Black leg of a seedling

With the first warm days, with which spring pleases us, nature awakens and revives. And the summer residents have the most crucial period - germination of seeds, growing of seedlings and its subsequent planting in the kitchen gardens. All these pleasant troubles are overshadowed by the fact that not only foliage and grass awakens, but also dangerous fungi that have wintered in the soil. They appear on the surface just at the moment when the first leaves appear on your seedlings grown with care and love. Black leg is a disease that is common in seedlings. Because of this misfortune, all seedlings can be ruined. This fungus lives in the ground. Up to a certain point, it does not make itself felt, but it is only necessary to create conditions that are optimal for his life, which, by the way, correspond to the conditions that seedlings need for growth, as he immediately becomes more active. Get rid of such a disease as a black leg, the easiest way, filling the soil with solutions of chemical preparations. Of course, the fungus will die, but what will happen to the seedlings themselves? That's the same! But do not despair. There are also more sparing methods of combating the black leg, allowing to treat this disease on plants.

Preventive measures

The best way to avoid this scourge is to prevent the black leg, which should be started with the treatment of the soil before planting seedlings. It is known that this fungus prefers to live on acidic soils. If in your area the soil is just such, then it should be treated with ordinary wood ash . Immediately before planting seeds, boxes with the substrate in which you plan to grow seedlings, it is necessary to pour boiling water with the addition of potassium permanganate dissolved in water. The solution should be concentrated, dark pink. After two or three days, dilute in a bucket of water five teaspoons of soda, and this solution, pour the earth in the boxes. When the substrate dries well, and the lumps will crumble, you can begin seeding the seeds. If the land is too wet, the risk of a black leg injury will increase, as the fungus loves moisture. After the seeds are sown, the boxes are covered with glass or film and place them in a place where the temperature does not fall below +18 and does not rise above +20. The black leg likes low and high temperatures, so + 18- + 20 is the optimal mode for seedling, but not for fungus.

When the shoots ascend, watering should be moderate. It is best to use a spray gun or watering can for this purpose to avoid overflow. Too thick thickets of seedlings should be thinned out, so that moisture evaporates faster, without giving a black leg a chance. After the appearance of the third leaf, the seedlings must be distributed in separate containers. First, diving helps the roots to become stronger and increase in size. Secondly, if you defeat a single seedling with a black leg, you do not have to treat all the seedlings.

Do not abuse nitrogen fertilizers. The black leg feels great in soil saturated with nitrogen, so you will have to treat plants more and more often from this scourge.

Preparations against fungus

To date, there are only two drugs that effectively fight the black leg, that is, the fungus Pythium. it Previcur and Fundazol . As for Fundazol, this drug from the black leg, of course, helps, but the active substances contained in it are very toxic. If you grow seedlings in a house, then not only plants, but also family members, can suffer from toxins. It is not recommended to use this medication if there are small children or animals in the house. As for Previkur, it is less toxic. This drug has a third class of danger, which allows it to be used even in domestic floriculture. And as a preventive measure, the use of Phytosporin is allowed.

Now you know how to deal with the black leg, but with the agrotechnical rules described above, you can grow healthy seedlings and without using different chemicals.