The most common and dangerous diseases tomato seedlings. Photos of diseased seedlings, description and signs of damage, preventive measures and effective methods of treating all diseases.

Tomato seedlings do not have as many diseases as adult plants. But any disease at an early stage can lead to the death of the plant, and sometimes to the complete loss of all seedlings. During the seedling period, it is much easier to prevent a disease than to fight it later. If you care for tomatoes completely carelessly, they can also be attacked by pests.

Modern tomato varieties are resistant to most diseases, especially during the seedling growth period. But when improper cultivation they can still be affected by diseases.

When grown on a windowsill, tomatoes are sometimes attacked by spider mites.

Diseases of tomato seedlings

The main cause of all diseases of tomato seedlings is poor-quality soil. Before use, it must be either frozen, steamed, or treated with chemicals. The best effect is achieved by treating the soil in combination with one of these methods.

The cause of the disease is contaminated soil. On tomatoes, the pathogens can be both pathogenic fungi and soil bacteria. This distinguishes the “black leg” of tomatoes from that on seedlings of other crops (cucumbers, peppers, eggplants), where the causative agents are pathogenic fungi.

This is what a “black leg” looks like on tomato seedlings

Description of pathogens

Bacterial variety is caused by bacteria of the genus Erwinia. Microorganisms live in the soil and infect potatoes and tomatoes. Tomatoes often get sick in the early period of development. The pathogen enters the plant through microcracks in the roots and lower part of the stem, through root hairs, and also when picking tomatoes.

Favorable factors for the development of the disease are high humidity air, poor ventilation and thickened seedlings.

The pathogen easily spreads to neighboring plants through water, soil and air. Therefore, the bacterial variety is extremely contagious, unlike the fungal form of the disease.

The development of the disease is promoted elevated temperature and soil moisture.

Signs of defeat

Bacterial form. The source of infection is soil taken from under potatoes. Microorganisms infect the roots and lower part of the stem. The disease usually spreads to all tomato seedlings.

The disease develops slowly on seedlings and usually tomatoes at home look healthy but weak. The full picture of the infection appears after the plants are planted in the ground, although in advanced cases, a constriction of the stem may form already on the windowsill.

If the plant is pulled by the stem, the constriction breaks and dark mucous contents flow out of it - the main indicator of a bacterial infection.

Fungal form. The disease develops very quickly and can destroy tomato seedlings within 1-2 days. It can affect seedlings in the cotyledon leaf stage, but most often enters plants after picking through damaged roots. But from one plant to another it is transmitted only with soil. And if the rest of the tomatoes are healthy and grow in a different soil than the diseased specimen, then they can only get sick when loosening the sick ones with one tool and healthy plants, or when picking healthy tomatoes into contaminated soil.

1. The roots are dying.
2. The lower part of the stem turns black. Subsequently, the affected part dries out, becomes thinner, forming a constriction, resulting in aboveground part water stops flowing.
3. The plant falls and dries up.

If you pull the stem, the plant is easily removed from the soil, since there are practically no roots. The stalk at the site of the lesion does not tear (unlike the bacterial form).

Fungal form of "Blackleg"

In the photo above you see a seedling affected by the fungal form of “black leg”. If each plant is grown in a separate container, then the risk of the disease spreading among the seedlings is minimal.

The difference between a bacterial form and a fungal infection. In case of a bacterial infection, the constriction on the stem is small and a stump of a healthy stem always remains under it. With the fungal form, the stem dries out from the ground, and there are no stumps.

Treatment of the disease

Since application chemicals in residential areas is limited, it is quite difficult to treat this disease.

Bacterial form

1. When black spots appear on the lower part of the stem, tomato seedlings are shed with a raspberry solution of potassium permanganate.
2. Watering at the root with biological preparations Baktofit, Planriz, Vitaplan. After 7 days, re-watering is carried out.
3. If the tomatoes are in a greenhouse and are not brought into the house at night, then they can be sprayed and spilled with a solution of Previkur Energy. After 7 days the treatment is repeated. After processing, the tomatoes are shaded.

Fungal form

1. Diseased plants are immediately removed.
2. The rest of the seedlings are shed with a raspberry solution of potassium permanganate and are no longer watered for a week.
3. After 7 days, if there are no new affected plants, the tomatoes are shed with a solution of Fitosporin or Trichodermin.

Effective folk ways from the “black leg” does not exist.

Prevention

Carrying out preventive measures allows you to avoid almost any disease on seedlings, including “black leg”.

Tilling the soil before sowing seeds is mandatory. It is frozen, kept in the cold for several days so that the ground is completely frozen. Then they bring it into the room and allow it to warm up well. When the ground becomes warm, it is taken out into the cold again. The procedure is repeated 2-3 times.

You can bake the soil in the oven. But if it is purchased with fertilizers added to it, then this method will not work, because high temperature fertilizers decompose. In any case, after calcination, Fitosporin or Trichodermin must be added to the soil for seedlings.

The simplest, but no less effective method- pouring boiling water onto the earth with potassium permanganate diluted in it.

Other preventive measures:

• seed treatment before sowing;
• disinfection of containers for seedlings;
• thinning thickened crops;
• rare and not very abundant watering;
• timely picking;
• good ventilation of seedlings.

With proper prevention, the “black leg” will not appear.

How can you save seedlings?

If it is necessary to obtain seedlings at any cost, then the top of the affected plant is cut off and placed in a jar of water. After some time it will give roots. It is advisable to plant such tomatoes immediately permanent place. They begin to bear fruit much later and their harvest is lower, but it will still be there. In this way, rare varieties can be preserved.

The causative agent is the pathogenic fungus Fusarium. Lives in soil and plant debris. Favorable conditions for development are soil temperature of 22-30°C and high humidity. The development of this disease of tomato seedlings is provoked by the high nitrogen content in the soil. The photo below shows a plant affected by fusarium.

This is what fusarium wilt looks like on tomato seedlings.

Signs of defeat

The pathogen penetrates tissues through root hairs damaged during picking. Affects the vessels of the roots and lower part of the stem. A pink coating appears on the root collar and on the stem near the soil. The lower leaves lose turgor and droop, the veins turn yellow. Since the process develops rapidly on young tomatoes, the leaves do not have time to turn yellow and the tomatoes fall.

