Methods of dealing with diseases and pests of cucumbers

The most important task of summer residents is to fight diseases and pests that can harm crops, especially cucumbers. To grow this vegetable, you need to know about all possible problems in order to get rid of them in advance.

Cucumbers are an extremely popular crop for people involved in a vegetable garden on the territory of their land. There are many concerns associated with their cultivation. It is necessary to choose a suitable site, prepare seeds, fertilize the soil, as well as constantly care for the plant. Only in this case, a person can get a good result.

But all efforts can go down the drain if cucumber beds appear on a variety of viruses, diseases or pests that contribute to crop loss. In order to rid yourself of this problem, you need to know the most popular diseases, possible pests of cucumber crops, and how to deal with them.

There are many diseases that can harm the culture. To understand what a summer resident may encounter, it is important to know the features of various viruses. This will help fight them.

An extremely dangerous disease that can make the next harvest as bad as possible. It develops slowly, but after 40-50 days from the beginning it is able to reach its peak. It affects landing in greenhouse conditions. The first infected plants that are at the front door.

It is not difficult to understand that this disease is affecting plants. On the bottom sheets you can see small spots (size from 1 to 2 cm). They have a convex shape and brown tint. Located in the center of the sheet, and on its edges. If you do not get rid of the virus from the outset, small spots turn into one large.

Occurs often, severely damages the stems, leaves and fruits of the crop. Appears not only on cucumber crops, but also on melon or watermelon, as well as pumpkin. Such a disease can destroy half the crop. Ovaries die, and Zelentsy become not very tasty and less attractive in appearance.

Oblong ulcers begin to appear on the stem. The stem itself becomes brittle and brittle. On the edge of the leaves there are round spots of yellow shade. In these places colonies settle fungus. Soon the leaves begin to dry out, burst. Small holes are formed. After this, the disease begins to affect the fruit - they show pink spots, rapidly increasing in size.

Affects vegetables growing indoors. It can manifest itself only when the crop is ripe (hardly anyone will meet the manifestations of this disease in the seedlings). Because of the black rot, summer residents lose 50% of the crop.

On the stalk you can see small spots of green. Further they will change a shade, become brown, and then white. On leaves, the disease manifests itself extremely weakly. At the edges of the plates are visible small spots that grow over time. After they can take almost the entire area of ​​the sheet. They have a brown color, and later become light yellow.

There are several types of disease on the fruits of culture.

• First, the upper part of the fruit and the base are affected. They begin to dry out, like boiled vegetables. The structure is solid, as the fruits are covered with pycnidia. Then, green leaf gets black, mummified or begins to decompose. From cracks and ulcers gum stands out.
• On the cucumbers you can see small pits that look like dry wounds. The fruits are pycnidia.
• Fruits turn white, then rust spots appear inside them. Mucus is released, the process of rotting cucumbers begins.

Film and glass covers are exactly the places where you can meet this virus. In the open field it affects the culture rarely. The fungus grows well in any part of the plant.Bacteria have a negative effect on cucumbers. As a result, the bushes die. At the very beginning of June, the virus infects leaf plates, in August - the fruits themselves.

Areas that are affected by the fungus are covered with a bloom that has a white color. Fabrics become softer and more watery. Culture can not take moisture from the soil, so its fruits are not saturated with nutrients. Because of this, it begins to fade and perishes. White bloom may darken, become hard. If the greenhouses touch the diseased stem, they can become infected much faster.

Quite often, a culture growing under film in the southern region suffers from the disease. If you do not get rid of the virus, it can contribute to the loss of half the crop. The disease affects young fruits that, when infected, look sick.

On the plant there are specks of light brown shade, which soon become olive and increase. Colonies of mushrooms look like cobwebs and are at the bottom of the leaves. There are a lot of ulcers on greenhouses. The disease can quickly spread from the infected parts of the plant to healthy ones. If the humidity is high, the process is accelerated.

Plants fall ill in August, but in the South the peak comes much earlier, and the threat persists in winter. If the disease progresses, the summer resident is unlikely to be able to harvest a decent harvest.

