Verticillium wilt disease causes a serious threat to eggplant plants, causing the plant to wilt and die. In this article on your website WORLD OF PLANTS, we explain how to recognize this disease and ways to prevent it.
Introduction to Verticillium wilt disease
Verticillium wilt, also known as cupcake wilt, is a fungal disease that lurks in the soil and targets a wide range of plants. Whether ornamental or useful plants, whether perennial or vegetable: the list of potential host plants includes a total of more than 200 species.
The Verticillium dahlia fungus is responsible for this disease. These fungi mainly target woody plants.
Symptoms of verticillium wilt
The first symptoms of Verticillium wilt usually appear in early summer at the beginning of the first heat wave. Initially, the disease only affects certain parts of the tree or individual shoots, which can have either distinctly small leaves, dry leaves, light foliage color, or even dead branches. Trees can die on one side or completely, and the cross-section of the wood turns brown. In some plants, the bud buds also turn brown. Wilting is sometimes slow for years. The severity of wilting irritation depends critically on the overall fitness of the plant.
Causes and course of verticillium wilt disease
The disease is often introduced with new plants, but can also remain dormant in the soil as persistent spores for a decade or more.
Unfortunately, there is little point in checking new plants for infestation, since symptoms are not always apparent from the outside. Only when a suitable host plant grows roots and optimal conditions prevail, do the fungi become active again and infection occurs.
Verticillium wilt often infects plants through the roots and enters through small wounds. But water, wind and even infected pruning shears or chainsaws can also spread spores from the pathogen, which spreads through the plant's water channels and clogs them or at least severely impedes water transport. This causes wilting symptoms depending on which branches are affected.
If the disease does not spread to all major paths, trees can live with the fungus for years. But when the water needs of plants are very high during hot periods, wilting is especially noticeable. If the tubes are completely blocked, the branch or top of the plant dies. This also applies to branched herbaceous plants.
Yellowing and dryness often appear at the edges of older leaves on the plant. The plant's wilting extends to the rest of the tissue, giving the leaf a wilted appearance, often wilting on one side. This particular trait is called segmental yellowing or “unilateral wilt.” Black streaks develop on the trunk and extend from the base upward, causing the trunk to wilt.
The disease increases in warm, sunny weather conditions. In advanced stages of the disease, the fungus colonizes dead tissue, forming black structures, which can be seen with magnifying glasses. These structures allow the fungus to survive for many years in the soil.
Prevention and treatment of Verticillium wilt
There are currently no fungicides or other options to directly control Verticillium wilt. You can cut the affected parts of the branch down to the healthy wood (with a light cross section) and hope that the plant in other parts is not already affected. But even these immediate measures do not always achieve the desired success, as the plant can still become infected and die at some point. Therefore, preventive measures are crucial. Dispose of infected plants completely in household waste. Anyone who composts diseased plants is only spreading the pathogen because it usually survives the rotting process. Also remove fallen leaves on which pathogens live.
Organic control of Verticillium wilt
The use of biofungicides containing Streptomyces lydicus bacteria can break the disease cycle and help stop the progression of the disease.
Chemical control of Verticillium wilt
An integrated approach with preventive measures and biological treatments, if available, should always be relied upon. If trees are affected by the disease, it is difficult to get rid of them. Soil fumigation is a successful but expensive control method. The success of the fumigation process depends on the chemical used for fumigation, the rate of use, and the environmental conditions during the fumigation process. Affected plant parts can also be treated
Preventive measures for Verticillium wilt
- Use plant varieties that are resistant or susceptible to infection.
- Do not use mixed planting with sensitive crops that can spread the disease.
- Avoid fertilizers rich in nitrogen and excessive irrigation.
- Use plant tonics to strengthen plants against infection.
- Prune, remove and burn infected plant material.
- Clean all tools and equipment after handling infected plants.
- Do not work in the fields when the tree leaves are wet.
- Be careful not to damage the roots while working in the field.
- Expose the soil to solar radiation for a period of time (insolation).
- Remove and mix plant residues deep into the soil or burn them. Practice crop rotation with non-host plants.
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Sources:
Verticillium wilt disease and how to treat it - nabatat
Verticillium wilt - plantix
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