When you try to pull tomatoes out of the ground, the stem does not break off, and the roots firmly hold the plant in the soil.

How to treat the disease

Harsh chemicals are used to treat tomato seedlings.

1. Watering tomatoes with Previkur, Maxim Dachanik or Vectra. After 7 days, watering is repeated.
2. Watering with a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate.

Treating seeds to prevent fusarium.

Prevention of disease

1. Mandatory soil disinfection before sowing.
2. Seed dressing.
3. Pre-sowing soaking of seeds in a solution of Fitosporin or Planriz.
4. Preventive watering of tomato seedlings with biological products (Planriz, Trichodermin, Baktofit, Fitosporin) once every 2 weeks.
5. Moderate watering.
6. Use fertilizers containing a minimum amount of nitrogen for fertilizing.
7. Regular ventilation of seedlings.

Tomato seedlings are rarely affected by fusarium. But if the disease appears, then measures must be taken immediately, since it spreads instantly.

Root rot

The causative agents are soil-dwelling pathogenic fungi. The photo clearly shows the consequences of such a disease.

Root rot

Signs of the disease. Depending on the pathogen, they may differ, but the common thing is root rot. The seedlings usually look healthy but suddenly fall over. When you pull tomatoes out of the soil, they are easily removed because the roots have partially or completely rotted. If you dig up the ground, you can find a lump of mucus at the location of the roots.

Control measures only preventative, since the tomatoes look healthy until the very last stage of the disease, and when they fall, there is nothing to treat, since there are no roots.

Prevention consists of drenching tomato seedlings with a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate once every 15 days. The soil must be disinfected before sowing.

Folk remedies. Water the crop with iodine solution (10 drops per liter of water).

Late blight

Late blight usually affects adult plants during the fruiting period. But it happens that seedlings also get sick, especially if there are infected potatoes in the room at the same time. IN southern regions the disease often persists on tomato seeds, so sometimes the seedlings become self-infected.

Tomatoes suffer from late blight

During the seedling period, it affects leaves and sometimes petioles.

1. Brown spots appear on the leaves. In young seedlings they are usually small, leaf plate There are 1-2 of them, located along the edge of the sheet closer to its tip. Gradually they spread to the entire leaf blade.
2. On the underside, the spots are also brown with a barely visible whitish coating, which may not exist.
3. The stains quickly turn black and the fabric dries out.
4. Brown streaks appear on the petioles.

Young tomatoes resist the disease quite successfully and usually do not die.

Treatment of the disease

During the initial period of development, tomatoes tolerate late blight without much damage. But, even if the signs of the disease completely disappear, the plants remain carriers of the pathogen and subsequently become ill with late blight very early.

Therefore, if young tomatoes are sick, it is better to throw them away and not risk further harvest. If you need to preserve tomatoes no matter what (for example, a rare variety), then treat them with any copper-containing preparation HOM, OxyHOM, Abiga-Peak, etc., except Bordeaux mixture (it is ineffective for this disease). Signs of the disease may disappear after a single treatment. But in order to prevent the early development of late blight, such tomatoes are planted separately, and treatments with copper preparations are subsequently carried out once every 10 days.

However, symptoms of the disease may remain, but it will develop slowly. It is useless to treat such seedlings; they are thrown away.

Prevention. Tomato seedlings and potato tubers should not be kept together in the same room. You can’t place them together even in a greenhouse. Potatoes for germination can only be taken to a greenhouse where tomatoes will not be grown this year.

Septoria or white spot

The causative agent is a pathogenic fungus. Spores overwinter and remain on plant debris. In addition to tomatoes, eggplants are affected, and less commonly, potatoes. Favorable conditions for the development of disease in tomato seedlings are a temperature of 15-20°C and high soil moisture.

The photo shows a plant affected by septoria.

Signs of defeat. The disease often appears on leaves, less often on stems. In adult tomatoes, flowers and fruits may be affected. In both adult plants and seedlings, the disease begins with the lower leaves. Small dirty white spots with a brown border and brown dots in the center appear on them. Gradually, the spots grow, merge and spread throughout the entire leaf blade. The leaves turn brown, curl, dry out, and the disease progresses, rising up the stem.

How to treat. When early infection with septoria blight occurs, plants die. If it is late, if it is not treated, you may lose your harvest.

If septoria blight appears on already strong seedlings, then the diseased leaves are cut off and the seedlings themselves are sprayed with copper preparations. Repeated spraying is carried out after 10 days. If the tomatoes become diseased at an early stage, they are removed because it is useless to treat them.

All healthy seedlings of not only tomatoes, but also peppers and eggplants are removed from the affected plants.

Prevention. Mandatory soil disinfection and seed treatment.

Bacterial mottling

The causative agent is bacteria. Leaves are affected. The pathogen penetrates through mechanical damage to tissues and through stomata. They overwinter on plant roots in the soil and are not preserved in a free form. When the disease is controlled, its harmfulness is low.

Bacterial mottling on tomato leaves.

Signs of the disease. Bacterial mottling begins on the lower leaves. Small brown spots with a yellowish border appear on them. Gradually, the spots increase in size, the leaf becomes yellow. Later, the spots merge, the leaf curls and dries out.

How to cure. Since the disease is not harmful and spreads slowly, it is enough to pick off the diseased leaves. However, in advanced cases it can spread faster. Since diseased seedlings are undesirable, they are sprayed with Baktovit and Trichodermin.

Prevention. Since the disease begins to progress at high temperatures and humidity, to prevent the disease, reduce the temperature, especially at night, and reduce watering.

Pests of tomato seedlings

The main pest of tomato seedlings is the spider mite.

Description of the pest. The mite is microscopic in size and greenish-yellow or orange in color. The pest is extremely prolific. At home, a new generation appears every 8-10 days. Arachnids are very voracious and, if there is a lack of food, they can even attack plants that are usually unsuitable for them.

Signs of defeat. Tomatoes spider mite usually not affected. They are repelled by the hairy leaves and tomato smell. But with a high concentration of pests in a small area, they also damage tomato seedlings. The pest feeds on leaves, sucking the juice from them.

Numerous light dots appear on the leaves - puncture sites, and grayish spots - waste products of the mite. The plant is entangled in a sticky web. Gradually the leaves dry out and fall off.

