Septoria: what is it and how to fight it

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 to wheat, it does not only affect wheat: barley, oats and some other grasses are also susceptible to being attacked by the different types of septoria.

Is a fungal-like disease, produced by a pathogen of the Mycosphaerellaceae family. Its symptoms are the spots it leaves on the branches and leaves in which it develops, which eventually become necrotic. They start as dark green spots, which turn yellow and finally brown.

In wheat crops it can be devastating, being able to spoil up to 40% of crops due to its rapid development and multiplication capacity. When the disease progresses, leaf spots and branches or stems spread rapidly through the plant, causing it to grow noticeably slower and lengthening its flowering phase, even in some cases even dying.

If fungi appear in the crop, the first step you should take to fight septoria will be to limit the humidity to no more than 50%, since high humidity levels favor their development and propagation.

For the same reason, it is necessary to control the irrigation volume, which should be reduced to only do what is strictly necessary. In this sense, it is completely inadvisable to water or spray in the 3 hours prior to darkness. If not done, moisture can condense on the leaves overnight and lead to mold growth.

Another necessary measure is to control the culture temperature during night hours. It is advisable that the thermal variation between day and night does not exceed 5ºC, so that the plant has the energy to recover at night without having to deal with temperature variations. To help with this, watering with room temperature water also lowers the heat stress that plants experience.

If you have already detected symptoms of Septoria 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 soil and on the leaves of the affected plants, as well as those that are close to 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.

Despite everything, if the disease is widespread or in a very advanced stage, it is likely that you will have no choice but to resort to chemical products and treatments.

Preventing the onset 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 heal yourself in health with your wheat, barley or other planting, the best thing you can do is to take these measures even if you don’t see any symptom of septoria in the crop.

For prevent fungus on plantsagain, a great option is to prepare a horsetail infusion and mix it with four parts of water. This method is completely 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 plants. The closer together they are, the less air will circulate, favoring the appearance of mold and other fungi. In addition, the disease is spread more quickly by plants that are close together. For this reason, keep the growing 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.

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