Garlic disease control should focus on prevention combined with field management

Garlic disease control refers to the field management work of preventing and controlling the occurrence of various diseases during garlic cultivation through integrated agricultural, chemical and other means. Garlic has a long growing period, and it may be infected by pathogens from sowing to harvest. Whether the control work is done well or not directly affects bulb yield and market quality.

Common garlic diseases include leaf blight, gray mold, white rot, rust and bacterial soft rot. Leaf blight mostly starts with blighted spots at the leaf tips, and mold layers can be seen on diseased parts when humidity is high; gray mold tends to become epidemic under low-temperature and high-humidity conditions; white rot mainly damages the roots and bulbs, causing plant stunting and death; rust forms blister-like spots on the leaves, which later rupture and release rust-colored powder.

Control should focus on prevention. Before planting, select plump, disease-free garlic seed, implement crop rotation with non-allium crops for more than two or three years, deeply plow the soil before sowing and plant at a reasonable density, and maintain field ventilation and light penetration. During the growing period, pay attention to drainage and humidity reduction, avoid flood irrigation, and promptly remove diseased plant residues and carry them out of the field for disposal. In the early stage of disease onset, corresponding low-toxicity and low-residue pesticides can be selected for spraying or root drenching according to the type of disease, and pesticide rotation should be noted to delay the development of resistance.

In addition, bulbs after harvest should be fully dried in the sun, and dry and ventilated conditions should be maintained during storage, which can reduce the occurrence of diseases during storage. If large areas of abnormal symptoms appear in the field, it is recommended to first determine the disease type based on the characteristics of the symptoms, and then apply the appropriate pesticide, so as to avoid blind application causing waste and excessive residues.