Content
Deterioration in the appearance of tomato bushes does not always indicate their infection with pathogenic microflora. There are so-called non-infectious diseases, including tomato leaf oedema. It is caused by serious errors in agricultural technology, often combined with improper conditions. The external manifestations of the disease are specific, it is easily identified from a photo, and treatment of tomato leaf oedema with the use of special drugs is not required.
Description and photo
Tomato leaf oedema is a non-infectious disease, popularly called “edema”, “dropsy” or “edema”. It appears more often in bushes grown in greenhouse conditions than in plants in “street” beds. The experience of gardeners shows that the susceptibility of tomatoes to leaf oedema is influenced not only by general endurance, “stress resistance” and the level of immunity.
Treatment is more often required for varieties and hybrids that are more sensitive to waterlogging
Symptoms of leaf oedema can appear in tomatoes at any stage of the active growing season - both in young seedlings and in fruit-bearing bushes.The age and “health state” of the bush determine the rate of development of the disease and the “urgency” of treatment.
In the early stages of development, such a “physiological disorder” is not dangerous. If external negative influences are quickly eliminated, neither the volume of the harvest nor the quality of the fruit will suffer. When a gardener delays treating tomato leaf oedema without doing anything, the changes gradually become irreversible.
Symptoms of appearance
From Latin, the name of the disease is translated as “edema.” It accurately characterizes the main symptom of oedema of tomato leaves - small tubercles filled with almost transparent liquid on the front and back sides. The color does not change; the green color typical of the crop is preserved.
The plant loses its tone, greatly slows down in development, looks “unhealthy” and “depressed”
Without treatment, the tubercles gradually swell, turning into different-sized, fairly large bubbles, and merge with each other, occupying almost the entire surface of the leaf plate. Visually they seem soft, but to the touch they are quite dense.
If nothing is done, the condition of the plant becomes irreversible. In place of the “blisters”, light growths appear, similar to white rot or mold. Oedema of tomatoes spreads to the trunk, petioles, and stalks. It does not affect the tomatoes themselves, but due to a lack of nutrients they stop ripening, burst and dry out.
When the blisters that appear due to oedema of tomato leaves burst, this means that it has entered the stage of tissue necrosis, and treatment will no longer help.They become covered with a greenish-brown, cracking “crust”, curl into narrow tubes and die. The stems become deformed, thin and dry out. The bush is dying.
Causes
Most often, the gardener himself is to blame for the fact that tomatoes require treatment for leaf oedema. The development of the disease is provoked by soil that is constantly waterlogged due to too frequent and/or excessive watering.
In addition to watering, you need to take into account root fertilizers, which are mostly applied in the form of solutions
Excess water from the roots rises higher along the stems through a sap flow system. The tissues increase in volume and “swell.” Fluid accumulates in the intercellular space.
While the surface layers of the epidermis withstand its tension, the bubbles swell, increasing in volume
Other “risk factors” aggravate the situation:
- frequent and sudden changes in weather, especially temperature changes;
- increased air humidity;
- lack of normal aeration in open beds, neglect of ventilation in the greenhouse;
- lack of light and heat;
- non-compliance with the planting scheme recommended for a given variety or hybrid, excessive “crowding” in the garden bed.
Why is the disease dangerous?
If oedema of tomato leaves is noticed at an early stage of development, and the bushes are provided with proper treatment, it goes away without negative consequences. The bubbles disappear within 7-15 days, and no further anomalies in the development of the bush are noted.
Without treatment, “water-saturated” tissues and cells cannot perform their functions normally.“Failures” are noted in all processes, including vital ones.
Accordingly, the further progressing oedema of tomato leaves without proper treatment, the more it interferes with the normal development of the bush. Without receiving sufficient nutrition, it stops forming buds and fruit ovaries.
Ultimately, the tissues with blisters are modified to such an extent that the aerial part completely dies off
How to treat tomato oedema at home
Treatment in the traditional sense of the word, implying the use of folk remedies, biological products or agrochemicals to destroy the pathogen, in the case of leaf oedema at an early stage, tomatoes do not require. The healthy appearance of the bushes is restored without “auxiliary means” if the gardener adjusts the care and provides them with growing conditions that are as close to optimal as possible.
