What causes tomato fruit blistering? Detailed explanation of causes and control methods
Tomato, also known as the tomato, has a sweet-and-sour taste and is rich in nutrients. It is a vegetable that people relatively favor in daily life, but blistering of the fruit often occurs during cultivation. Fruit blistering is a physiological disorder of tomato that can cause a serious drop in tomato yield and reduce returns, so what causes tomato fruit blistering? Let's take a look at the control methods.
1. Symptoms
Tomato fruit blistering is also called rib rot or stripe rot. When the disease occurs, there are two types of symptoms: the browning type and the whitening type. The browning type occurs at the young fruit stage, mainly harming the truss fruits. During the fruit expansion stage, local browning appears, the fruit surface becomes uneven, and some fruit surfaces show necrotic spots. When cut open, the internal tissue is found to be necrotic, and the fruit core becomes hard or brown. The whitening type mainly occurs during the color-turning period of tomato and often manifests as poor coloring, a lusterless surface, and uneven red and green coloration. When dissected, the internal tissue is found to be brown and necrotic, and the browned areas do not turn red; the flesh becomes hard and tastes bland.
2. Causes
This is a physiological disorder that can occur in tomatoes. Generally, the degree of damage depends on the variety. In addition, short photoperiod and weak light, as well as low levels of elements in the soil, can all cause tomato fruit blistering. High soil moisture and poor permeability make root respiration difficult, which favors the occurrence of this disease; when the amount of fertilizer applied is large, especially when nitrogen fertilizer is applied excessively while potassium fertilizer is insufficient, the disease becomes more severe. In addition, applying undecomposed organic fertilizer or farmyard manure and excessive planting density can all induce this disease.
3. Control methods
Select excellent varieties that are not prone to the disease, strengthen field management, and plant at a reasonable density at the seedling stage or when transplanting, so as to increase ventilation and light penetration between plants and give them sufficient light. Humidity regulation should also be strengthened, especially in early spring and late autumn. Also prevent excessive temperature; both too high and too low temperatures can cause fruit blistering. Control the temperature between 15-28°C, with the minimum not lower than 10°C and the maximum not higher than 30°C. Water according to soil moisture and plant growth conditions. Do not irrigate heavily, so as to avoid excessive soil water accumulation, which can lead to soil compaction. Throughout the entire growth period, do a good job of pest and disease control. Diseases that can cause fruit blistering include viral disease, and pests include aphids and whiteflies. Apply topdressing reasonably; when fertilizing, use light nitrogen, less phosphorus, heavy potassium, and supplement calcium and magnesium to achieve a balanced combination of various nutrients. During the full fruit stage, spray potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaves to reduce the occurrence of fruit blistering and increase yield.
The above are the causes of tomato fruit blistering and the control methods. We hope this can help you. If you want to learn more about tomato cultivation, please follow us.