What Causes Pepper Seedling Death? Detailed Prevention Measures
Pepper seedling death is a new type of problem that has emerged during pepper seedling raising, seriously affecting the planting benefits of peppers and bringing huge economic losses to farmers. So what causes pepper seedling death? How can it be prevented properly? Let's find out together.
Causes of Pepper Seedling Death
1. Pathogen infection
Pathogen infection is the main cause of pepper seedling death. The diseases are mainly caused by pathogen infection. During the seedling stage and the early stage after transplanting, the main diseases include damping-off, Rhizoctonia rot (sore shin), and Phytophthora blight, all of which can cause pepper seedling death.
2. Continuous cropping and repeated planting
Continuous cropping and repeated planting lead to improper accumulation of pathogens in the soil, increasing their population. The pathogens invade through wounds on the roots or stem base and spread under suitable conditions, thus causing large-scale seedling death.
3. Pathogen-carrying seeds or seedlings
Pathogen-carrying seeds or seedlings are the main route for long-distance spread of disease and also the primary infection source for disease outbreaks in new vegetable fields. Failure to disinfect seeds and seedlings before sowing also provides favorable conditions for the spread of disease.
4. Improper seedling-raising method
Practice has shown that raising seedlings in nutrient substrate results in milder disease during the seedling stage than raising seedlings in nutrient soil. Plots where undecomposed organic fertilizer is applied have more severe disease, and flat-bed planting at transplanting has more severe disease than ridge planting.
5. Unreasonable irrigation
Unreasonable irrigation methods also create favorable conditions for disease development. Fields with flood irrigation or frequent irrigation have noticeably more severe disease, while fields using drip irrigation under plastic film basically have no disease or only mild disease.
6. Improper fertilization
Applying too much nitrogen fertilizer, insufficient phosphorus and potassium fertilizer and trace elements, as well as applying incompletely decomposed farmyard manure or organic fertilizer, can cause root rot, lead to severe disease, and result in seedling death.
Prevention Measures
1. Reasonable crop rotation
Carry out crop rotation according to specific conditions to reduce the pathogen population in the soil
2. Disinfection of seeds or seedlings
Select certified disease-free good seeds, and carry out disinfection treatment before sowing or transplanting to kill pathogens attached to the seeds and ensure healthy growth of the seedlings.
3. Soil disinfection
Where conditions permit, the soil can be disinfected. Commonly used chemicals include copper sulfate and thiram. At transplanting, chemicals such as transplanting spirit and hymexazol can also be used to disinfect the planting holes.
4. Strengthen management
Apply more organic fertilizer, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, and trace element fertilizers to enhance plant disease resistance; water appropriately to prevent flood irrigation; cultivate and loosen the soil in time to increase soil permeability.
5. Chemical control
During the seedling stage, propamocarb aqueous solution can be used for root drenching, which can effectively prevent propamocarb aqueous solution; after transplanting and seedling recovery, hymexazol can be used for root drenching, with good control effects on Rhizoctonia rot and damping-off; before Phytophthora blight breaks out, spraying amisulbrom suspension concentrate or enoxastrobin emulsifiable concentrate gives good control results. In summer during high-temperature and rainy seasons, spreading copper sulfate before watering peppers and then watering gives good results in preventing pepper Phytophthora blight and stem base rot; before and in the early stage of root rot, azoxystrobin can be used for root drenching, and diseased plants found in the middle growth stage should be pulled out promptly.
The above is an introduction to the causes of pepper seedling death and prevention measures. We hope it can help you. For more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.