On the plates of the leaf of the plant (upper part) there are spots of yellowish color, which can soon move down. They have a gray patina, which suggests that the summer resident collided with peronosporosis. When the virus progresses, the spots become large and merge into one. The leaf swells and falls. Without it, the ovary cannot form, and if the fruit is already there, it becomes tasteless, has a not too bright and painful color.

Severe illness that is most common. In open ground, the virus is less harmful than in closed soil conditions. In case of progress, you can lose more than 50% of the crop.

The lower part of the leaves is covered with a small (barely noticeable) unremarkable bright bloom. From above you can see small white specks. Soon they will become large, and then they will merge into one, they will darken. The leaves begin to bend, curl and soon die. The fungus can not hit the fruit, but the poor condition of the bushes does not allow them to obtain the necessary nutrients and moisture. They are not able to develop, become lethargic, lose taste. The pathogen is found in weeds.

Pretty quickly destroys a large number of seedlings. It affects all areas of culture (except flowers). On the leaves of the culture appear small black spots, similar to circles. On the stem / fruit brown medium ulcers can be seen. Fabrics become dead, cucumbers cease to be tasty, lose their presentation.

This virus is dangerous only in those years when there is a lot of rain. If the illness is fierce (will begin to progress), the summer resident may lose half of the crop. Quite often, germs that did not have time to grow die because of bacteriosis. The virus infects any area. You can see angular small brown or brown spots. Then the leaves die off. There are ulcers on the fruit. The seeds begin to rot, the shape of the fruit becomes bizarre.

If the summer resident saw on the sheets or fruits any unusual and strange manifestations, terrible and dangerous diseases should not always be blamed. Often external changes that are in any part of the bush, may indicate chlorosis. This means that the soil lacks any important / necessary element for good plant growth.

• If the fruit is shaped like a pear, it means that they lack potassium.This problem can be solved by feeding cucumber plants with potassium sulfate or wood ash.
• If the shape of cucumbers resembles a jug or an inverted pear - the plant lacks nitrogen. In this case, as a fertilizer need to apply infusion of nettle, ammonia or potassium nitrate.
• The upper part of the lashes has unnatural, too light foliage, which looks drooping, and the plants grow extremely slowly and have small fruits - this means that the culture requires nitrogenous feeding.
• Leaf plates look scorched, are fragile and have a yellow / pale green color, retain the green color of the vein - they lack magnesium. Similar symptoms occur in plants from excess moisture.
• If the leaves are brittle and dark, they need more moisture. In this case, should be more careful with watering.
• The leaves are small, and the flowers fall off - not enough phosphorus. It is necessary to purchase a complex fertilizer that has this element in its composition.

Parasites can cause no less harm to plants than diseases, so care must be taken to ensure that any insect can not eat crops, spoiling the crop.

The insect has a yellow or dark green color, is quite noticeable and round. Most often, they cross over cucumbers from weeds, therefore, to get rid of this problem, it is better to regularly weed the beds. Aphids are located on any part of the crop, be it leaves or stalks. It feeds on the sap of the plant. Because of this, the leaves do not receive the necessary nutrients, become dry, begin to curl. Flowers can fall off at all.

A round insect of small size, has a greenish-yellow color of the body, is located in the lower side of the leaf, braids it with its web. The pest drinks juice from a leaf. On the leaves you can see the point of white shade. They can become "marble" and eventually dry out.

An extremely dangerous and common pest that looks like a little white butterfly. It feeds on the juice of the leaf, which makes it black and dry. It is very hard to fight this insect, so it’s better to use tips to prevent their appearance. Whiteflies settle in a greenhouse, but if summer is hot and humid, they can destroy the culture in an open area. The insect is carried by the wind.

The plant is affected not by the mosquitoes themselves, but by their small, whitish, translucent larvae that are in the stem and root of the cucumber, because of which the culture dies.

At night, the pest eats the young leaves of cucumber seedlings. To fight insects is extremely difficult, so it is better to collect snails manually. It is necessary to do this at night, using a flashlight so that the slugs do not have time to hide. You can also make traps that will save plants from snails. As them you can use pieces of plywood or other material that will not transmit light, but retain moisture.