Control measures. Usually the mite does not cause serious damage to tomato seedlings, but if the infection is severe, young tomatoes may die.

Before carrying out treatment, the cobwebs should be removed, as they prevent drops of drugs from reaching the leaves.

Fighting spider mites

The simplest, but extremely effective method The fight against mites is to increase the humidity around the seedlings. To do this, the tomatoes are well watered and sprayed. warm water. Then the seedlings are covered with film or some material that does not allow moisture to pass through, and placed in a sunny place for 2-3 days. Ticks that cannot tolerate high humidity die quickly. After 3 days, the seedlings are opened and thoroughly ventilated. There is no need to water tomatoes so as not to provoke the appearance of diseases.

If this does not help, then the seedlings are taken out to the greenhouse or onto the balcony and treated with Bitoxibacillin, Agrovertin, Akarin on the underside of the leaf.

Tomatoes at a young age are quite resistant to diseases and pests. And their appearance is associated with gross violations in the cultivation of tomatoes.

Problems when growing tomato seedlings

Main problems:

• seedlings stretch;
• plants dry out;
• weak tomatoes with small leaves;
• yellow leaves with green veins.

At proper care There are no problems with tomatoes.

Growing tomatoes does not bring any particular trouble, except for the prevention and treatment of diseases. Troubles with seedlings can begin to occur immediately after they are planted in a permanent place, regardless of whether the crop is growing in open or closed ground.

Everyone knows that tomato has antimicrobial properties. Its leaves are used to combat many garden and garden pests. But the plants themselves, especially in unprotected soil, cannot resist diseases, so they need protection, preventive measures, and, if a disease is detected, timely treatment.

Late blight is a real scourge for nightshade plants. The disease begins with the appearance of spots on the leaves. Damaged leaves die and begin to fall off. Late blight appears under conditions favorable to it - dampness and coolness. During the hot summer, your tomatoes are not at risk of disease (unless they are growing in full shade in a damp corner of the garden). But as the harvest begins to ripen, when the green tomato “apples” begin to turn yellow and pink, the disease is right there. Sprawlings appear on the fruits brown spots. Such tomatoes are unsuitable for food.

The disease, even in its deep stage, can be destroyed with chemicals, but the problem is that chemical treatment of ripening fruits cannot be carried out. All that remains is prevention and folk remedies.

To prevent late blight, you need to take some actions before it appears.

1. Isolation of tomatoes from potatoes. If your site has potato plantings, sooner or later late blight will form on them, which will immediately spread to tomatoes. Potatoes from tomatoes should be planted as far as possible, ideally at opposite ends of the plot.

   

2. . On a tomato (and potato) ridge in the fall, it is necessary to carefully and deeply dig the soil. The fungal spores will end up outside and die from the cold.

   

3. TO preventive measures can also be attributed spraying with non-chemical substances, such as garlic infusion, whey, salt. At the first signs of disease, two weeks before harvesting, you can treat the tomatoes with a 1% solution Bordeaux mixture.

   

   

At the top of the “apple,” a small watery-brown spot first forms. It grows very quickly, turns brown, and the fruit rots. If it rains, rot can ruin the entire crop within a week, selecting the largest varieties first.

Tomato diseases - blossom end rot

You can prevent or cope with the following methods.

Leaf spot

It usually does not end with leaves. The fungus also attacks stems and fruit. The disease occurs during the flowering period and continues during the ripening of tomatoes. At first lower leaves become covered with “rusty” spots, then the disease rises up the stem. It spreads during rain, wind, and watering.

To rid tomatoes of leaf spot, it is recommended to take the following measures:

• after mass harvesting, collect and burn all the tops;
• If a disease is detected on the lower sheets, they must be treated with a copper-soap composition.

Fusarium

This is a typical greenhouse disease that affects young seedlings growing in a greenhouse. It is expressed in the fact that the leaves begin to turn yellow, followed by the shoots and the entire plant. The pathogen is activated by heat and insufficient humidity, as well as poor lighting.

Fusarium will have to be combated ahead of time.

"Mosaic"

This disease is widespread in both greenhouse and open ground tomatoes. The leaves are affected, changing their shape and color. Yellow spots form on them green tint spots, leaves curl and fall off. Bushes affected by mosaic do not bear fruit, the stems turn yellow, brown, dry out, and the bush dies.

To protect tomatoes from mosaic, it is necessary to carry out processing and pinching.

To obtain a tomato crop with unusual sugar taste qualities, it is necessary not only to choose the right variety, but also to provide care and protect them from diseases that can destroy them. Sugar content is a sign of a tomato berry, which manifests itself in full force only under suitable growth conditions, in a favorable environment and with scrupulous adherence to agricultural technology. For tomatoes to be like honey, you need to give them a sweet life in unprotected soil conditions that are not the most comfortable for them.

Video - Tomato diseases: Late blight. Means of struggle

Video - Tomato diseases

Growing tomatoes on your own personal plot, almost every vegetable grower is faced with one or another disease that suddenly affects this crop. Therefore, in order to ensure that the ailments that overtake the seedlings do not provoke the complete death of the growing young, it is necessary to begin taking the necessary measures in time. However, depending on the type of disease, actions to save seedlings will differ from each other. In this regard, the vegetable grower must have a good understanding of the types of ailments and be aware of ways to eliminate them.

The most common problems

Tomatoes are a rather capricious crop, so they require tireless care at every stage of development. However, even those vegetable growers who regularly care for tomatoes can encounter many troubles that befall growing young plants. Tomato diseases are different and arise for many reasons.

The most common problems with seedlings include such ailments as yellowing of leaves and their subsequent drying, death of growing young, damage to the ovary and formed fruits. Such troubles can have different origins and depend on what type of disease has overtaken the young bushes of this popular crop.

Typology of diseases

Very often, vegetable growers who devote time every day to caring for growing tomato bushes are faced with the fact that almost overnight, for inexplicable reasons, the quality of the seedlings deteriorates sharply. This phenomenon can occur due to various types of infections, which are divided into types such as:

• diseases caused by viruses;
• diseases caused by bacteria;
• illnesses caused by fungal spores.

In addition to pathogens, problems with growing tomatoes can be caused by natural factors, as well as due to improper plant care. Therefore, you should understand what diseases of tomato seedlings there are in more detail in order to external signs quickly determine the type of illness that has arisen.

