Marigold Diseases - Why Leaves Dry

Marigolds (tagetes) are the inhabitants of every garden. They are found in urban flower beds, pleasing the eyes of passers-by. Filling the air with unsurpassed aroma, they flaunt on the balconies of city apartments. These flowers are completely unpretentious in growing. However, gardeners have a lot of questions if the bushes for some reason turn blue, red or purple. Many do not quite understand what to do when pests attack these plants. So that the ailment is not taken by surprise, and measures have been taken to eliminate it in a timely manner, you need to know the main diseases of marigolds, as well as those insects that harm these flowers.

Marigold diseases and their treatment

Tagetes, when compared with other flowers, are practically not susceptible to disease. However, a violation of the elementary rules of care, an indifferent attitude to soil, watering, and top dressing lead to the fact that plants begin to wither and die.

Why marigold leaves turn red

Some gardeners are at a standstill and do not understand why marigold leaves turn red. Some people think this is due to poor care of them. The second, due to the fact that the plants are sick.

Marigold

The following causes contribute to reddening of marigold leaves:

• cold weather. It affects the leaves of the plant, as a result they turn red;
• scorching sun. It also has a certain effect on the leaves, leading to a change in their color;
• transfer. The bushes need to go through a period of acclimatization, and during this time their leaves will be red;
• acidic soil. If the marigold leaves turned red, then you need to check the acidity of the soil.

Apparently, it’s okay that the leaves of the plants turned red, no. It is enough to analyze the reason why such a phenomenon occurs, and it will not be possible to eliminate the problem of labor.

Why marigolds do not bloom: what to do

Depending on weather conditions, you need to wait about two months from the time the bushes are planted in the ground to see how the plants bloom. If after this time nothing starts to happen, then the seedlings were improperly cared for.

The main reasons why marigolds do not bloom and what to do about it:

• lack or excess of fertilizer. Marigolds must be fed with preparations containing potassium and phosphorus (each component is taken in 1 tbsp.spoon and dissolved in 10 l of water, while the flow rate during irrigation should be 2-3 l per 1 m²);
• insufficient or excessive watering. Flowers are watered daily, if the summer is dry - morning and evening (water consumption - 20 l per 1 m²);
• there is not enough air in the ground. To saturate the soil with oxygen, it is necessary to loosen it once a week;
• not enough lighting. Bushes must be planted in a sunny place, if this is not possible, they can be placed in partial shade.

Marigold leaves turned white

Sometimes a white coating appears on the leaves of the bushes. This can indicate both the presence of the disease and the defeat of flowers by pests.

So why do marigold leaves turn white? Main reasons:

• plants are affected by a spider mite - white spots in the form of a spider web are noticeable on the leaves;
• the bushes underwent a disease such as powdery mildew - in addition to the appearance of plaque on the leaves, they begin to wrap around the edges.

If marigold leaves are white, you need to take measures to eliminate the cause of the disease as soon as possible. Otherwise, the plant will die, and all the efforts to grow it will be in vain.

Marigold leaves twist

If marigold leaves curl, the first thing you need to pay attention to is there enough lighting colors. It happens that the bushes were originally grown in a room in which there was practically no sunlight, and then carried out to the sun. In this case, the leaves turn yellow first, then dry, wrapping around the edges, and fall off.

Curled leaves may indicate that plants are affected by chlorosis or powdery mildew.

How is marigold chlorosis manifested?

Marigold chlorosis is a disease whose appearance is due to a deficiency of certain trace elements. With this ailment, the formation of chlorophyll in the leaves is disturbed. The fact that the Tagetes are ill with chlorosis is indicated by the following phenomena:

• on leaflets the veins remain green, and their plates turn yellow;
• the tops of the plants dry out;
• leaves in size become smaller and fall;
• the buds are deformed and fall off;
• root system development is paused.

The treatment of chlorosis is to add to the soil that trace element that the plant lacks. If difficulties arise with its definition, you need to use complex top dressing, which contains all the necessary substances.