The insect is at the bottom of a young leaf, drinking juice from it. This slows down the development of plants, they do not receive the necessary amount of sun and bear fruit with small fruits.

Knowing the features and characteristics of diseases / pests, you can understand how to get rid of them. In order for the crop of cucumbers to remain intact and be large, and the fruits - strong and tasty, the culture should be processed in a timely manner by various means.

Options means from diseases.

• Cucumbers can save from Alternaria disease: Bordeaux liquid and oxychloride. The interval is 14 days. It is necessary to spray the bushes with these "medicines".
• If cucumbers are sprayed with Bordeaux mixture, copper oxychloride or abigapik, anthracnose cannot harm them. Sick plants should be treated as follows: 1 percent solution of Bordeaux liquid is watered at the root of the cucumber. First, the soil should be watered with plain water, and then watered.

• To prevent black rot, the surface of the greenhouse should be decontaminated. For this, a 2-5% formalin solution is used. One liter should be enough per square meter. If symptoms of the disease appear on the sheets, you must use a one-percent solution of Bordeaux liquid or apply a suspension of copper oxychloride. Effective is a mixture of copper sulfate and urea solution. Processing this tool should be carried out four times, the interval - 14 days. If the stem is affected, copper sulfate and copper (1 to 1) are applied to the injury site.
• From white rot will help ointment made from "Rovral" and "Sumileksa" (with the addition of chalk and water).

• The drug "Planriz" will save the plant from peronosporoza. They can handle the culture, both for prevention and during the first stages of the disease.
• Trimming the shoots that are already affected by the virus, should be treated with the cutoff paste "Trichodermin".
• Baktofit saves mealy dew. Crop should be washed well after harvesting, as this tool can leave a not too pleasant smell. It is recommended to spray the culture several times. Also good drugs are "Gamar" and "Planriz".
• To combat bacteriosis, plants should be treated with a Bordeaux mixture.

To get rid of powdery mildew, you must use an excellent tool - “Topsin”. You can also spray plants with a solution of the drug, called "Topaz". For its preparation it is necessary to mix 2 ml of the product with 10 liters of not too cold water. Spray cucumbers should be in calm, dry and warm weather. This tool is suitable for the prevention of the virus, as well as to get rid of it in the early stages.

The best option to combat powdery mildew is the drug "HOM". 40 g of this powder should be diluted in 10 liters of water. Spraying of plants will give effective result.

Ridomil will save plants from downy mildew. It is necessary to process cucumbers / soil with a soap-soda solution, which guarantees the disposal of the crop from this disease. In order to cure the plant, repeat the process several times in 7 days. Before you begin spraying, you must remove the leaves and shoots that have been damaged. Otherwise, the drug may not work.

To get rid of gray rot, you should spray the culture with a special solution: a glass of ash + a glass of chalk + a teaspoon of blue vitriol + 10 liters of water.

Cucumbers will be saved from Fusarium by Fundazol and Previcur. They have a lot of positive feedback from delighted and grateful gardeners.

After that, the seedlings should be treated with “Trikhodermin”, “Baktofit”, “Trihofitom”, “Humisol”, “Quadrix”, “Acrobat” or “Gymnast”. Also a good option is whey solution, which is added to copper sulfate.

Consider home remedies that can save plants from diseases and pests.

• Many gardeners instead of using special tools "Furatsilin"which is not too expensive. Usually, they caress his throat, heal wounds. But he is able to cope with such a disease as powdery mildew. For this, the plants are treated with a solution (10 tablets + 2 liters of boiled water).Water should be as hot as possible because tablets cannot dissolve in cold liquid. If it is necessary to make prophylaxis, 10 tablets can be dissolved in 10 liters.
• Getting rid of a variety of bacterial and fungal diseases of cucumber crops helps Metronidazole. You can independently prepare an effective drug that protects plants from disease. 4 tablets must be dissolved in 10 liters of water. Many people add a small amount of green stuff to the product. If the disease already exists, you need to increase the concentration by 3 times (take 12 tablets). It is important to ensure that the agent penetrates to the places that were affected. In order to water the soil, a solution of lower concentration is used.

