What Causes Hollow Heart in Beets? Detailed Explanation of Causes and Control Methods
During cultivation, beets often develop hollow heart, which seriously affects beet quality and brings economic losses to farmers, so measures must be taken to control this disorder. So what causes hollow heart in beets? How should it be controlled? Follow along with the editor to see the detailed introduction.
I. Causes of Hollow Heart
It is mainly caused by different environments and improper management, which leads to uncoordinated cell division speed and volume growth in the beet root crown, resulting in hollow heart. During beet cultivation, rainy weather is very likely to occur, so water is abundant. Cell division in the root crown accelerates, and volume increases relatively quickly, but if droughty weather occurs later, cell division and volume growth are inhibited, thus forming hollow heart. In addition, improper cultivation management can also cause hollow heart, and irrigation is one of these factors; excessive planting density and one-sided application of nitrogen fertilizer all increase the probability of hollow heart, because they cause excessive vegetative growth of the root crown and lead to overly rapid cell division. Pests and diseases are also one of the causes of hollow heart; manually breaking off leaves causes new regrowth, and the too-rapid rotation of new and old leaves causes elongation of the root crown, increasing the probability of hollow heart.
II. Control Measures
1. First, during planting, carry out deep plowing and hilling to create a good soil environment, so that the storage root grows normally and excessive growth of the storage root is inhibited.
2. During planting, plant at a reasonable density according to local actual conditions. In plots with abundant rainfall and higher accumulated temperature, planting can be appropriately sparse; conversely, in plots with less rainfall and lower accumulated temperature, planting should be appropriately dense. For soil that is loose, fertile and rich in organic matter, and where more fertilizer is applied, planting can be appropriately sparse; otherwise, plant densely.
3. When fertilizing, pay attention not to apply nitrogen fertilizer one-sidedly, so as to avoid excessive vegetative growth of the plants. Apply nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium reasonably so that the plants grow both quickly and well. There are special beet fertilizers on the market that can be applied directly.
4. Irrigate promptly during drought, but avoid flood irrigation, so as to prevent excessive growth of the storage root. Small amounts of frequent irrigation or sprinkler irrigation are suitable, keeping the soil moisture content at about 80%, which is beneficial for the accumulation of sugar in beets.
5. Control pests and diseases promptly, especially Cercospora leaf spot (brown spot). At the same time, when breaking off leaves, try to break off the outer functional leaves, so that the plants can carry out photosynthesis normally, which is beneficial for nutrient accumulation.
The above is an introduction to the causes of hollow heart in beets and the control methods. We hope it helps you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.