Yellowing of garlic feathers in spring is a common occurrence. Depending on the reason why the leaves turn yellow, there are effective methods of preventing and combating this ailment.
The main causes, symptoms and what to do
In garlic tops, the tips turn yellow first, then yellowness spreads further, which slows down the growth and development of the plant. Consider the main reasons for this process.
Nitrogen deficiency
In early spring, the soil is still cold, which affects the formation of minerals. Lack of nitrogen manifests itself in the early stages of plant development. Symptoms that indicate garlic nitrogen deficiency:
- yellowish and pale green leaves;
- small and sluggish shoots of plants.
Nitrogen deficiency is compensated by fertilizers that contain nitrate or ammonium nitrogen:
- potassium nitrate;
- sodium nitrate;
- ammonium nitrate;
- ammonium sulfate;
- urea.
If soil acidity is increased, nitrate nitrogen (sodium, potassium, ammonium nitrate) is more effective, if acidity is neutral or alkaline, ammonia nitrogen (urea, ammonium sulfate) is used.
Low temperature in spring
Moody spring weather is one of the possible causes of yellowing of garlic. The fragile young leaves are damaged during sudden spring frosts.
To protect against spring frosts, seedlings are covered with a film. Damaged sprouts are treated with stimulant drugs (Epina, Zircon).
Potassium deficiency
Potassium supports water metabolism, helps the plant resist disease and increase immunity. With a lack of this element in garlic, in addition to yellowing, the following changes occur:
- the sheet plate acquires a bluish tint;
- the edges of the leaves become brown (a regional burn occurs);
- plant growth will slow down.
For health, garlic is fertilized with potassium sulfate, kalimagnesia, wood ash.
Insufficient watering
Garlic likes moderate watering. A lack of moisture causes dryness in the upper and lower leaves. Pour the garlic as needed:
- in April-May no more than three times a month;
- one month before harvesting, watering is stopped.
To determine if there is enough moisture in the soil, the earth around the garlic is loosened. In addition, this procedure provides air access to the roots.
An excess of moisture for garlic is worse than a lack! If the spring is dry, garlic is watered more often (1 time per week), if it is rainy, do not water.
Unsuitable soil
The increased acidity of the soil is another reason for the yellowing of garlic leaves. Suitable soil for this crop is neutral with a slightly acid reaction.
Garlic likes:
- smooth, lighted beds (without recesses in which water stagnates);
- loamy (for spring) and loamy (for winter varieties of garlic) soil;
- soil well-fertilized with organic fertilizers.
Fertilizers containing lime are used to deoxidize the soil.
Garlic disease
The leaves may become yellow due to illness. The most common diseases:
- Peronosporosis (downy mildew). Light green blurry spots appear on the sheets, then a gray coating develops, which leads to yellowing of the garlic. Transmitted from infected vegetable crops by air or soil.
- Fusarium. It occurs due to excess moisture and lack of nutrients. The tips of the leaves turn yellow and die.
- Black mold. Appears on the upper layers of scales, softens them, penetrates further. The cause of the disease is sudden changes in temperature.
- White rot. White mold affects the bulbs, after which the garlic rots, and the leaves turn yellow. Drought and lack of nitrogen cause this disease.
- Green and blue mold (penicillosis). Rot affects the cloves of garlic due to improper harvesting. The pathogen is stored in the soil and becomes a cause of infection, especially in conditions of high humidity.
- Rust. Yellow rusty blotches are visible on the leaves, which cause microscopic fungi - pathogens. Improper planting (at the same place every year or at the place of planting onions), the remains of vegetation after harvesting provoke infection with rust.
- Mosaic. This disease is caused by viruses. Leaves become yellow-orange, crumpled, corrugated.
In order to prevent infection, garlic before planting is disinfected with a weak potassium permanganate solution or other means (Fitosporin, Maxim fungicide).
Landing errors
Winter garlic is planted in winter, spring - in spring. Failure to comply with crop rotation conditions may cause yellowing in spring in both winter and spring garlic. The main mistakes during landing:
- terms do not correspond to the temperature regime: in warm time, garlic sprouts before the first cold snap and does not have time to adapt to low temperatures;
- landing to a depth of less than or more than 5-7 cm;
- planting garlic in the place where the onion grew and in the same place for several years in a row.
The optimal planting period is three to four weeks before frosts. When planted to a depth of 5-6 cm, the garlic can withstand up to -25 ° C.
Pests
Weaken the plant, cause rotting of the bulbs, yellowness of feathers and pests:
- Nematodes. Small worms parasitize in the bulb.
- Onion fly. Lays eggs in garlic, from which voracious larvae hatch.
- Garlic tick. Lives in the ground and feeds on root crops, carries viral diseases. A characteristic symptom of garlic damage is yellow spots on the cloves.
