Vertex rot of tomatoes

Vertex rot of tomatoes is a disease in which the tip of the fetus grows black and begins to die. It looks rather unpleasant, especially since on the affected tissues various fungi like to settle, exacerbating the situation, but in reality everything is not so scary. Most importantly, the vertex rot of tomato fruit is not an infectious disease, it is not caused by bacteria or parasites, but by improper care, so we do not have to uproot the diseased plant or use dangerous chemicals. Let's see when there is a vertex rot of tomatoes and how to deal with it.

Causes of the disease

The apical rot of tomatoes arises primarily due to a violation of the balance of calcium and nitrogen, and also due to insufficient humidity of air. Its first signs are a small black speck on the tip of the fetus. The spot begins to expand and penetrate into the tomato, and the necrotic tissue attracts various fungi and bacteria, so the infected fruits must be destroyed. To eat them should not be - remember that any fungi, including all the usual mold, do not just settle on the surface, but permeate with their "tentacles" the whole fruit. Since the disease occurs due to the general weakening of the plant, and not a specific external pathogen, the experts recommend that in advance take care of prevention, and if the rot appears, then treatment should be carried out in a complex manner.

Prevention

1. The vertex rot of tomatoes, like many other problems, is partially prevented with the help of special seed treatment. Before planting, it will be useful to etch them, that is, to hold in a weak solution of potassium permanganate from 12 to 20 hours.
2. The second important measure is the care of the soil. If possible, plants should be replaced every 3-4 years, that is, one and the same crop can not be grown from one year to the same. The fact is that each plant absorbs some elements more, others less, and eventually the soil composition changes so much that for this culture it becomes unsuitable, no matter how you fertilize this site.
3. And the third part of the prevention of rot is the maintenance of an optimum level of humidity and temperature. In dry hot weather, the plants must be constantly watered, the soil should be better covered, so that it does not heat up from the sun's rays. Of course, we must take care of the feeding of plants not only with basic elements - nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, but also trace elements.

Fight

It is very important to regularly inspect plants and fruits to identify the disease at the earliest stage. Sometimes even at the flowering stage it is noticeable that something is wrong - the flowers can be pale, weak or die too quickly. Every nuance can signal a pending illness. Vertex rot of tomato fruit is unlikely to appear at once massively - more often individual fruits or, most often, a brush suffer. It is better to immediately remove such fruits, and begin to eliminate the causes of the disease. With irrigation everything is clear - if the plant is not enough moisture, or the soil is too hot, then the tomatoes should be watered abundantly, with very dry air it will be useful to put under the plants containers with water. Sprinkle tomatoes with water is not necessary - it can lead to burns on leaves or decay of hairs. The second part of the treatment of tomatoes is calcium supplementation. Of course, the best option is to carry out soil analysis to make sure that there is a shortage of certain substances, but in any case it will be useful to carry out foliar dressing once a day with preparations containing boron and calcium, but there is no nitrogen.

As you can see, this is not such a terrible disease - vertex rot, the measures to combat it are simple and are, in essence, reduced to the proper care of plants and the prevention of other diseases and pests .