Each gardener who tried to grow dill at least once encountered problems in the form of signs of the disease or mechanical damage from pests. The measures taken in time will help save the crop, because the more the situation is launched, the more radical its solution.
Dill Disease
The manifestation of various diseases adversely affects the condition of dill at any stage of growth. Most often, in the risk zone, those beds on which agrotechnical measures are carried out poorly, and dill due to nutrient deficiency, does not have immunity to infections.
Peronosporosis
The first stage of infection is characterized by the appearance of dirty yellow spotting on the leaves of the plant. With the development of the disease, they become brown, becoming covered with a gray coating. The leaves wrinkle and dry. The development of the disease is so rapid that in a week of inactivity you can lose the entire crop.
The development of this disease is caused by temperature differences in the greenhouse, the presence of weeds and old infected plant residues.
Folk remedies to combat peronosporosis are not suitable. In the initial stage of infection, the treatment with Fitosporin-M, Planriz, Baikal-EM, etc. can help. These are biological products that do not have toxic effects and accumulations, so the fruits are harmless to eat. You need to process beds with cucumbers twice with an interval of 14 days.
When peronosporosis completely seized cucumbers, only pesticides can help. For example, use the “Acrobat MC”, “Oksikhom”, “Ridomil Gold” strictly in accordance with the instructions for use. After processing with chemicals, you can not eat dill greens for a month.
Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is one of the most common diseases in the beds. It can be determined by the appearance of a white coating on the surface of plants, which condenses over time and occupies an increasingly large area. Dill loses its juiciness and aroma, becomes lethargic, without a presentation.
The carriers of powdery mildew are flying insects: aphids, ants, etc. The source of infection can be infected plant debris from last season.
At the beginning, the disease is treatable with folk remedies. After removing infected bushes, treat the remaining dill with infusion of onion husks with the addition of mustard powder. A positive result is given by a soap solution or whey diluted with water (proportion 1:10) with the addition of 1 drop of iodine per liter.
With the advanced stage of the disease, only fungicidal agents, solutions based on Bordeaux mixture and vitriol and antibiotics can help. Such preparations include Strobi, Mikosan, Terramycin, etc. After their use, dill must not be eaten for at least 21 days.
Fomoz
Fungal disease, manifested by the appearance on the dill of elongated brown spots with a dark border and black dots inside. In this case, primer leaf branches can take on a pink hue, and putrefactive spots appear on the roots.
The stalk of dill is affected by phomosis
Waterlogged soil and warm weather, infected weeds, thickened plantings and deficiency of boron in the soil contribute to the development of the disease. For the destruction of crops, phomosis is enough for 14 days. Distribution begins with a diseased dill bush and is transmitted further by the wave.
You can save greens by removing diseased plants from the bed in time and destroying them. And the remaining plants are periodically sprayed with a Bordeaux mixture. Preventive measures include treatment with Fundazol, fertilizer and boron.
Verticillus wilting
Such a disease is manifested by stunting, twisting of leaves, acquiring a brown hue and degeneration of dill. This is due to the fact that, getting into the plant, the fungus clogs the tissues and poisons them with emitted toxins. Dill loses its strength, is not able to make up for them due to the impossibility of absorbing mineral components by the root system.
The complexity of the disease is that it may not appear for 2-3 seasons. Verticillin wilt has no cure. The prevention of its appearance is the treatment of beds with dill "Fitosporin-M", "Fitodoktor", etc. During sowing seeds, sprinkle in the rows "Gliokladin", "Trichodermin" or "Entobacterin."
Cercosporosis
A fungal disease affecting the green parts of dill. Dark spots are formed in the places of entry and activity of the fungus, which, with the maturation of spores, become covered with a coating. The infected culture will soon die.
Blackleg
A disease having a fungal component. In affected dill, the process of decay is concentrated on the underground part of the plant. The inability of the root system to perform its function leads to the rapid wilting and death of greenery.
Most often, the black leg appears due to the sowing of infected seeds, the lack of measures for their disinfection before identification in the soil. The conditions for the active development and spread of the fungus are thickened plantings that impede the ventilation and aeration of the root system and the plants themselves, waterlogging of the soil, and heavy soil.
At the first sign of infection, reduce the watering of dill, and spill the beds with a solution of manganese. A good result is the treatment with infusion of onion peel, Fitosporin and Bactofit.
Fusarium wilt
Fusarium infection is a fungal infection that spreads when the soil is waterlogged and the air temperature is high. When infected, dill, dying, changes its color: it turns yellow first, and then takes on brown shades. The accumulation of toxins makes the culture unfit for food.
In a short time, the fungus is able to spread over large areas, so when it is detected, planting an infected dill is destroyed along with the roots. The beds are treated with Fitolavin, Vitarosom or other fungicidal agents. As an extreme measure, they use Oksikhom and Diskor.
In the fight against diseases of dill, prevention occupies an important place. It is much simpler and more profitable to prevent the emergence and development of the disease than to seek remedies, losing time and a substantial part of the crop. Moreover, most fungal diseases in the advanced stage are not treated. All dill bushes will have to be torn out and burned, and on the garden bed, they should be treated with antifungal agents.
To increase the culture's immunity to diseases, it is recommended to use preparations such as "Shine", "Baikal EM-1", using them according to the instructions.
Pests
Pests insects not only cause physical effects, resulting in the death of dill, but also are carriers of certain diseases. Therefore, the prevention of attacks of parasites and the fight against them is an important condition for growing greenery.
Bed bug
Herbivorous insects that feed on the juice and pulp of garden crops inflict great damage on the dill crop. Plants wither, and inflorescences are damaged or destroyed by pests so that the seeds do not form. Detection of the presence of these bugs on the dill will help the discovery of the cobweb they leave on the leaves.
In the spring, when young shoots of culture begin active growth, horseflies migrate to them. The female lays several eggs on leafy petioles. A week later, a gluttonous offspring appears, which reaches maturity in 24 days. Thus, umbrella horseflies can produce several generations during the season.
To combat this type of pest, spray the culture with a solution of Fitoverm and Actellik preparations.
Striped shield bug (or Italian bug)
The striped shield bug got its name from the shape of the body and its colors, representing a red-black striped color. In mid-spring, harmful insects leave their shelters - the remains of crops from last season, and begin active life on young dill plants.
In early summer, females lay their eggs, preferring to do this on celery plant species. This period lasts almost the entire summer, i.e., over a long period, young individuals of the Italian bug and its larvae suck out the juice from the culture, leading to a decrease in yield by one third.
Control measures involve the manual collection of these insects, their shaking in containers with water. It is also worth paying special attention to the control of weeds and wild umbrella plants. When planting dill, consider crop rotation and its proximity to celery crops.
Aphid
It is a greenish-yellow, almost transparent small insect, feeding on the juice of dill and other umbrella crops, eating the upper young shoots and tops of leaves. From lack of nutrients, plants wither away, taste and aroma lose their quality properties. When attacked by a large colony of aphids, dill dries out soon.
For humans, these pests are not dangerous, but eating dill is very likely to eat insects, because they are not washed out of the greenery when it is rinsed in water.
Aphids reproduce very quickly, but are easily destroyed. This is due to the fact that her body is not covered with a shell, which means that all means will soon penetrate into the body. The following positive agents give a quick positive effect in the fight against aphids:
- Infusion of potato tops.Pour the crushed plant part of the potato with water in a ratio of 1: 5. Boil and let it brew for 4 hours.
- Infusion of tomato tops.It is prepared similarly to a potato composition.
- Tobacco infusion.Grind tobacco leaves and pour warm water in a proportion of 1:10. Insist for at least a day. You can add bitter pepper.
- Infusion of dandelions. 250 g of roots or 500 g of leaves are crushed and poured with warm water. Insist 2-3 hours. Strain before spraying. Processing can be repeated 2-3 times with an interval of 10 days.
When insisting on aphids, it is recommended to add liquid or laundry soap. Thanks to this, the composition will stay on the surface of the leaves longer after processing, and after drying, a protective thin film will remain.
It is necessary to spray the prepared solutions in the morning or evening hours so that the sun's rays do not have access to the treated bed. After spraying, wash the dill thoroughly with running water before eating.
Ways to protect dill from aphids are described in the video below:
Carrot leaf-flea (lat.Psyllidae)
This insect is light green in color, 2 mm long. Has eyes of a red shade, long thin antennae and webbed translucent wings. The female lays eggs once a season. Insects winter on conifers, starting their activity in early May.
For dill, both adult individuals and larvae are dangerous. Pests suck out juices from the plant, causing the leaves and stem to deform, wither and subsequently dry out.
To combat the pest, destroy wild carrots, observe crop rotation, and place plantings away from conifers and shrubs. Treat dill with tobacco infusion with the addition of laundry soap or citrus peel infusion. It is possible to cover the garden bed with a special mesh material, thereby creating a mechanical barrier in the way of the carrot leaf flea. Spanbond and lutrasil will do.
Umbrella moth
The adult is a butterfly with brown-red front wings. But due to the huge variety of moth species, its color may vary. The reddish body of the larvae has a green tint between body segments. In warm climates, the female gives up to 3 generations of moths.
The danger to dill is precisely the young generation of umbrella moths. Caterpillars in the process of development eat dill inflorescences, formed buds and seeds, braiding them and connecting with each other.
To combat dill moth, cut off the affected umbrellas and destroy them with the help of fire, remove seed inflorescences in time. Keep the site clean so that pests cannot infect dill when they arrive from wild umbrella crops.
Carrot Fly (Psila rosae)
Carrot fly is a small brown insect with transparent wings. It eats the stems of dill, which leads to the formation of rot and wilting of the plant.
A mixture of slaked lime, charcoal and tobacco dust, mixed in equal proportions, has proven itself to combat pest. It is scattered around the dill bushes, spending at least 5 g per square meter. m landings. Such work is carried out three times with an interval of 10 days.
A positive effect is given by spraying with infusion of tomato tops and laundry soap. In order to scare away, they use a decoction of plants whose smell is disgusting to a carrot fly: garlic, onion, burdock, wormwood, chamomile, and yarrow.
Recipe: pour 250-300 g of grass with 1.5-2 liters of hot water and insist for a day. After that, bring the amount of solution to 10 l, adding water and 30-50 g of crushed laundry soap. The effect of the procedure lasts no more than 5 days.
Caterpillar
Caterpillars eat foliage and stems, intensively gaining weight, and causing irreparable harm to dill. The danger to the culture is not only the larvae of insect pests, but also other butterflies:
- Anise butterfly sailing.Their offspring at the transition stage is a caterpillar, on each segment of the body of which there is a pattern of their alternation of yellow and black stripes. Later, large butterflies of a similar color coloring with blue on the back of the body are obtained from them.
- Swallowtail caterpillar.A real beauty eating dill. Gently green body color is decorated with blotches of orange and black spots across the body in each segment. Having barely appeared, it feeds on young shoots of dill, and in a mature state prefers to eat inflorescences and the resulting seeds.
To control the caterpillars, it is enough to use the natural food chain “caterpillar-ladybugs-birds”. Do not destroy ladybugs and birds will collect caterpillars by eating them. You can go through the garden by yourself recognizing and removing pests from dill.
Spraying with infusion of chilli pepper is possible. To prepare the product, 1 kg of pepper is poured into 10 liters of water, insisted for 2 days. Then you should boil the infusion for 45-60 minutes and let it brew for another 2 days. The resulting concentrate can be stored tightly closed in a cool, dark place. To process 75 ml of infusion, dilute 5 l of water and add 40 g of laundry or liquid soap.
The most effective, but at the same time dangerous for other insects and humans is the method of applying chemical treatment. In this case, give preference among the drugs to those that are aimed at a specific target group of insect pests.
Prevention: Popular Methods
It should be remembered that the use of chemicals in the fight against diseases and pests of dill is highly undesirable. The culture is eaten fresh, and there is a high probability of poisoning by poisons and toxins. Therefore, preventive measures play a particularly important role in protecting the crop from all sorts of misfortunes.
Preventive measures against combating diseases of various nature and insect pests include:
- Choosing a ventilated area with adequate sunlight. Keep in mind that a lack of light will cause the dill to stretch, its weakness, and exposure to direct sunlight throughout the day will result in burns.
- Seed disinfection before planting. It is enough to lower them for 20 minutes in a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate (1 g of manganese per 100 ml of water).
- Removal of all plant debris from the season last in the garden and soil treatment with an antifungal composition.
- The organization of moderate watering in order to avoid waterlogging and waterlogging of the site.
- Loosening the soil to remove the resulting dense crust of earth on the surface.
- Thinning planting to ensure air access to each plant.
- Weed control is the wintering ground for fungal spores and the subsequent source of infection. They need to be burned, and it is better to remove it with the root and burn it.
- Digging the beds in the fall so that low temperatures destroy the larvae wintering in the soil.
- Compliance with crop rotation, which helps prevent the development of diseases and the propagation of pests in one place. The best predecessors of dill will be plants of the pumpkin, bean and solanaceous family, but not umbrella crops.
- Removing coniferous vegetation or planting dill away from them.
- Accounting for the organization of crop neighborhood crops.
- Create a live fence from planting thyme, nasturtium, marigold, wormwood. These are natural means of repelling insect pests.
When diseases and pests are not to blame
It happens that even in the absence of threats of infection by diseases and damage to dill by pests, the culture still grows unhealthy, lethargic, changes its saturated color to pale and loses its aromatic and taste.
Dill turns yellow
Yellowing of dill leaves can be associated with several factors:
- too dry or waterlogged soil;
- the use of cold water for irrigation;
- excessive exposure to sunlight;
- dense landing;
- soil nitrogen deficiency;
- grade features.
Conducting competent care and applying the necessary fertilizers will correct the situation and eliminate the problem with the appearance of yellow dill.
Dill dries
With a lack of nutrients and malnutrition, dill becomes weak, stops growing and dries. To save greens, it is necessary to test the acidity of the soil and bring its level to a neutral state. Do not use wood ash, which reduces the quality characteristics of the plant.
Fertilizing can be either root or sprayed on the surface of the green part of the dill. Use Superphosphate or other complex fertilizer.
Bitter taste
The cause of the appearance of bitterness in dill greens can be a banal overripe plant. The culture has bitter substances that accumulate in the leaves over time. The older the dill, the harder it is and the more bitter the taste inherent in it.
Violations in agricultural technology can also cause the appearance of an unpleasant aftertaste of dill.
When growing dill, pay great attention to the study of preventive measures with diseases and pests. Taking into account the simple procedures, you will save the harvest, keep the taste and aroma of green seasoning on the table. When combating the manifestation of diseases and pests, remember that the choice of the drug directly makes the possibility of eating the plant dependent.