Black leg of tomatoes: why it appeared and what to do?

Each owner is looking forward to the moment when he sees the first shoots of the seeds sown by him.With a sinking heart, he observes the growth of seedlings and their transformation into beautiful, strong, full-fledged seedlings. However, sometimes it happens that this fascinating process is overshadowed by plant diseases. One of the most common problems in the cultivation of tomatoes is black leg disease.

The disease of seedlings and bushes of tomatoes, popularly known as the black leg, is nothing more than the infection of a plant with pathogenic fungal microorganisms. An inexperienced gardener can easily not notice the problems in the initial stages of its development, and after only a few days to lose all the plants in the area. Such a bitter fate can be avoided by putting a little effort. Therefore, it is very important to monitor the condition of the seedlings, especially after its transplantation into open soil. And the knowledge of several elementary rules and secrets will help to avoid this trouble altogether.

The disease the cricket has bright, characteristic signs and the certain sequence of manifestation on a plant. Knowing these signs, you can save healthy seedlings from infection by fungus. Consider the order of its impact on seedlings.

• Darkening of the base of the stem. The first sign can be noticed immediately after germination. If the bottom of the stem is painted dark gray or black, the plant is almost certainly painful.
• Stop development. The infected plant stops growing, leaves are formed with difficulty, they are weak.
• The darkening of the stem extends upward, the metabolic processes in the plant slow down considerably.
• The resulting leaves curl and dry.
• The base of the stem becomes thin, knotty and completely black. During this period, moisture and nutrients finally cease to flow into the upper part of the tomato bush.
• The plant breaks, falls and continues to dry and decompose, infecting the entire environment.
• At the end of the disease, the plant looks like a thin black thread.

Black leg is most often found on seedlings. Young plants are still unable to resist fungal infections on their own, whereas adult plants, on the contrary, develop immunity to this disease and are much less susceptible to it.

The fungus is a living organism, which requires suitable habitat for development and reproduction. Boxes with tomato seedlings often become the container of pathogenic microbes for several common reasons. The main reason can be safely considered the increased acidity of the soil. Such a soil is in itself an ideal breeding ground for fungus. If you add too much watering to this soil, you get the effect of a warm, cozy bog in which the fungus propagates at a space velocity.

Fungal organisms do not tolerate the sun's rays very well, so a seedling growing in good light is much less likely to get a centipede than a dimly lit seedling.

Low temperatures in the room slow down the process of water exchange in the ground. This leads to constant excess moisture, which is also beneficial for fungal diseases, so it is very important that the seedlings are kept warm.

Too dense shoots of seedlings also create a constant shade and dampness at the base of the stems, so it is important to thin out them.

It is necessary to understand that the struggle with the black leg is a laborious and inefficient process. And also it is necessary to accept the fact that the plants that have been ill with this disease will be so weak that they can hardly give at least some harvest, so there is no sense in treating it. Considering the stated facts, the most correct will be to perform several consecutive actions.

• When the first symptoms of infection are detected, it is important to get rid of all suspicious plants. It is important to remove the plant completely with the roots, because the cheng is very contagious - the affected plant remains are dangerous for healthy seedlings.
• Since the treatment process mainly consists in tillage, too thick seedlings will interfere, so the next thing to do is to thin the seedlings. It is not at all necessary to throw out “extra” sprouts, they can be deposited in a new sterile container with cleaned soil.
• Further, it is important to qualitatively disinfect the earth. To do this, the soil should be loosened and thoroughly spray with a one percent solution of manganese. You can also use a formalin solution, but after processing it is necessary to loosen the soil several times in order for all formalin to evaporate.

• The stems and roots of healthy plants should be treated with special antifungal drugs called biological fungicides. In the fight with the black-faced knife, the most effective drugs are Fitolavin and Fitosporin. This part of the treatment is not necessary, provided the quality of the remaining items.
• After that, it is important to stop watering for 3 days in hot conditions or 5-7 in cool.
• The surface of the earth can be sprinkled with ash of charcoal - this will make it unsuitable for the re-development of the disease.
• The final stage of treatment will be transplanting seedlings to a new ground. Plants can be planted immediately in the garden or in other sterile containers. When diving (transplanting to another container) it is better to choose containers with a large number of cells so that each bush grows separately. The container and the ground must be sanitized before transplanting.

Almost every disease has its own folk remedy for treatment. Since the black leg is a disease of plants, popular wisdom has not bypassed it. The effectiveness of such methods of treatment is controversial and not proven, therefore, it is better to use them in combination with conventional drugs as a complex therapy.

The most popular folk remedy is an alcoholic lotion. For it you will need to dilute the vodka with water in the ratio 1: 10 or alcohol in the ratio 1: 25. The resulting solution needs to be sprayed on the affected areas of plants 1 time per day.

Another alcohol-based recipe is to treat affected areas with tincture of onion peel. To do this, pour dry onion peel with a glass of vodka, cover tightly and keep this mixture in a dark cool place for several days. The finished tincture can be diluted with water in a 1: 1 ratio or used in pure form. This tincture should be sprayed on the ground after removing diseased plants 1 time per week.

A good helper in the fight against the black-faced knife, in the opinion of the people, is wood ash. Charcoal from burnt wood should be ground into powder and scattered on the ground areas affected by fungus.

Preventive measures against the occurrence of blackleg should begin even in preparation for sowing seeds. The most important and most reliable measure is the right choice of land for sprouting future seedlings. To date, there are special enriched mixtures sold in soda centers.

When buying a mixture, it is important to pay attention to the labeling: “For seedlings” or, as a last resort, “Universal” must be indicated on the pack.you should not use mixtures with other purposes, for example, for citrus fruits. Such mixtures are pretreated with antifungal agents and enriched with vitamins and minerals that will help grow quality seedlings.

First you need to choose the land. If the seeds will be planted in several containers, it is worth taking the land from different parts of the garden - for each container a portion from the new site. Selected land should be steamed, it can be done in several ways.

1. Pour the earth with a thin layer on a sheet (baking sheet), pour boiling water abundantly and dry in the sun, it is better to repeat the procedure several times.
2. Pour the earth on a baking sheet, pour water and calcined in the oven for half an hour. Choosing this method, you need to be prepared for the fact that the smell from the ground will be extremely unpleasant.
3. Clean the land with steam. In a bucket with small holes (on the principle of a colander), you need to fill the ground in half of its volume. A bucket with a larger capacity must be filled with water for 2/3 of its volume. Put a bucket of earth in a bucket of water from above, and warm them up on a stove until the water evaporates. After the procedure, the ground must be dried.

An important role is played by the correct preparation of containers for growing. Containers for germinating seeds must have holes for the outflow of water, because excessive moisture is an excellent environment for the development of fungus. The container must be spacious - it will not only allow the seedlings to grow stronger, but also prevent the rapid infection of healthy plants in the event of a fungus: the greater the distance between the plants, the less chance of infection.

Before disembarking, it is important to disinfect the containers, for this it is sufficient to treat them with a solution of manganese or special antifungal agents and dry them. It is better to choose peat, multisectional capacity for seedlings, as they are pre-treated for fungal diseases.

Preparation of tomato seeds is a simple matter: it is enough to wrap the seeds in gauze and keep them in a weak solution of manganese or baking soda for 10 minutes. Before planting, the seeds must be dried so that the microscopic particles of manganese or soda remaining on the surface of the seeds evaporate along with the evaporating moisture.

On how to deal with a black leg, see the following video.