What is powdery mildew in marigolds (lat.Erysiphaceae)

Powdery mildew is considered a fungal disease. When it occurs, a whitish coating appears in the form of a powder on the leaves of plants, which many take for ordinary dust. It is easy to remove with a finger, but soon it reappears.

Marigold Diseases

If you do not pay attention to this ailment for a long time, the whole plant is covered with a coating. Over time, its leaves turn yellow, and new ones grow twisted and ugly in shape.

To treat bushes from powdery mildew, fungicides are used, based on sulfur.

Gray rot (lat. Botrytis cinerea)

The disease affects plants in cold, damp weather. More often the affliction is dense plantings of flowers. If the leaves and stems of the bushes darkened, brownish spots began to form on them, so it's time to take measures and save the plants from gray rot.

The disease can spread rapidly. Therefore, at the first signs of an ailment, the affected parts of the flower must be removed. Otherwise, the disease will switch to growing near crops.

Marigold black rot (lat.Guignardia bidwellii)

The black leg is the most common marigold disease. It affects mainly young plants. The lower part of their stems first darkens and then decays, from which the flower dies.

In the fight against black rot, special attention is paid to preventive measures. You can occasionally water the plants with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. If some of them become ill, they are immediately removed to avoid infection of other bushes.

Signs of late blight (lat. Phytophthora infestans)

Marigolds do not suffer from late blight. On the contrary, these flowers are planted near potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and other crops that are susceptible to fungi of the species Phytophthora infestans, which means "destroying plants."

Brown spotting of marigolds (lat. Phyllosticta petuniae Sp.)

Brown spotting is not afraid of marigolds, since they are also not susceptible to this disease.

Causes of Marigold Disease

Marigolds are unpretentious plants. However, improper care of them provokes the development of various diseases.

Temperature violation

Due to a violation of the temperature regime, the following diseases can develop:

• powdery mildew (outdoor air below 15 ° C);
• gray rot (cold, damp weather).

Watering violation

Due to violations of irrigation rules, the following problems may occur:

• powdery mildew (the soil is constantly dried out and then poured);
• black leg (darkening and decay of stems with excessive watering);
• growth cessation (soil is poorly moistened);
• small inflorescences (lack of moisture).

Excess moisture leads to the impossibility of developing inflorescences after marigolds bloom. They rot, which ultimately destroys the plant.

Iron deficiency

If plants or seedlings turn yellow, this may be a sign of a lack of iron. The problem can be easily solved if you add dressing, which contains the missing trace element.

Pests

Sometimes it is completely incomprehensible what happens to the flowers: either someone eats marigolds, or they have undergone some kind of disease, or they are simply being improperly taken care of. In fact, it’s easy enough to recognize what is happening with the bushes. The main thing is to know what pests can attack these plants and what the result of their vital activity looks like.

Who eats marigolds

The most common insects of those who eat marigolds are:

• greenhouse whitefly. It affects plants growing in hot conditions. For example, in rarely ventilated greenhouses or in open ground with excessively warm summers. It is a small butterfly. Its main nutrition is juice from leaves of flowers. On plants, this insect can leave its larvae, the secretions from which become the habitat of sooty fungi. The presence of this disease is evidenced by a black coating on the leaves of plants;

Greenhouse Whitefly

• snails and slugs. These parasites belonging to the mollusk class gnaw bushes in rainy weather. They eat both leaves and stems of plants;
• thrips are small insects that suck juice from marigold buds and destroy them. They begin to decay, and eventually dry out and fall off. The affected areas are quite easy to see: they look like small sized punctures in the area of ​​the petals of the buds;
• caterpillars. They feed on flower leaves, because of which the plant loses its decorative effect.

Marigold spider mite

This pest infects young plants. However, if the summer is hot and dry, it can attack adult bushes. This insect spreads in an arid environment, so it is important when growing marigolds to maintain adequate air humidity and spray plants as often as possible.

When a spider mite appears on the marigolds, the leaves of the bushes acquire a whitish bloom. Then they dry up and, dying, fall off. It is necessary to take timely measures to combat this pest. Otherwise, the garden will lose its charming inhabitants.