Major fungal diseases

Quite often, young tomato bushes become easy targets for various fungal spores, which can quickly spread throughout the area and infect seedlings. Typically, one or another pathogen settles on the leaves and stems, after which it penetrates deep into the tissues and begins to eat the plants from the inside. Light spores are carried in the air even with the slightest gusts of wind, as a result of which they fall into water and soil, causing infection of growing healthy specimens.

Any fungal infections are very dangerous for tomatoes, but there are a number of diseases that can destroy almost all plantings of this crop in a short time. The most malicious enemies of tomatoes are considered to be 3 infections, which are quite insidious, because they creep up completely unnoticed, but cause irreparable harm.

• Cladosporiosis is a fairly common fungal disease and most often affects those tomatoes that grow under film cover. First, the fungus attacks the back side of the leaves, leaving brown spots on them with an unnatural rough coating. After a short period of time, the affected foliage dries up, and the mature fungal spores fly at lightning speed to neighboring healthy specimens.

• Late blight is a dangerous infection that can be transmitted both through the air and through the soil if the weather is rainy but hot outside for a long time. It quickly attacks growing young growth, causing the appearance of black areas on the foliage with a distinct light frame. The stem also does not go unnoticed by the fungus and is instantly covered with black stripes. A day later, the infected plants begin to dry out completely, and in the meantime, harmful spores freely attack new bushes. If the infection occurs during the period of active formation of the fruits, then they are also exposed to infection.

• Blackleg is a common infection that affects plants at the growth stage, especially if hot weather lasts for a very long time and the tomato bushes are overly flooded with water. The causative agent of the disease moves from the soil to the lower part of the stem, after which the sore spot becomes thin, and the seedling itself falls and soon dies. The same fate awaits the rest of the healthy plantings if measures to combat the destructive scourge are not taken in time.

Such infections can affect crops not only in open ground conditions, but also in a greenhouse. Fortunately, all of the diseases of tomato seedlings described above are curable at home, but only if you immediately begin to take active measures to combat them.

The most dangerous viral diseases

In addition to fungal spores that can cause irreparable harm to tomatoes, there are dangerous viruses that can lurk in the soil or be carried by pests. Therefore, the vegetable grower should examine the young plants more carefully in order to notice even minor changes in the appearance of the plants.

Most often, tomatoes are affected by aspermia or mosaic, which are equally dangerous for plantings. As a result, the garden owner should know them distinctive features in order to recognize the attack in time.

• Aspermia is a disease that affects tomatoes at the growth stage, mainly in a greenhouse or greenhouse. Infected plants do not show obvious suspicious signs for some time, so the disease can only be detected when the tomato ovary begins to ripen. It is then that the fruits will begin to lag significantly behind in development and risk remaining small and with complete absence seeds
• Mosaic - manifests itself on plants in that their leaves acquire different color intensities, and lighter leaves begin to stand out clearly among the green mass. Such a virus will not be able to destroy the fruits, but the infection will certainly affect their taste and product characteristics.

Knowing what viral diseases of tomatoes there are, descriptions with photographs and methods of treatment, you just need not to miss the moment when the disease is just beginning to manifest itself. Then you can quickly get rid of it and save it high quality new harvest.

Harmful bacterial infections

Along with fungal and viral diseases, there are bacterial infections that represent serious threat for tomatoes. Considering the fact that harmful microorganisms live in soil and seeds, we can safely say that the threat can come from any direction. That is why it is important not to miss the moment when the first signs of infection appear and to carefully examine them, because some may be subtle. It is especially important to be well informed about three ailments that pose particular dangers.

• Brown spot is a disease that can spread instantly if there is high air and soil humidity. It quickly affects plants, on the leaves of which yellow spots with a gray tint appear. If the attack hits the bushes during the period of fruit ripening, then the growing ovary also becomes stained and becomes unsuitable for further use.

• Stolbur is a bacterial infection transmitted by insects. As a result of infection, various stripes and spots become clearly visible on the seedlings, the color of the foliage and trunk changes from green to pink and even purple. The seedlings themselves become coarser over time, which does not have the best effect on the formation and development of the ovary.

All of the above diseases of tomato seedlings and the fight against them, photos of which confirm the existing danger, should begin immediately after the first signs of damage are detected. After all, the sooner you start saving seedlings, the greater the likelihood that all your efforts will not be wasted.

Effective methods of control

If any change in the appearance of the seedlings is detected, it is necessary to urgently take appropriate measures to cure the tomatoes. Some rescue measures are quite simple to carry out and do not require special preparation, but in the event of severe damage to the plantings, the vegetable grower will need to work hard. Moreover, each disease requires its own special approach, because they often have a different nature of origin.

After the garden owner has studied all the diseases of tomato seedlings, photos and their treatment, you can safely begin to take action. Depending on the disease, methods of combating the disease will be as follows:

• Cladosporiosis at the initial stage of development can be stopped by spraying the plants with the preparation “Barrier” or “Barrier”;
• Late blight can be cured if, at the first sign of it, the bushes are treated with Bordeaux mixture;
• Blackleg can only be eliminated together with the affected plants, but it can be prevented re-occurrence it is possible by treating the soil with copper sulfate;
• Aspermia also disappears only with getting rid of diseased plants, but it can be prevented by thinning the young growth in time and leaving only plantings with strong immunity;
• Mosaic is treated with a urea solution and spraying with a manganese solution;
• Brown spot is expelled by irrigating seedlings with a fungicide containing copper;
• Stolbur is also destroyed by spraying young growth with a fungicide.

Getting rid of any ailment takes a long time and sometimes requires repeated administration of medications. Therefore, you should be patient and not start the process by starting to implement certain measures on time.

Very soon it will be time to sow tomato seeds for seedlings. All gardeners want to grow healthy seedlings in order to get good harvest everyone's favorite tomatoes.

To do this, you need to work hard. It often happens that it is not possible to obtain high-quality seedlings for one reason or another. One of the most common reasons for such failure is diseases of tomato seedlings. How to avoid this misfortune? To do this, you need to know the enemy by sight. We will consider a description of diseases with photographs and methods of treating them at home in this article.

What are the diseases of tomato seedlings?

