risk category includes poorly ripened, poorly dried tubers; dampness is an ideal environment for this fungus. The pathogenic fungus lives in unharvested remains of the previous harvest, as well as on damaged vegetables or fruits. If, in warm weather, garlic stalks remain wet for more than 6 hours, the risk of fungal activation increases significantly.

Black mold on garlic, like other fungi, does not like Bordeaux mixture; about 3 weeks before harvest, irrigate the garlic beds with a 1% mixture. In general, to prevent or combat this disease, you need to use the same drugs that are recommended to eliminate the effects of bacterial rot. The remaining measures are similar - control of the bulbs after harvesting, high-quality drying, appropriate storage temperature. Seed cloves, seedling stems, and ripe tubers should be protected from damage.

Non-communicable diseases

Not all pathologies arise from infections. Some diseases appear due to improper care and a number of other negative factors.

Yellowing

Yellowing of the culture usually occurs against the background of:

Deficiency of useful elements.
Excessive irrigation.

Mechanical damage to the crop.

To solve this problem, it is recommended to normalize the irrigation system, regularly apply calcium, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers, and also treat the crop with solutions of tobacco or wood ash.

Drying

If garlic dries out for no apparent reason, then you should treat the crop with a solution of Fitoverm or Akarin, and also apply potassium fertilizers. The first procedure will protect the garlic from parasites, and the second will promote active development.