The content of the article:
A fungal disease called powdery mildew or oidium is a real scourge of fruit and berry crops, including currants. Varieties of white and red currants are affected by this disease an order of magnitude less than black.
Having entered the territory of our continent from America in 1900, powdery mildew spread everywhere. The danger of the disease lies in the fact that it not only causes damage to the crop, but can also lead to the death of plants.
What is powdery mildew on the currant?
The causative agent of the disease is parasitic spore fungus.
He hibernates on the affected plants and leaf fall, and in the spring begins to multiply actively. The speed of fungal development is affected by moist and warm weather, excess in the soil of nitrogen fertilizers.
If you do not take appropriate measures, then by July-August the whole plant will be affected by it.
Signs of defeat of currant bushes with powdery mildew:
- On the leaves and shoots, a characteristic whitish-gray coating appears, which eventually acquires a brown tinge.
- The shoot is hit by a growth point, it stops developing and deforming.
- Leaves twist, grow smaller, lose green color.
- The berries that have managed to form are covered with plaque, and not yet formed, are crumbled.
- The bush of the currant stops its growth, dries, its frost resistance decreases. Thus, if the plant does not die directly from the disease, it still does not survive the winter.
How to deal with powdery mildew in the currant?
At present, this disease is well studied, and there are a sufficient number of methods to combat it. To effectively counteract powdery mildew on the currant, treatment should be combined with preventive measures.
The main method of treating plants with powdery mildew infection is spraying with various solutions, so it is important to carry out this procedure correctly. To process plants it is necessary from different directions, trying to moisten leaves both from below, and from above. For spraying, you can use a spray or a soft brush - the main thing is that all parts of the plant are treated. The procedure itself should be carried out late in the evening in dry weather. Once every 4-7 days, the spraying is repeated until the disease completely disappears.
Treatment of the disease
On sale there are ready fungicidal preparations, for their use it is necessary to adhere to the manufacturer's recommendations.
There is also a huge amount of effective folk recipes for combating powdery mildew:
- 80 grams of copper vitriol + 10 liters of water. This solution is recommended to be used in the spring before bud blossoming; Handle the bush itself and the ground beneath it.
- 50 g of soda ash + 10 liters of water. The composition is treated with plants after flowering.
- 1 kg of wood ash (clean and sifted) + 1 bucket of water. The mixture is insisted for several days, filtered, add laundry soap and process the plants.
- , g potassium permanganate + 10 liters of water.
- 1 part Mullein + 3 parts water. The mixture is insisted for three days, diluted: and once a week, plants are treated.
- 3 liters of serum + 7 liters of water + 1 hour. l. copper sulphate.
Prevention of powdery mildew in the currant
Preventive measures to combat the disease are the mandatory pruning of bushes in autumn, harvesting fallen leaves and branches in which the pathogen can winter and burn them.
In the early spring, you should treat currant bushes and soil with vitriol solution. Periodically inspect the bushes for rapid detection of the disease. Thus, you will not only begin treatment earlier, but also will be able to identify the development of other currant diseases.
If climatic conditions contribute to the development of fungal diseases, it is necessary to grow resistant varieties of currant: "Golubka "Black pearl "Agate" and others.