Having sowed tomato seeds, we eagerly wait for the first shoots to appear, however, with the first shoots, the risk of seedlings becoming infected with various ailments, which are caused by various reasons, increases. Let's look at the types of diseases of tomato seedlings and the causes of their occurrence.

Seedling diseases can be divided into:

• fungal;
• viral;
• bacterial;
• non-infectious.

The former are caused by various fungi that arise from improper care of seedlings (excessive watering, which results in stagnation of moisture, and temperature changes).

The causes of viral diseases can be diseased seeds, lack of nutrients soil, pests that spread the virus, unfavourable conditions growing.

Bacterial infections also arise due to improper conditions for keeping seedlings indoors: high humidity and air temperature. In addition, the cause of such diseases can be contaminated soil and poor-quality seeds.

Non-communicable diseases are associated with disorders mineral nutrition soil in which the seedlings grow. Moreover, the disease can arise as a result of a shortage minerals, and when they are entered incorrectly.

To choose adequate treatment methods, it is necessary to accurately determine the nature of the disease and the causes that caused it.

Fungal diseases

Fungal diseases include such diseases as:

• blackleg;
• white leaf spot (septoria);
• fusarium wilt;
• rot - black, white, gray;
• Alternaria blight;
• powdery mildew.

Late blight

A fungal disease that develops due to high humidity, temperature changes and thickening. Also, the disease can be transmitted through diseased seeds, contaminated soil, raindrops or even air.

Shows itself through education dark spots on the leaves followed by their drying out. The stems of seedlings become striped, dry out or rot if the soil is oversaturated with moisture. If symptoms of the disease are detected, diseased plants are isolated or destroyed, and the rest are treated with Zaslon.

After two weeks, the treatment of the seedlings is repeated, only with the Barrier preparation. The plants are sprayed a third time after planting in open ground when inflorescences appear. To do this, use the following solution - 1 g of potassium permanganate, 1 glass of crushed garlic per bucket of water.

Before sowing, to avoid trouble, the seeds should be treated with potassium permanganate for 15 minutes, and before planting the seedlings in the soil, it is also recommended to add a solution of potassium permanganate to the holes at the rate of 1 g per liter of water. This solution is enough for two holes.

Blackleg

A fungus that enters plants through the soil. High humidity and high temperature can provoke the onset of the disease. If a disease occurs, the seedlings face inevitable death within 24 hours. Symptoms of blackleg appear on the stem, thinning it, which leads to the death of the sprout. Such plants are removed, and the place where they grew is covered with wood ash.

To avoid misfortune, before sowing the seeds, sprinkle the soil with the mixture. copper sulfate(1 teaspoon) and ash (1 glass), and before planting in greenhouses, destroy all sick and weak plants.

White leaf spot

Occurs when a fungus from contaminated soil gets on the lower leaves of seedlings. From the lower leaves, the disease quickly spreads throughout the plant. First, the leaves become brown, then become covered with black dots, dry out and fall off.

If you notice the onset of a disease in time, you can save the seedlings by treating them with a solution of copper sulfate (1 glass per 10 liters of water). Dead plants are destroyed, the soil is treated with a dark solution of potassium permanganate and sprinkled with wood ash.

Fusarium wilt

Causes a soil fungus, which, penetrating into the roots of seedlings, contributes to its withering, due to the fact that plant tissues lose their elasticity. If you cut off a diseased sprout, then on the cut you can observe a violation of vascularity in the form of bundles covered with brown rings.

To avoid this problem, you need to provide optimal lighting for plants, and also maintain sterility when planting seedlings in open ground.

Rotten

They arise due to an excess of soil moisture at low temperatures. They are manifested by a change in the color of the leaves of the seedlings, the appearance of weeping spots with a coating of spores. As a result, the leaves wither and fall off.

At the first signs of disease, seedlings must be treated with a solution of copper oxychloride (40 g of the drug per 10 liters of water), and diseased leaves must be promptly removed. Before planting seedlings in the ground, it is worth treating it with a 2% solution of trichodermin a few days before planting.

Cladosporiosis (olive spot)

More often it occurs after planting seedlings in a greenhouse. The disease begins with the lower leaves, on which large yellow spots, and their lower part is covered with a velvety coating. These are fungal spores. Then the leaves curl into tubes and fall off.

The disease mainly manifests itself at the beginning of flowering of tomato plants. How more humidity and the higher the temperature, the more intense the process of spreading the disease. Before treating plants against cladosporiosis, remove all diseased and fallen leaves. As treatment agents, use 1% Bordeaux mixture, Barrier or Barrier preparations.

Alternaria or dry rot

A fungal disease that is manifested by the appearance of brown areas on the back of the leaves of seedlings. After some time, the leaves of the plants completely turn brown and fall off, and the disease spreads to the stems of the tomatoes. This disease can only be combated with the help of chemicals (fungicides) Acrobat, Ditan, Quadris. Treatment must be carried out immediately when the first signs of the disease are detected.

Powdery mildew

One of the most common fungal diseases caused by marsupial fungus. This disease mainly affects seedlings after planting in a greenhouse. Transmitted through contaminated soil. A white coating appears on the leaves, forming chlorosis of their tissues, gradually turning into necrosis.

The disease causes irreparable damage to the yield, therefore, before planting seedlings in the soil, the latter is disinfected with a strong solution of manganese, and the seeds are soaked in the preparation Epin before sowing.

When the first signs of the disease appear, the plants are sprayed with Quadris, Strobi or Topaz. Preventive treatment can be carried out with the same substances twice per season.

Viral diseases

The most common of them:

• mosaic;

Mosaic pathogen

The rod-shaped virus infects plants, most often when planting seedlings in open ground. The disease manifests itself different shades leaves. Dark green leaves are mixed with lighter ones, forming a mosaic. Then they curl and fall off.

Infection occurs through diseased seeds. To avoid illness, you should use planting material a year ago. Diseased plants must be destroyed, and the remaining seedlings are sprayed with either a weak solution of potassium permanganate or a 5% urea solution.

Aspermia or seedlessness

It manifests itself as smaller leaves, which occurs due to retarded growth and development of plants. Affected seedlings bear fruit worse, producing small fruits. They are usually deformed in shape, and the main feature of such fruits is the absence of seeds.

Diseased plants are destroyed. To avoid illness, you should preventive treatment seeds, and also use only high-quality seed material purchased from reliable manufacturers.