• A large number of experienced gardeners instead of shopping tools use the proven national method of insect control - plants are treated with garlic. Tincture is prepared as follows: garlic cloves are crushed, filled with water (1 to 1) and infused for a week and a half where it is dark. For spraying it is necessary to take 50 ml of the product per bucket of liquid.

• Many people speak positively about tar soap which has scaring properties. If cucumbers are sprayed with such a means, they will not be attacked by various pests.

In order to save the plants from the influence of spider mites, it is necessary to water the soil properly, since it is the maximum dry ground that becomes a comfortable condition for the spread of this pest. To destroy the colonies of the insect, you can use garlic or onion infusion. 100 grams of husk must be soaked in 10 liters of water. Shrubs are sprayed regularly - 4 times per season.

To get rid of the whitefly as difficult as possible, since this insect is incredibly prolific. In order for the plant not to be affected by the “butterflies”, it is necessary to constantly wash the larvae off the cucumbers and loosen the soil, bringing humus or peat into it. It also helps the effective drug "Inta-Vir", which helps to clean up even the colonies gathered on the leaf plates.

Ants are pests that dig a lot of underground passages, contribute to the emergence of aphids in different parts of the plant. They also need to fight. You can use sweet baits, such as syrup, as well as dusting the ground with ash and lime.

An effective remedy is Fitosporin, which is able to rid the culture of various bacterial and fungal viruses. It easily copes with such diseases as late blight, powdery mildew, Alternaria, fusarium, peronosporosis, brown rust, wilt, root rot and others. The tool can be stored for 2 years. To process the culture, it is necessary to prepare a concentrate. One part of the product should be dissolved in two parts of warm water, in which there is no clap. This liquid should be diluted with water in certain proportions, and then treated with soil, seeds and other areas of plants.

Processing by this tool should be carried out when precipitation should not fall out even 8-10 hours after the process. You can use any type of sprayer that is able to provide a fine spray, evenly moisten the leaves of the plant. After 6-8 hours, the pests that gnaw the culture will no longer feed on it (it will take a longer time for the sucking insects).It is important to remember that pests will die only on the second or third day after the treatment process. Maximum efficiency can be achieved for 5-7 days. The drug is valid for 7-20 days, if there are favorable weather conditions for this. With little precipitation or heavy dew, the effectiveness of the agent may decrease.

An effective remedy that can save the culture from cucumber ticks, whitefish, thrips and many other insects that can eat the plant. "Fitoverm" is not able to pollute the environment, rather quickly destroyed in the soil and water.

This is a tool that will help save cucumbers from various diseases, as well as yellow spots on the leaf plate. To prevent the plants from getting burned, dilute with water. To enhance the effect, it is possible to add components with bactericidal and antifungal properties to the agent - then the drug becomes more effective and also fights with large numbers of viruses.

10 tablets "Trichopol" must be crushed into dust with a spoon, then diluted with a small amount of liquid. It is necessary to stir means until such time as all medicine is dissolved in water. The bucket is filled with warm water, dissolved tablets and a bottle of green water are added. The resulting product is carefully and gently mixed. This tool should be sprayed cucumber bushes in such a way that the liquid fell on each of their site. It is necessary to process plants 1 time in 7 days, several times a season. In order for the medicine to be effective and beneficial, it is important to maintain good conditions in the greenhouse.

The temperature in the greenhouse should be around 25 degrees. If plants are grown in open ground, after using the tool, cover the bed to recreate the greenhouse conditions. If "Trichopol" is used for the prevention of any diseases, the concentration can be reduced several times. Also in the therapeutic fluid can be added whey, heated to 25 degrees.

In order for the planting to take place successfully, and the harvest to be good, it is necessary to take preventive measures that will be able to save the culture from various diseases and insects. They will not allow the occurrence of infections. There are several tips that do not require a lot of time, but save plants and crops from various problems.

