What are the sweet peppers?

Sweet peppers are a popular vegetable imported to the European continent from South America. Like many others, adapted to the new climatic conditions, pepper is susceptible to diseases of a different nature: fungal, viral and bacterial.

Fungal diseases.

1. 1. Obstruction is a disease of seedlings and seeds buried in soil. It is caused by a number of fungal pathogens. Most often, the seeds do not germinate (they usually say "stalled"). The seedlings are affected by the root system when they are harrowing , and they die massively. Some infected plants can grow to an adult state, but later on, under favorable conditions, the infection develops, the roots rot and the plant has to be discarded.

Rejection is typical for greenhouses and greenhouses, where the conditions of plant maintenance are far from optimal. As a rule, the temperature and irrigation regimes are not observed, and the plants are grown in a cold and waterlogged environment.

For preventive purposes, it is necessary to choose only healthy and high-quality seed material for planting, disinfect the soil before sowing with antifungal compositions, and avoid unnecessary watering and low temperatures in the greenhouses.

1. 2. Sweet peppers can suffer from stem and root rot. Usually, the disease occurs in thickened plantings and on soils with poor drainage at high humidity of air and soil. Root rot of fungal origin is manifested in watery brown or black spots at the base of the stem, the plants gradually weaken and die. Stem rot occurs in places of damage or on stem nodes, captures a fruitful pepper cup.

Among the preventive measures: seed dressing (for example, a solution of aloe juice with water 1: 1), disinfection of soils in greenhouses, observance of crop rotation and thinning of plantings.

1. 3. Gray rot is a widespread disease of greenhouse crops grown in conditions of high humidity and poor air circulation. Mushroom spores penetrate the plant through micro-lesions and form olive-green ulcers, which gradually encircle the plants and cause their death.

The spread of infection hinders frequent airing of the greenhouse, lowering of humidity below 85%, antifungal treatment and removal of diseased plants. For small lesions, it is permissible not to discard the pepper, but sprinkle the center of gray rot with a mixture of copper sulfate and lime (in a 1: 2 ratio). It is also recommended to grow resistant varieties: for example, sweet pepper "Kakadu".

1. 4. Dry rot most often develops in wet and hot weather. On the stems and leaves of the plant there are quite large concentric circles of brown color. Sweet peppers gradually die off.

When the first signs appear, treatment with copper-containing preparations is required. For the purpose of prevention, sustainable varieties of new breeding are recommended (for example, sweet pepper "Winnie the Pooh"), presowing seed treatment and observance of crop rotation.

Viral diseases.

Sweet peppers suffer from the same viral infections as tomatoes: the virus of ring (soft) spotting, tobacco mosaic, spotted wilting of tomatoes. By external signs, these diseases are difficult to distinguish from fungal or bacterial, and they are easier to prevent than to cure. For prevention, follow these tips:

- use only healthy, proven seeds;

- dress seeds before planting;

- discard weak or sick seedlings;

- treat seedlings every seven days with a solution of skim milk until bedding (for 10 liters of water - 1 liter of milk and 5 drops of iodine);

- Observe agrotechnics (sweet peppers should receive the necessary amount of light, heat, moisture and nutrition), use drugs (growth stimulants, microelements) that increase the resistance of plants;

- observe a crop rotation (related Solanaceous cultures should be grown in the same place no more than once in 4 years).

Bacterial diseases.

To date, there are more than 80 bacterial infections of cultivated plants, sweet peppers are more often observed bacterial cancer, black bacterial spotting, mild bacterial decay and bacterial wilt. The source of infection is almost always the infected seeds or plant residues left over from last year. Prevention measures are the same as in viral diseases (except for milk treatment).