If the question arises, how to deal with cobwebs on marigolds, then the only right methods are keeping the air moist and spraying the bushes frequently.

Spider mites can be disposed of as follows. You need 200 g of tobacco pour 2 liters of water. Insist for two days, filter and add water until a 10-liter capacity is filled. To this solution, you need to add 50 g of laundry soap shavings and mix everything thoroughly. Tagheses are sprayed with this infusion in the morning and evening until the pest disappears completely.

Marigold aphids

These insects have tiny sizes of 3 to 7 mm. On the head of the pest there is a proboscis with which it pierces the stem and leaves of the plant, sucking the juice. Insects attack the bushes in colonies.

Marigold aphids

When aphids appear on marigolds, the main way to combat it is to use insecticides. Before using them, you need to wash off the insects from the bushes with a strong pressure of water. Once this has been done, chemicals can be used to prevent pests from returning to the flowers.

Agricultural chemistry and plant protection

In order for the Tagetes to please the eye with its appearance, it is necessary at the seed planting stage to take care of preventive measures to protect plants from diseases.

How to treat folk remedies

Some ailments of marigolds can be cured by non-traditional methods:

• Chlorosis. You can save a plant from this scourge if you drop rusty nails into the pot where it grows (some scrap the rust from old metal objects and then add it to the soil).
• Fungal diseases are treated with the following formulations: 40 g of soda ash mixed with 10 g of detergent, dissolved in 10 l of hot water and cooled (sprayed bushes and soil); 80 g of mustard powder is poured into 20 liters of water, the resulting solution is sprayed over the flowers; 60 g of finely chopped garlic is poured into 2 liters of water, insisted for a day, filtered, used for spraying.

Prevention and protection of marigolds from pests and diseases

Preventive measures are as follows:

• compliance with the temperature regime, the rules for watering the bushes, planting plants in places with good lighting;
• deciding to plant seeds in open ground, this should be done no earlier than the second half of May (the soil is covered with protective material and not removed until the first seedlings appear);
• when growing seedlings in pots or cups, drainage should be poured on their bottom (coarse sand or gravel can be used). This is a preventive measure to prevent the development of fungal diseases;
• in spring, plants are fertilized moderately, as abundant top dressing can provoke active growth of deciduous mass and delay flowering.

Protection of marigolds from diseases and pests:

• Greenhouse whitefly. Preventive measures include treating the bushes with mustard and water. To cook it, you need to take 2 tbsp. tablespoons of dry mustard and 0.5 liters of water. The ingredients are mixed and put in a water bath. When the mustard has dissolved, the product is cooled and sprayed with bushes.
• Snails and slugs. To prevent them from eating plants, these pests must be collected manually. Also, planks of wood are laid out along the marigold bushes. They are an obstacle to slugs and snails on the way to the leaves of plants.
• Thrips. Prevention to protect against them begins in early spring. When the garden is treated from the harm of various insects, marigolds are also sprayed with special preparations. Thrips, as a rule, affect fruit trees and are already moved from them to flowers. Therefore, it is important to do a comprehensive treatment of everything that can bloom in the garden.

Marigold Pests

• Caterpillars. Protection measures come down to spraying plants with chemicals. You can also dust the foliage of bushes with ash.
• Spider mite.Preventive measures include frequent spraying of plants, as this insect does not tolerate high humidity.
• Chlorosis. Protecting plants from the development of this disease consists in observing the correct method of growing flowers, as well as in the timely application of fertilizing.
• Black rot. Preventive measures consist in the fact that the seeds of flowers before planting are soaked in fungicides, they also etch the soil in which the plants will grow.

Timely preventive measures can subsequently rid the plant of the effects of chemicals that can fight pests and diseases.

Tageteses reliably protect many cultures from various pests and diseases. However, these flowers themselves may undergo a certain ailment. To protect your pets from such a situation, you need to give them more time and eliminate any sign of an emerging problem even at the stage of its inception.