To make sure that the culture is not threatened by mosaic disease, read its description and look at the photo. Preventive measures will help prevent the emergence of the virus. Mosaic diseases are a group of viral diseases. They are easy to recognize, since the affected plant organs (primarily fruits and leaves) acquire a variegated color that resembles a mosaic. Therefore, the disease was named that way. The spots can be varied in size and shape. They are greenish-yellow or white, the color is of varying intensity. As a result of a virus infection, the leaf plate can change shape, and the plant itself lags behind in growth.
The spread of the disease, types of mosaics
Tobacco mosaic spreads with the help of seeds, with the contact of healthy and diseased plants, with pinching. If the affected plant is even slightly injured, its juice can get on healthy specimens and damage them.
Also, the virus can be transmitted by insects: soil nematodes, bugs, ticks, aphids. Therefore, they should be fought with. Viruses remain on plant debris, in the soil. Therefore, after harvesting, it is important to clean the garden well, spill it with a disinfectant solution and dig it up.
The main types of mosaics that are the most harmful are:
- white mosaic;
- mosaic of tomato and tobacco;
- wrinkled and speckled mosaic of potatoes;
- mosaic of cabbage;
- beet mosaic.
There is also a mosaic of peas, beans, beets, cabbage, soybeans, fruit, ornamental and shrub plants.
Tobacco mosaic
Among viral diseases of this type, tobacco mosaic is distinguished. She annoyed the farmers of past centuries. In 1886, it was described in detail by a group of Dutch scientists. The disease affected tobacco plants. First, bright green spots of irregular shape appeared on one bush, then this plant quickly infected others.
In addition to changing the color of the leaves, the tobacco mosaic virus also affected their texture. Blisters formed on them. As a result, the leaves could not be used to make cigars. The disease was called "tobacco mosaic disease." That in those days, as now, there are no effective methods of struggle that would defeat this disease. Therefore, attention should be paid to the prevention and use of varieties that are resistant to the tobacco mosaic virus. It is important to see the appearance of the disease at an early stage, then you need to cut out the diseased parts of the plant or remove it completely so that the virus is not transmitted to others. In this case, hygiene measures must be observed; when using the tool on the affected specimen, the inventory must be disinfected.
White mosaic
The causative agent of this disease is the Cucumis virus 2A. It develops at temperatures around + 30 ° C. About three hundred species of plants are affected by this disease.
To identify it as early as possible, periodically inspect young growing leaves. If you find enlightenment on the veins, star-shaped spots, light yellow rings on them, then most likely it is a white mosaic.
Gradually, the spots on the affected leaf acquire a greenish-white color, they can merge, and then the leaf becomes yellowish or whitish and becomes smaller.
For the prevention of white mosaic, you should try to avoid drops and high (+ 30 ° C) temperatures. If crops are planted too close to each other, there is also a risk of white mosaics. Pests can also cause this.
Aphids and thrips are capable of spreading the virus even to indoor flowers. Hygiene will also help prevent this disease. After work, the used equipment can be wiped with alcohol, and hands washed with soap and water. If you plan to propagate plants, only take cuttings from healthy specimens.
Tomato mosaic
Demonstrates how a mosaic looks on tomatoes, a photo. It can be seen that dark or light green mottling forms on the leaves of the affected plants, and they lag behind in growth. If the temperature is moderate, then the leaves may take on a fern-leaved appearance, and at high temperatures, symptoms on the leaves are often latent at first.
Due to the disease, the affected fruits may ripen unevenly or their inner wall turns brown. The latter most often occurs on tomatoes that grow on the first two lower clusters and occurs before symptoms appear on the leaves.
The ToMV virus that causes mosaic can infect healthy ones, passing to them from diseased plants and weeds, from affected residues that have not been removed since last year, from tools. The virus can also be transmitted by gnawing insects.
The most effective method of dealing with mosaic is to use varieties that are resistant to this disease. You should not plant tomatoes where nightshades grew before, less than 4 years ago. The soil in which you plan to grow tomato seedlings must first be spilled with boiling water. Before pinching, you should sterilize the instrument or break off the stepsons in the morning without touching the plant itself.
How to save a plant from mosaic and other diseases, see this video:
