Melon diseases: causes, symptoms and methods of struggle

Melon, like many melons and gourds, is affected by some diseases. What diseases can affect the melon? Their description by types of pathogens: fungi, viruses, bacteria. How to learn to distinguish between them so that the fight is effective? Proper treatment and prevention of melon disease.

Peronosporosis - downy mildew of melon

Melon diseases in the open field: photos

In another way, downy mildew is a disease caused by fungi. It manifests itself as yellowish spots on the leaves and rust. All this becomes noticeable at the beginning of the development of the plant, over time it progresses strongly. Then a gray bloom appears on the affected areas, which is evidence of sporulation of the fungus. To prevent peronosporosis from infecting the melon, timely prevention must be carried out. To do this, you need to heat the melon seeds. Pour them into a thermos, fill with water (45 C) and leave for 2 hours. After that, soak the seeds in a solution of potassium permanganate (1%) for 20-25 minutes.

But if downy mildew still hit the melon, the leaves have already begun to turn yellow, then you need to treat it with a solution of Bordeaux mixture and urea. After that, you can use such special tools as "Oxyhom" or "Topaz", acting strictly according to the instructions.

Melon diseases outdoors: powdery mildew

Melon diseases in the open field: photos

This melon disease is most common among melons. Therefore, you need to know how powdery mildew manifests itself. And it looks like small white spots appearing on leaves and stems. When observing such symptoms, you should immediately sound the alarm until the melon leaves begin to dry out, curl or become dark in color. An excellent prevention of many diseases, including powdery mildew, is knowledge and adherence to the principles of crop rotation.

Do not forget that it is best to plant melons and gourds in the soil after dill, tomatoes or radishes. But after melon, eggplant, potatoes or zucchini, you should not do this.

If you still find this disease on a melon, you need to urgently take action, because it is developing very rapidly. To do this, treat all affected plants with sulfur solution. It is worth stopping all processing 3 weeks before the start of the melon harvest.

Melon Disease: Root Rot

Melon diseases in the open field: photos

This melon disease is terrible for very weak plants. It manifests itself as rust on the stems and roots, which then turn dark brown. Subsequently, the leaves of the melon and its cotyledons begin to dry out, the plant dies.

To prevent root rot, all seeds must be placed in formalin for disinfection before planting.

If no action is taken when any signs indicating illness appear, then the entire crop will die.

Anthracnose

Another name for this disease of melon in the open field is "copperhead". Anthracnose appears as rusty, yellow or dark pink spots on the leaves. In the future, they begin to break down and dry out, and the fruits undergo deformation and rot.

When signs indicating this disease appear, the melon should be immediately treated with a sulfuric or Bordeaux mixture with a solution.

Fusarium

Melon diseases in the open field: photos

This melon disease outdoors is also caused by fungi. It affects melons that are medium to late ripening varieties. Fusarium wilting can appear not only during the period of fruit ripening, but also on seedlings with only 2-3 leaves.In the affected plant, the leaves begin to become covered with gray rusty spots, turn yellow, and then wither. Without treatment, the melon dies in a week. If the treatment with chemicals was carried out and the fusarium wilt stopped, then all the same, the melon will no longer be so tasty and sweet. The harvest itself will be 2-3 times less. Treat symptoms with drugs that contain potassium or phosphate. In this case, prevention is the same as for powdery mildew. It is necessary to follow the rules of crop rotation, otherwise wilting will be inevitable, because fungi develop in the soil.

Now that you have learned to distinguish between melon diseases in the open field, it will be much easier and cheaper to deal with them. Better yet, it is worth observing preventive measures that will help you maintain a high-quality melon crop and increase its quantity.