Streak

Causes tobacco mosaic virus. First, streaks appear on the leaves Brown, in place of which ulcers then form. As a result of this, the entire plant becomes fragile, and its upper part falls off.

This disease directly affects the yield, reducing it, and the quality of the fruit deteriorates. Sick seedlings must be destroyed, and to avoid disease, it is recommended to carry out more careful pre-sowing preparation seed material.

Bacterial diseases

Bacterial diseases are caused by various bacteria. Such diseases include:

• brown leaf spot;
• black bacterial spot;
• bacterial mottling;
• bacterial wilt;
• bacterial cancer.

Brown leaf spot

It is provoked by waterlogging of air and soil. The outer side of the plant leaves is covered with gray-yellow spots, which merge over time, and an olive-colored coating appears on the reverse side, which gradually turns red.

Such leaves quickly dry out and die. Diseased seedlings must be destroyed and the soil treated with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture. It is advisable to spray the seedlings with copper-containing preparations.

Black bacterial spot

Appears due to the use of poor quality seed material. Also, the virus often enters plants through the soil, or high humidity can trigger the disease.

Symptoms are small, round or oval-shaped, black spots on the leaves and stems, spreading throughout the entire plant in a short time, as a result of which it dies. Sick sprouts must be destroyed. Treatment - treatment of seedlings with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture.

Bacterial mottling

Occurs due to the penetration of phytopathogenic bacteria into seedlings. The leaves are covered with oily translucent spots that spread from the edge of the leaf to its middle. Gradually, the spots merge, and the leaves curl and fall off.

When the first signs of the disease appear, the seedlings are sprayed with copper-containing preparations (copper sulfate 1 cup per 10 liters of water) or Fitolavin-300.

Stolbur

A bacterial disease caused by microplasma bodies carried by certain types of insects. This disease is the most common of all bacterial diseases.

Symptoms are purple or pinkish spots on the leaves and stems of seedlings, followed by their coarsening. Treatment and prevention consist of treating plants twice with Confidor, Aktara or Mospilan. The seedlings are sprayed for the first time on the 25th day after planting the seeds, and the second time - before planting in a permanent place of growth.

Bacterial wilt

Dangerous bacterial disease, as a result of which the seedlings begin to wither for no apparent reason. In severe forms of the disease, longitudinal brown stripes can be observed on plant stems.

Often formed aerial roots. The leaves turn yellow, the growth of seedlings is inhibited, and the subsequently formed fruits become smaller and fall off. Sick plants must be destroyed, and healthy ones must be treated with a 1% solution of Fitoflavin-300.

Bacterial cancer

Tomato stem affected by bacterial canker

The most terrible of all types of diseases. It destroys the blood vessels of tomato plants. Symptoms are cankers that spread throughout the plant, causing it to die. Such sprouts must be urgently destroyed, and the soil where they grew must be replaced with new one. To avoid this scourge, seeds are treated with formaldehyde before planting (1 part 40% solution to 300 parts water).

Non-communicable diseases

These ailments arise due to a deficiency of one or another component in the soil. Such diseases include:

1. Nitrogen deficiency, which is manifested by blanching of the leaves of the seedlings. If symptoms occur, it is necessary to add nitrogen-containing substances to the soil (urea solution - 1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water).
2. Insufficient phosphorus characterized by dead areas on the leaves. Their color gradually changes from green to purple, and brown spots on the bottom of the leaf become visible. The problem can be eliminated by adding double superphosphate or ammonium sulfate to the soil (2 teaspoons per liter of water). A solution of double superphosphate is prepared as follows: 20 tbsp. spoons are dissolved in 3 liters of water. Then, 150 g of the resulting solution is added to 10 liters of water and mixed;
3. Copper deficiency manifested by curling of leaves and bending of petioles to the bottom. The leaves become whitish-gray, but the veins remain green. Eliminated by adding a solution of 3% solution of copper sulfate or copper sulfate;
4. Iron deficiency spreads from the stems to the leaves, affecting their bases. The leaves become discolored and necrotic spots appear on them. When 0.25% iron sulfate is added, the plants return to normal;
5. With a lack of potassium the edges of the leaves become as if burned. If the problem is not corrected in time, the spots will begin to increase, affecting the entire plant. Young leaves become wrinkled, and older ones acquire an ash-gray tint. Treatment - adding plant or wood ash to the soil;
6. For calcium deficiency Necrosis of the lower part of the leaves appears. Such plants are prone to disease and wilting. The upper leaves remain green, but the lower leaves turn yellow and fall off. The disease is treated by adding calcium nitrate (25 g of the drug per 10 liters of water);
7. Lack of sulfur characterized by a dim pale pink hue on the underside of the leaves closer to the petiole. If the disease is advanced, necrotic plaques appear on the leaves, and brown stripes form along the petiole. The leaves of such plants stretch upward, become fragile and brittle. Sulfur starvation of the soil is treated by adding magnesium sulfate (30 g per 10 liters of water).

The article provides a list of the most common diseases of tomato seedlings and methods for eliminating them. Many gardeners are content traditional methods treating plants, considering them safer, however, such methods are not always effective, and not all ailments can be healed with them. Often you have to resort to chemicals, since, in some cases, only they can save gardeners from the impending threat of crop loss.

If you approach growing seedlings with great responsibility, strictly following all the rules, you can easily avoid troubles such as diseases.

Homemade and industrial cultivation good and healthy harvest It is impossible to grow tomatoes without proper preparation for planting and subsequent care of the seedlings. Tomato seedlings are very capricious and susceptible to various diseases. There are many diseases and some of them are harmful. To protect your crop, you need to monitor the behavior of young seedlings and, at the first modifications, carry out the necessary preventive and therapeutic “rescue” measures.

Fungal

Tomato seedlings and adult plants are susceptible to infection by a number of fungal diseases:

Alternaria blight

A fungal disease of tomatoes that affects all above-ground parts of the plant. First, single black spots form on the leaves, and then they begin to merge into one continuous black mess. The disease can spread to green and already ripe fruits. It appears on fruits in the same way as on leaves. The plant becomes infected through the remains of the fungus in the soil after the last harvest. The disease begins to progress most quickly in high humidity and warmth.