- Tobacco thrips. This winged brown-yellow insect eats garlic juice. White specks on feathers are thrips marks.
To deter pests, some gardeners plant marigold or marigold between the beds.
Wellness Methods
Nitrogen deficiency make up for:
- A solution of urea or ammonium nitrate (1 tbsp. Per 10 liters of water). With this composition, garlic is watered under the root or the tops are sprayed.
- From organic fertilizers - slurry. Water the plant (1 part of the slurry per 8 liters of water) at the beginning of the growing season and two weeks after the first watering.
With a lack of potassium use:
- Kalimagnesia (10 g per 10 l of water). Both foliar (tops) and root watering are carried out once a week, until the symptoms disappear.
- Superphosphate (25 g per 10 liters of water). Tops are sprayed from a spray bottle or garlic is watered under the root.
- Ash (2 cups per 10 liters of water). Garlic under the root is watered with a two-day infusion.
If there is no certainty at which lack of minerals garlic turns yellow, complex fertilizers are used, for example, nitroammophoska.
High acidity of the soil is neutralized with limestone mixed with soil. If the acidity is high, then lime requires 55 -70 kg, if the average is 35-45 kg, with low acidity, 30-25 kg is enough.
With severe damage to garlic by pests, insecticides are used, but only if other methods of control are not effective. Harmful substances contained in chemicals accumulate in plants.
For starters, you can try less harmful and folk remedies:
- Tansy decoction (3 kg of flowers per 10 liters of water). Boiled and cooled broth is sprayed on tops.
- Nettle broth (1 kg of leaves per bucket of water). After the broth is fermented for 4-5 days, it is filtered, bred (1 part to 50 parts of water) and the garlic tops are sprayed.
- A solution of ammonia (20-25 g per 10 liters of water).
- Salt water (200 g per bucket of water). Sprinkle the leaves of garlic with saline from an onion fly. The next day, garlic is watered with clean water.
All of these agents repel pests. Decoctions from other plants are also used: chamomile, potato tops, yarrow, shag.
Of the chemicals used:
- Actellik insecticide (2 ml per 2 l of water) from ticks;
- insecticide "Summer resident" (1 ml per 1 liter of water) from onion flies;
- preparation "Carbation" (200 ml per square meter), "Vidat" (2 g per well) from nematodes.
They cultivate the soil with carbathion in August, and Vidat - when planting.
Garlic diseases are treated with the following remedies:
- Fungicide "Hom", copper sulfate from rust. Stems are irrigated once every 14 days, a month before harvesting, irrigation is stopped.
- The preparations “Fentyuram” (3 kg per bucket of water), “Polycarbocin” (40 g per bucket of water), “Arcerida” (per bucket of water 30 g) help from peronosporosis.
- Agat-25K, Previkur (1.5 ml per liter of water), Fundazole (1 g per liter of water) are used against fusarium and rot.
- The insecticide "Karbofos" is used from mosaics (spray the affected tops).
The gardener shares his experience in the fight against garlic diseases and yellowing of leaves in his video below:
It is necessary to observe safety measures when working with chemicals, use insecticides according to the instructions.
Preventive actions
In order that garlic on the beds does not turn yellow and gives a good harvest, preventive measures are taken:
- In the middle regions of Russia they try to plant winter garlic by the end of October, and in the southern regions by the end of November.
- Before planting, the soil is deeply dug and fertilized with compost or fertilizers (superphosphate, potassium sulfate).
- The heads of planting garlic are treated with weak potassium permanganate or copper sulfate. It can be treated with the drug "Maxim" (1 ampoule per liter of water), it protects against bacteria.
- Carefully inspect the garlic before planting, only large and intact ones are selected.
- To adapt the plant to temperature fluctuations, biostimulants are used, for example, Epin.
- The same place for beds of garlic is used no more than two years.
- They plant garlic where pumpkin, zucchini, cabbage used to grow.
To avoid infection of garlic with pests, bacteria and fungal diseases, the following procedures are carried out:
- If the weather is hot and humid for several days, the soil is loosened to reduce moisture. This is the prevention of some types of rot, fusarium, powdery mildew, which prefer a warm, moist environment.
- Plants are treated with a solution of carbon ammonium salt of nitrogen from onion flies, yellow spotting, powdery mildew.
- Disinfect with bleach or formalin where garlic is stored to prevent pests.
- Dolomite flour is introduced to deoxidize the soil. Nematodes in neutral soil move poorly and freeze.
- Garlic is planted away from onion beds and onion flowers.
- After harvesting and digging the beds, the plant residues are burned.
- Carefully inspect garlic for damage and signs of disease, and also dry for about three weeks before laying it for storage.
Compliance with preventive care measures will positively affect crop yields and rid the plant of diseases and other troubles. If it was not possible to avoid yellowing, the above recommendations will help to identify the cause and choose the right healing method.