First of all, treating tomatoes for leaf oedema involves stopping watering and root feeding with fertilizer solutions. It is necessary to dry the soil for 7-12 days.
When the bushes clearly suffer from water deficiency when drying, spray the substrate and air around the tomatoes
If oedema of tomato leaves is found in a greenhouse, its treatment is impossible without normalizing the microclimate. Regular ventilation is required, ideally monitoring the most important parameters.
Tomatoes feel best at a temperature of 22-27 ° C and air humidity of 65-70%
When the bubbles characteristic of oedema of tomato leaves begin to “deflate,” it is recommended to carry out general strengthening foliar feeding, which helps them recover at an “accelerated pace.” They use drugs from the category of bio- and immunostimulants.
After successfully treating tomato leaf oedema, gardeners use:
- Zircon;
Zircon is an immune stimulant, provides a general strengthening effect, increases plant endurance
- Silk;
Silk activates metabolism and has a beneficial effect on the immune system
- Amulet;
The amulet improves overall endurance, the ability to withstand negative external influences without damage.
- Ribav-Extra;
Ribav Extra is both an immunomodulator and a general tonic, suitable for any vegetable crop
- Parthenocarpine-Bio.
Parthenocarpin-Bio increases stress resistance and simultaneously stimulates flowering
If the disease has already reached the stage of tissue necrosis, obvious deformations of the stems and massive leaf fall are observed, it is useless to fight it; no treatment will help get rid of oedema. The only thing left to do is throw away the affected tomato bushes so that they do not take up space in the garden bed or on the windowsill.
Preventive measures
Despite the fact that tomato oedema, noticed at an early stage, does not require complex treatment, it is better to take measures in advance to reduce the risk of blistering on the leaves than to then look for ways to “restore the health” of the bushes.
Effective prevention includes:
- Place the seedlings so as to provide them with the maximum possible daylight hours.
- Choosing the right place for the garden bed. The area should be open, well lit, but protected from cold drafts. The worst place is in a lowland or at the foot of a hill, where melt and rain water and damp air inevitably stagnate.
- Compliance with the landing plan. With normal aeration and unthickened plantings, oedema of tomato leaves is observed much less frequently than with “crowded” beds.
- Regulating the irrigation regime. There is no single scheme; the intervals between them are determined taking into account air temperature, frequency and intensity of natural precipitation. The surface layer of soil (1.5-2 cm) must dry out. On average, once every 3-4 days is enough in open ground and half as often in a greenhouse.
- Loosening the soil after each watering. It prevents its surface from “sintering” into a crust, which prevents normal air exchange. Mulching the beds serves the same purpose.
- Proper feeding throughout the season. In addition to applying fertilizers containing macro- and microelements, it is recommended to spray the bushes with biostimulants.
- Ventilation of the greenhouse. In hot weather, windows and transoms are kept open around the clock, even at night.
Phytolamps and other artificial lighting for seedlings are always only an additional source of light, but not an alternative to the sun
Tomato varieties resistant to oedema
The cause of oedema on tomato leaves is not pathogenic microflora. Bushes require treatment due to errors in care. Accordingly, it is impossible to create varieties and hybrids that are completely resistant to it.
There are tomatoes that cope more successfully with waterlogged soil and are resistant to temperature changes
Of the varieties and hybrids popular among gardeners, treatment for leaf oedema is less often required for the following:
- Gina;
- Blagovest;
- Buddy;
- Shustrik;
- Yarilo;
- Russian Tsar;
- Super Red;
- DJ F1;
- Drive F1;
- Tolstoy F1.
- Ural F1;
- Charisma F1;
- Vologda F1.
Important! Treatment for leaf oedema is often required for tomatoes in a greenhouse. Therefore, for planting indoors, varieties and hybrids specially created for such conditions are chosen.
Conclusion
The symptoms of “dropsy” on tomatoes are so characteristic and unique that the disease is unmistakably recognizable from the photo, and treatment of tomato leaf oedema is not required, because it is not a consequence of the bushes being damaged by pathogens, but of the gardener’s mistakes in caring for them. It is enough to normalize agricultural technology so that they restore a healthy appearance and continue to develop normally.
