Targeted Analysis of the Causes of Adventitious Root Formation in Tomatoes

Tomato

    Recently, many vegetable growers have reported that a large number of adventitious roots have appeared on tomato stems, something they had never seen before. The plants are growing very weakly, and some have already developed flower-topped stunting. What exactly is going on? The various situations are analyzed as follows.

    I. Cause Analysis

    The tomato plant itself is capable of producing adventitious roots, but the excessive adventitious roots reported by vegetable growers are not a normal situation. Generally, when the plant's root system develops poorly, when vascular bundle diseases occur, or when plant growth is inhibited, the plant needs more roots to absorb nutrients in order to self-regulate, and will produce a large number of adventitious roots. Therefore, the production of large numbers of adventitious roots in tomato plants is not a leaf disease, but a systemic disorder.

    II. Specific Causes and Control

    1. Poor root development or the occurrence of soil-borne diseases such as root rot.

    The main cause of excessive adventitious roots is rainwater entering the greenhouse or open-field tomatoes suffering from rainwater damage. After rainwater enters the greenhouse, it can cause root suffocation or damage to the root system from harmful substances, especially the main root, which can be checked in detail by pulling up the plant.

    Infection by soil-borne diseases, such as root rot and Fusarium wilt/Verticillium wilt, can cause root decay and will also cause tomato plants to produce large numbers of adventitious roots.

    Control method: Drain the rainwater promptly, and pay attention to root care afterward by applying root-promoting and root-nourishing fertilizers such as chitin and seaweed acid via irrigation; for soil-borne diseases, the following formula can be used: hymexazol + octhilinone aqueous formulation + copper resinate + chitin for root drenching.

    2. Infection by bacterial diseases

    Especially bacterial pith necrosis and bacterial wilt, which cause damage to the plant's vascular bundle system, leading the plant to produce large numbers of adventitious roots on the stems.

    Control method: The key lies in prevention. Bacterial agents such as zhongshengmycin, copper hydroxide, and chlorobromoisocyanuric acid can be selected, and at the same time root drenching can be done with zhongshengmycin + copper resinate + chitin.

    3. Root burn

    This is mainly caused by unscientific basal fertilizer application, fertilizer that has not been fully decomposed, or improper pesticide application in planting holes, leading to root burn, which will also cause the stems to produce large numbers of adventitious roots.

    Control method: Apply EM biological bacterial fertilizer or chitin via irrigation to relieve the damage and promote growth.

⟧    4. Excessive use of growth inhibitors

    Some vegetable growers, in order to control plant growth, always spray some growth regulators on the leaves, such as paclobutrazol, B9, and atonik. If the dosage is too heavy, plant growth will be inhibited too severely, which will also cause tomato stems to produce large numbers of adventitious roots.

    Control method: To lift the growing point and promote growth, chitin + cytokinin can be sprayed on the leaves, with remarkable results.