It is very likely that on more than one occasion you have heard mention of the septoria or septoria, especially if you know people with wheat or other cereal plantations or someone who is very fond of gardening, horticulture or agriculture in general. It is a fungal disease that should be known well to avoid losses of crops and plants.
In this Green Ecologist article we are going to talk what is septoria and how to combat and prevent it. If you want to learn more about septoria, join us in this gardening guide and you will see how you can keep it away from your crops and plants.
What is septoria
As we have said, septoria is a disease that commonly attacks many varieties of wheat. In fact, the wheat septoria It is the most important disease of this cereal in many areas of the world. However, although the greatest damage is caused in wheat, it does not affect only this: barley, oats and some other grasses are also susceptible to being attacked by different types of septoria.
Is a fungal-like disease, produced by a pathogen of the Mycosphaerellaceae family. Its symptoms are the spots that it leaves on branches and leaves in which it develops, which end up necrotizing. They begin as dark green spots, turning yellow and finally brown.
In wheat crops it can be devastating, being able to spoil up to 40% of the crops due to its rapid development and multiplication capacity. When the disease progresses, spots on the leaves and branches or stems spread rapidly through the plant, causing it to grow significantly more slowly and lengthening its flowering phase, even in some cases even dying.
How to combat septoria
If fungi appear on the crop, the first step you will need to take to fight septoria will be to limit the humidity to no more than 50%, since high levels of humidity favor the development and propagation of these.
For the same reason, the irrigation volume, which should be reduced to only those strictly necessary. In this sense, it is completely inadvisable to water or spray in the 3 hours before dark. If not, moisture can condense on the leaves overnight and lead to mold growth.
Another necessary measure is to control the culture temperature during the night hours. The thermal variation between day and night should not exceed 5 ºC, so that the plant has energy to recover at night without having to deal with temperature variations. To help with this, watering with room temperature water also reduces heat stress on plants.
If you have already detected symptoms of Septoriosis in your plants, one of the best things you can do without resorting to chemicals is to prepare a horsetail decoction diluted in 4 parts of water for each part of decoction. Apply it on the ground and on the leaves of the affected plants, as well as those that are near them. Repeat the application every 15 days until it is clear that there is no longer a fungal infection. Here you can learn more homemade fungicides that are totally natural.
In spite of everything, if the disease is widespread or in a very advanced stage, you probably have no choice but to resort to chemical products and treatments.
How to prevent septoria
Preventing the appearance of a disease is always easier than treating it. However, it is easy to make the mistake of relaxing and not worrying about the problem until it appears. If you want to get healthy with your wheat, barley or other planting, the best thing you can do is take these steps even if you don't see any symptom of septoria in culture.
For prevent fungi on plants, again, a great option is to prepare a horsetail infusion and mix it with four parts of water. This method is totally ecological and natural, and spraying the plants with this solution will help reduce the chances of the fungus appearing. Of course, do not apply the infusion until the third week of plant growth.
You can also space the distance between floors. The closer they are, the less the air will circulate, favoring the growth of mold and other fungi. In addition, the disease spreads more quickly by plants that are stuck together. For this reason, keep the grow space as clean as possible, free of dry leaves or dead vegetation. This last advice is valid not only against septoria, but against the vast majority of pests and diseases.
If you want to read more articles similar to Septoriosis: what is it and how to fight it, we recommend that you enter our category of Cultivation and care of plants.