The following fungicides for spraying are applicable for control:

Anthracnose

A fungal disease that affects leaves and fruits. When the leaves become diseased, they become completely covered with brown spots and wilt. The upper leaves fall off and expose the entire central stem. Infection occurs from diseased plants and untreated soil.

Applicable for treatment:

White rot

This disease first affects the above-ground parts of tomato seedlings. Spots appear in the form of wet putrefactive wounds. The most favorable conditions for the onset of disease development are various mechanical damage on the surface of the trunk. The infected plant itself does not die, but over time the rot spreads to the fruits and completely spoils them.

Infection occurs exclusively through contaminated soil and poor-quality composts.

Measures to prevent the development of white rot:

• Steaming the soil before planting seedlings in it.
• Careful cultivation and disinfection of soils after the previous harvest.

Verticillium

This fungal disease is also called tomato wilt. The leaves on the plant begin to turn yellow (turn brown) at the edges, they look rather burnt. The entire above-ground part of the seedlings begins to wilt. At the second stage, the stems are rejected by the root system and the seedlings completely die. The fungus persists in the soil, plant debris and infects young shoots.

The only measure to preserve the harvest will be to grow disease-resistant varieties.

There are no fungicides to control verticillium.

Cladosporiosis

At the initial stage of manifestation fungal disease Red spots begin to appear on the lower basal leaves. Later, these spots darken and a visible plaque forms on top of them.

IN good conditions with high humidity (in permanent greenhouses), the fungus can persist in the soil for up to 10 years. To save the harvest you need to use it for plantings resistant varieties tomato to this disease.

When the disease manifests itself, the following spraying preparations should be used:

Root rot

This fungal disease develops mainly when tomatoes are grown in greenhouses or in waterlogged soil. Symptoms of rot can be compared to the initial development of blackleg disease. If you remove a seedling from the ground, you can observe the thinning of the stem in the root zone and its blackening. Herself root system has black branches. The root rots and the plant completely withers.

Methods for protecting and treating seedlings from disease:

Powdery mildew

This fungal disease can cause colossal damage to seedlings and crops. Infection occurs due to insufficient watering and low air temperature. The entire above-ground part of the plant is covered with clearly defined white spots. A visible powdery coating forms on the entire surface of the leaf.

To combat the disease use:

Stem cancer

This fungal disease is most common in film greenhouses. It rarely develops under glass or in open ground. Infection occurs through infected plant debris in the soil and diseased seeds planted as seedlings. The best conditions for cancer development are high humidity and low temperature. The disease mainly affects the stem, and the leaves are rarely affected. The bottom of the stem becomes brown, less often black. In the root zone, depressed “wounds” form on the plant stem and gum oozes from them.

For treatment and prevention use:

Septoria (White spot)

This fungal disease affects the above-ground part of seedlings. The leaves of the seedlings are covered with alternating white spots with small black spots. Initially, the lower leaves of the plant are affected, then they dry out and fall off. The plant becomes ill due to the remains of last year’s infected vegetation in the soil.

Treatment methods and precautions:

Gray rot

Dangerous fungal disease. The entire stem and leaves of the plant are affected. A gray-white coating is visible on the surface of the plant. The plant quickly turns completely gray, withers and dies.

Such a fungus can be transmitted to a plant through nearby infected crops growing by airborne droplets. The disease develops more rapidly when high level air humidity.

The most effective chemical methods The following drugs protect seedlings:

Late blight

This disease is very insidious. It affects all above-ground parts of the plant. Rusty spots appear on the plants; over time, the entire plant turns brown and completely rots.

Late blight occurs:

• Through poorly cultivated soil after the last harvest.
• Due to planting seedlings of already infected seeds.
• Through infected plants growing nearby.
• By airborne droplets.

Treatment against late blight should be carried out before planting seeds and after planting seedlings in open ground. You should not plant potatoes next to tomatoes. To protect seedlings from late blight, you need to plant tomatoes near onions and garlic.

The most popular means of combating late blight are:

Blackleg

This fungal disease is transmitted to seedlings through contaminated soil. The development of the disease occurs due to high air humidity and hot, stable weather. The disease can completely destroy young seedlings within 24 hours. At the first signs of wilting of the seedlings, it is necessary to pull out one sprout from the crops and examine its root and basal stalk. If the leg becomes thin and black, the plants are affected.

You need to act quickly to save the seedlings:

Fusarium wilt

A pathogenic fungal disease in which the leaves first become deformed (twisted) and dry out, and then the tomato shoots wither and the plant dies. Plants become infected through plant residues in the soil or the seeds themselves are infected. To avoid infection, when planting, use seeds of varieties resistant to the disease.

To cope with the disease, you need to water the seedling bushes with Pseudobacterin-2.

Southern late blight

At the first manifestations of this fungal disease, the root collar of the plant initially turns brown and becomes deformed. Then the whole plant begins to rot. Rot rises inside the stem and appears externally on the leaves. white coating, which completely covers the entire sheet. Infection with the disease can be due to sowing diseased seeds or due to the remains of diseased plants in the soil.

To prevent illness you need:

Bacterial

There are also tomato diseases caused by various pathogenic bacteria:

Bacterial mottling

This bacterial disease is observed on plants in open ground. High humidity and low air temperature is Better conditions for the development of the disease. Bacteria live in the roots of weeds and in the tomato seeds themselves. Bacteria do not live long in the soil itself.

In the first stages of disease development, small brown oily spots appear on the green aerial part of the tomato plant. The leaves begin to curl and eventually die off completely.

To combat mottling, it is necessary to spray the seedlings (the dosage is indicated on the package) with a solution of Fitolavin-300.

Bacterial cancer

This bacterial disease manifests itself slowly and gradually destroys the entire plant and young fruits. First, the leaves wither and fall off, and brown growths can be observed on the petioles and stem. Plant withering occurs in stages from bottom to top. If you cut the stem, you will see a yellow void in the core.

Often, painful bacteria lie dormant in the plant seeds themselves. And also the cancer pathogen can be in the soil and plant residues.

Crayfish bacteria are resistant to drought and moisture, but cannot tolerate high temperatures. At an air temperature of +45 Celsius, bacteria stop their development, and when the heat rises, they completely die, but the plant also dies. Soil calcination treatment must be carried out before planting.