• Before the seeds are planted in the ground, it is necessary to prepare and disinfect them. Only high-quality and healthy items that can give a good harvest should be planted.
• Prepared seeds should not be planted in cold soil. Before that, it is necessary to warm the soil well so that the minimum temperature at a depth of 8-10 centimeters is + 12-14 degrees. Otherwise, the plant will be subject to a variety of viruses.

• The soil should be of good quality, loose, clean, filled with various fertilizers, and also fertile.
• In order that the bushes are not infected with any viruses, you should acquire those varieties that are resistant to them.
• Plant residues that are on the bed should be removed from there, since they can contain various diseases. Even if they belong to a different culture, it is worth getting rid of them. Many gardeners burn them outside the garden.
• It is important to remember that the beds must be weeded in a timely manner, since weeds can interfere with the growth and maturation of the crop, as well as endure many unpleasant and dangerous infections.

• It is necessary to observe crop rotation, to be more attentive to planting and care.
• If there is a diseased plant in the garden, it should be discarded. If insects only recently appeared in the planting area of ​​a crop, they need to be caught and destroyed.This will help prevent the spread of pests.
• It is important to fertilize the soil properly and in a timely manner, to remember the norms and frequency of fertilizer application, and also to disinfect the soil if the crop grows in greenhouse conditions.

• Microclimate in a greenhouse should be healthy. It is categorically impossible to allow temperature drops, drafts and excess humidity, as it will be extremely difficult to get rid of diseases. If the weather is warm, it is better to keep the greenhouse open in the morning during the day and close it at night. This helps to keep the temperature even.
• It is necessary to inspect the bushes daily / carefully and find out if there are diseased and yellowed leaves on them. If any, they should be carefully removed.

Cucumbers are plants that feel extremely comfortable only if they are in a place where there is enough sunlight and heat. But it is important to remember that many diseases occur due to poor microflora. The optimum temperature for a good growth of the culture and its development is 25-28 degrees. If the greenhouse has a temperature of less than 15 degrees, the plants will bloom, but the ovaries will not form. It also entails many problems, one of which is the emergence of parasites.

In order for a variety of insects do not annoy the bushes, at first you should limit the watering of plants. If you moisten the ground too much, using cold water, it can cause great harm to plants. They are able to die. Until flowering has begun, water cucumbers in the early morning, and when they begin to bear fruit and bloom in the evening. Also, do not leave the ground dry, as such conditions are comfortable for some pests. If the day is overcast, you should slightly reduce the rate of watering, but do not allow the soil to remain too dry.

It is strictly forbidden to grow a crop in the same place for a long time. There are many harmful and destructive microorganisms in the soil, which provoke the development of many diseases. In this case, the summer resident is unlikely to get a good harvest.

Consider a few more useful tips that you must take into account if you grow cucumbers on your plot.

• Crops of cucumbers should be carried out on a ridge in two rows. There should be a distance of 50 cm between them. Plants should be located at an interval of 15-20 cm. If 2-3 beds with plants are planted, a meter should be washed between them.
• Grown up plants can be loosened with forks. This will make the prevention of diseases and pests, as well as create a comfortable environment for plant growth. Forks must be stuck in the garden bed, and then immediately removed.

• In order for the bushes were not weak and brittle (it is these plants most often exposed to diseases), they should be fed. Extra root top dressing needs to be carried out each 14 days. To prepare an effective fertilizer, dissolve a teaspoon of urea in 10 liters of water. This tool is necessary to spray the plants. The procedure is carried out when the weather is warm and overcast. Root feeding should be carried out for the first time in the phase of 3-4 leaves. It must be made from a mullein, which is diluted in water (1 to 10) or bird droppings (1 to 20).The second root dressing is carried out in the phase of flowering bushes. Prepared from ammophos or nitrophos, dissolved in a liquid.

• Do not flood the plant with water if it dries. It is better to consult with a specialist who will help to find out what kind of illness a bush is having. After that, the use of any means is possible.
• You must carefully read the instructions for drugs that help get rid of a variety of viruses and insects. Prepare all the solutions, keeping the required proportions. Otherwise, you can seriously harm the plants.

The technology for the prevention of common cucumber diseases is given below.