How to fight vegetable viruses

Index

Introduction

The importance of nutrition in the fight against virosis

Treatment in the pre-transplant phase

Treatment against aphids and whiteflies

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Preventing virosis in the garden

Introduction

The cultivation of tomatoes, as well as that of zucchini and peppers, have to deal with very subtle and harmful enemies: viruses . These are very different diseases and of more or less recent origin. It is only recently, in fact, that the harmful effects, although impossible to eradicate, have been mitigated thanks to the search for specific strategies and appropriate means of control.

Let's see together the possible strategies for prevention and defense against viruses, taking care to carry out specific and targeted treatments.

The importance of nutrition in the fight against virosis

As you know, fighting the virus is impossible. What, on the other hand, is possible and important to do is to put the plants in a position to be as resistant to the virus as possible and to eliminate possible vectors, in order to be able to safeguard their productivity as well.

To make all this happen, it is necessary to provide the right defense and reinforcement tools already in the prevention phase and from the moment the small seedlings are in the alveoli.

Treatment in the pre-transplant phase

With a view to optimization, but above all to economize, our advice is to carry out the first treatment in the pre-transplant phase with a backpack pump, taking care to mix the following products in the precise order of appearance:

• Inex-A (dosage: 30ml/100lt) - (dosage for backpack pump: 3ml/10lt)
• Control Dmp (dosage: 50ml/100lt) - (dosage for backpack pump: 5ml/10lt)
• Minecto Alpha (dosage: 0.75-1lt/ha) - (dosage for backpack pump: 10ml/10lt)
• Shore (dosage: 500ml/100lt) - (dosage for backpack pump: 50ml/10lt)

Let's see together the function of each individual product included in the proposed treatment:

1. The "main" product of this treatment is Shore, an extract of a particular fermented algae clone that induces the activation of the plant's defense systems, allowing it to achieve production results even in the event of strong stress 

      

THE ADVICE OF OUR AGRONOMIST TECHNICIAN

   "My advice is always to use, during a treatment, a water improver (INEX-A) and a pH regulator (CONTROL DMP)
   The first product, INEX-A, is essential because it increases the adhesion of the mixture on the leaves, thus ensuring greater effectiveness and, in case of rain, resistance to the washing action of rain.
 Control Dmp, on the other hand, serves to improve the pH of the water used to treat, increasing the penetration of the solution inside the plant    

Dr. M. Tancredi- technical manager Perfarelalbero.it

   

     

 

2. It is essential to know that some of the most common parasites (such as thrips, aphids, whiteflies, etc.) are the vectors that cause the transmission of viruses from an infected plant to a healthy plant. Reducing their presence, therefore, will decrease the risk of spreading the virus. In this regard, we have advised you to add, during the pre-transplant treatment, the:

•  Minecto Alpha , also useful against whitefly, thrips and noctuae. It is an insecticide with a broad spectrum of action that acts on phytophagous insects with chewing and stinging-sucking apparatus. In addition, through  the active ingredient contained within it - Acibenzolar-S methyl - Minecto Alpha acts as an activator of the plant's defenses, through the system; If applied preventively , it can reduce the incidence of virosis.

It will be advisable to repeat the  treatment for two more consecutive times:

Once the transplant has been performed, we recommend performing the second treatment 7 days after the first and the third treatment 14 days after the first. In this way, we will induce the plant to be as little subject as possible to transplant stress and, therefore, less vulnerable.

Treatment against aphids and whiteflies

During the second and third treatments , we suggest, based on the strategy of alternating the active ingredients, to replace Minecto Alpha with a mixture useful against aphids and whiteflies. The treatment proposed in this phase, therefore, is as follows:

• Inex-A (dosage: 30ml/100lt)
• Control Dmp (dosage: 50ml/100lt)
• Karate Zeon 1.5 (dosage: 175ml/100lt), pyrethroid insecticide that acts first  by contact and, subsequently, by ingestion
• Epik sl (dosage: 200ml/100lt), a highly systemic product that acts by ingestion
• Shore (dosage: 500ml/100lt)
• Vitaseve (dosage: 500ml/hl)

... TECHNICAL DEPTH...

 Vitaseve is a product that in recent years has been increasingly requested by farmers, especially for its peculiarity of finding application in different crops, both fruit and horticultural.

Vitaseve is a particular nutritional formulation capable of accelerating lymphatic flows in all crops. Thanks to this action, it is able to improve the vitality of the plant, leading it to carry out normal reproductive functions, despite being infected with viruses.

 If it is necessary to reduce the amount of residues, a valid alternative, to be alternated between the active ingredients, is given by the use:

• Neem oil (dosage: 200ml/hl), a product containing Azatirachtin, which has a strong repellency activity

• Frankyl (dosage: 200ml/hl), organic vegetable stillage containing elements that have a strong repellency action. It is possible to mix with all the above strategies

The awareness that properly nourished plants react better to pathogenic attacks and abiotic stress is the common thread of the virus defense techniques for tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. Precisely for this reason, our advice is to accompany each treatment with the use of some specific products, which act as a structural support:

• Welgro Complex, a fertilizer rich in microelements useful for always providing the plant with the right nutritional dose, to avoid stress
• Triplex, NPK fertilizer with strongly assimilable elements, especially from debilitated plants
• Maxi Grow, a product containing an important number of auxins and cytokines, capable of providing the plant with support to perform normal biological functions and, therefore, improve reproduction

Author's note: The aim of this article is to support farmers in bringing a field infected with viruses into production, with the hope of recouping the investment. The costs to be faced are important, but from experience we are able to maintain that, with adequate care and using products of adequate quality, it is possible to achieve interesting results