To treat this disease, you need to treat the seedlings with fungicides containing copper.

On the day of sowing, the seeds must be soaked in a TMTD suspension solution for 2-3 hours.

Bacterial wilt

This viral disease in mass cultivation of tomatoes is considered quarantine disease. There are no visible signs at the initial stage of wilting development. Signs are visible only when the first fruits are formed. The diseased plant is very frail and underdeveloped, its color is unsaturated. The fruits on such plants are very small and irregular in shape. Tomatoes quickly wilt and dry out completely.

These bacteria live in the soil. Most often, bacteria persist at the site of old crops of potatoes, carrots and beets.

The most active spread of the disease begins during the growth and development of fruits, and when watering with low-quality water.

Before planting seedlings in a greenhouse, quarantine treatment must be carried out.

Sick plants are destroyed, as well as everything growing nearby. They need to be removed, and the rest should be watered with a solution of Fitolavin-300 at a concentration of 0.6-1.0%.

You can also spray the seedlings with Fitolovin-300 with the addition of 0.15% liquid glass.

Root cancer

With this disease, bacteria attack the inside of the stem. Small, scattered brown growths form on the stem. In the section of the stem, brown emptiness and rottenness are visible.

Infection occurs through plant debris and contaminated soil.

When the time comes to plant seedlings in open ground, you need to minimize mechanical pressure on the roots of plants. It is through all the miniature wounds in the roots of tomatoes that cancerous pathogenic bacteria penetrate.

Before planting seedlings, you need to steam the soil and soak its roots in a solution of Fitosporin-M.

Wet rot

This bacterial disease begins its development from the stems. Darkening occurs from the roots along the inner wall of the stem, and then the stem turns brown and softens. After a few days, the above-ground part of the plant rots completely, and all that remains of the fruit is a skin with rotten liquid.

There are no measures to combat rot, you can only exterminate pests. And to prevent development, it is worth calcining the soil before planting seedlings and sowing seeds.

Stem necrosis

This disease affects the most developed plants. Brown spots and small growths in the form of warts appear on tomato stems. Over time, the growths crack, and the tomatoes themselves wither and die. The most favorable temperature for pathogen development is +26-+28 degrees Celsius. When the air temperature rises to +40, the bacteria die. The disease develops due to the sowing of infected seeds or through nearby affected plants.

To avoid plant infection, everything must be done agricultural methods tillage before sowing.

There are no chemical means to combat this disease.

Black spot

Plants infected with bacterial spot are characterized by underdeveloped appearance. The plant has a faded color, a thin trunk and deformed leaves. Rust spots form throughout the plant. Only the roots are not affected.

The development of the disease is promoted by plant debris in the soil, as well as by planting infected seeds. Before planting in the ground, seed material must be treated with Fitolovin-300 solution.

You also need to spray with the fungicide Kartotsid in a ratio of 40 grams of the drug per 10 liters of water. The working solution should be enough for 1 hundred square meters of area.

Viral

Aspermia

Crop losses due to aspermia can only be avoided by disinfecting or eliminating diseased plants, as well as by destroying insect vectors.

Bronzing

With the development of this viral disease Yellow-brown ring patterns are visible on the leaves of plants and on young green fruits. The leaves begin to curl and die, and the fruits become light and simply fall off. Infection occurs through thrips and weeds.

The virus cannot be treated, it can only reduce its activity at high air temperatures (+35-+45).

To avoid infections, you need to carefully control weeds in the area and destroy thrips. Infected plants cannot be cured.

Yellow curl

This viral disease is also called tomato jaundice. A diseased plant has curled, rusty, small leaves. The entire plant becomes mottled, brownish-green. The fruits of such plants do not ripen, but only turn yellow and wrinkle. Whiteflies infect plants with this virus.

There are no treatments for the disease. To prevent the birth of whiteflies and the development of curl, you can treat the soil before planting seedlings or sowing seeds.

There is only one tomato variety resistant to this disease - F1 Senzafin.

Top bushiness

This disease can begin to develop at the very beginning of seedling germination. White dots first form on the leaves, which then darken and cause necrosis on the leaf surface. The leaves of the seedlings stretch out in length and then curl downwards. Such plants are in most cases very frail. The end result is that the leaves become coarser and their veins turn blue. The disease is transmitted through aphid larvae in the soil or through adult insect. There may also be already infected seeds.

The virus dies only at high air temperatures up to +75.

There are no means of protection against bushiness, except for agrotechnical preventive measures.

Mosaic

A viral disease caused by tomato mosaic virus. First, the leaves of the plant begin to deform and become covered with green spots. Then the disease goes into the form of a streak.

To avoid infection, you need to choose tomato varieties that are resistant to the mosaic virus. To combat the disease, before planting, it is worth disinfecting the soil and treating the seeds, and spraying the seedlings with a solution of the drug Fitolovin.

Threadiness of leaves

The plant becomes infected with cucumber mosaic virus or tomato mosaic virus. Infected seedlings or mature plant The fruit dies completely. The disease manifests itself in the fact that the leaves of the plant become like strings. Externally, the leaf looks like a fern leaf. This disease can spread to plants through aphids.

Disease prevention measures will be agrotechnical (disinfection of soil and seeds). It is also worthwhile to identify and destroy all pests in a timely manner.

Non-infectious

There are several non-infectious diseases of tomatoes that harm the plant and further harvest:

Blossom rot

The disease occurs at the genetic level of the tomatoes themselves. The disease appears as brown spots throughout the plant. Later, the spotting spreads to green fruits and spoils them from the inside. To prevent the development of the disease, before planting it is necessary to normalize the acidity of the soil to 6. It is also worth adding planting soil calcium, maybe ground chalk.

Stolbur

Phytoplasmamatic plant disease. Seedlings become infected by being infected by the insect vector cicadas. In a diseased plant, mutations begin: the root bark becomes dense and turns brown, the leaves curl and shrink, even the green fruits become denser (woody). There are no ways to combat this disease. The only thing that can be done is to prevent cicada invasions.

Hollowness

The disease manifests itself to a greater extent on fruits. Hollow fruits do not have seed material inside. This occurs due to impaired fruit set, lack of proper pollination, or temperature changes. If there are weak young seedlings in the garden, it means they lack something and are underdeveloped. It is better to get rid of such plantings immediately.