As a common vegetable crop, cucumber often meets the problem of plant death during planting. This not only affects the yield, but also brings no small economic losses to the growers. This article will delve into the causes of cucumber plant death and provide relevant control strategies to help growers solve this problem.
1. Insufficient light
Light is the basis of plant growth, and cucumbers are no exception. Lack of light can seriously affect the photosynthesis of cucumbers, resulting in plants unable to produce enough nutrients, resulting in premature aging, dead trees and other symptoms.
Reason analysis
Insufficient light will weaken the photosynthesis of cucumber, resulting in insufficient organic nutrition production.
In the low light environment for a long time, the root growth of cucumber plants is slow, the root amount is small, and eventually leads to death.
Control strategy
Increase the amount of light. In sunny days as early as possible to remove the straw mat, and often clean the film surface, increase the light transmittance.
Even when it is cloudy, even if there is no direct light, there is still scattered light, as long as the indoor temperature of the straw mat is not significantly decreased, it is necessary to uncover the cucumber to see the light.
Hang a reflective screen and use lighting to supplement the light.
2. The Soil Permeability Is Poor
Poor soil permeability is another important cause of cucumber tree death. Overwatering results in a lack of oxygen in the soil, which prevents the roots from breathing properly and eventually leads to dead roots.
Reason analysis
After heavy watering, there is not enough oxygen in the soil and the roots cannot breathe properly.
Too much watering can also cause a drop in ground temperature, further affecting root growth and respiration.
Control strategy
Watering should be small number of times, do not flood irrigation. Especially in winter, watering should be carried out in the morning on a sunny day and avoid watering in the afternoon and evening.
In order to enhance the permeability of the soil and promote the growth of cucumber roots, the soil was hoed to remove moisture.
Pay attention to drainage to ensure that the water in the soil can be discharged in time to avoid water accumulation.
3. Improper Application Of Fertilizer
Improper fertilizer application is another common cause of dead cucumber plants. Incorrect fertilizer ratios, especially those of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, can lead to salt accumulation in the soil, leading to base constriction and dead plants.
Reason analysis
The fertilizer ratio is not correct, and the salt accumulation is too much.
Application of fertilizer that is not fully decomposed, resulting in fertilizer damage.
Long-term excessive use of chemical fertilizer leads to soil salinization.
Control strategy
Apply fully decomposed organic fertilizer to reduce the amount of fertilizer used.
Topdressing should be more than 10 cm away from the seedlings, and water after topdressing to avoid direct contact with the roots of fertilizer.
The use of functional type fertilizer with live bacteria can improve the utilization rate of the effective components of fertilizer and alleviate the phenomenon of burning root.
4. The Soil Ph Is Not Suitable
Soil pH is one of the important factors affecting cucumber growth. Soil PH value is too low or too high, will lead to poor growth of cucumber, or even dead.
Reason analysis
Soil PH is not suitable, such as pH value is only about 5.8, easy to lead to dead trees.
The main causes of soil acidification are long-term excessive use of fertilizer, excessive consumption of potassium and trace elements.
Control strategy
Adjust soil pH and use alkaline substances such as lime to neutralize acidic soil.
Rational use of chemical fertilizers to avoid soil salinization and acidification caused by excessive use.
Increase the application amount of organic fertilizer, improve soil structure, improve soil fertility.
5. Pests And Diseases
Diseases and pests are one of the important causes of cucumber tree death. Common pests and diseases include blight, root rot, root knot nematode and so on.
Reason analysis
Diseases such as wilt and root rot will cause root rot and the plant will lose vitality.
Root-knot nematodes would infect cucumber roots, forming nodules and affecting the absorption function of roots.
Control strategy:
Selection of disease-resistant varieties to reduce the occurrence of diseases.
The diseased plant should be removed in time, and the surrounding plants should be treated with prevention and treatment.
Use chemical agents for prevention and control, such as 50% methyltolbuzine wettable powder, 70% wettable powder, 30%DT fungicide, etc.
For root-knot nematodes, abamectin and phosphine thiazole can be used to control them.
6. Other Factors
In addition to the above main reasons, there are some other factors that may also lead to the death of cucumber trees, such as cold damage, freezing damage, and unreasonable ventilation.
Reason analysis
In the case of low temperature or temperature below -10℃, cucumber is easy to produce cold damage or freezing damage.
Unreasonable ventilation, such as high temperature in sunny days, large amount of air, rapid leaf transpiration, some plants with bad roots began to wilt.
Control strategy
In winter, when the temperature is low, watering should be a small number of times to avoid flooding.
Winter ventilation pay attention to step by step, do not pull the tuyere is too large.
Rain or snow after the sudden sunny, to gradually see the light, such as seedling wilting, timely shading and water.
7. Case Analysis And Countermeasures
Taking Liaocheng area as an example, the phenomenon of dead cucumber in the process of planting is more serious.
Through field investigation and expert consultation, it is found that the main reasons include repeated cropping, soil salt accumulation, soil acidification, nematode damage and so on.
Case study
Continuous cropping leads to high soil bacteria content and unbalanced nutrient content, which is easy to induce many diseases such as crop root rot.
The accumulation of soil salt caused by heavy topdressing resulted in constriction of the stem base and death of the tree.
Soil acidification destroys the soil structure, makes the soil harden, and increases the solubility of aluminum and manganese, which has a toxic effect on vegetables.
Root-knot nematodes cause the formation of nodules in the roots, which affect the absorption function of the roots and eventually lead to the death of the trees.
Prevention and control measures
1. Crop rotation to avoid repeated crop years.
2. Rational use of chemical fertilizer to reduce salt accumulation.
3. Adjust soil pH and use alkaline substances such as lime to neutralize acidic soil.
4. Abamectin and phosphine thiazole were used to control root-knot nematodes.
Conclusion
Cucumber plant death is a complicated problem, which involves many aspects such as light, soil, fertilizer, pests and diseases. Through the discussion and analysis in this paper, we understand the main causes of cucumber dead tree and control strategy. However, with the continuous progress of agricultural technology and the constant change of planting environment, new problems and challenges will continue to appear.
As growers, we should constantly learn new agricultural knowledge and technology to improve the level of planting management. At the same time, it is also necessary to pay close attention to market dynamics and consumer demand, and adjust the planting structure and variety selection to adapt to market changes.
In the future, with the development of agricultural intelligence and information technology, we can use the Internet of things, big data and other technical means to carry out real-time monitoring and accurate management of the cucumber growing environment, and further improve the yield and quality of cucumbers. At the same time, it can also strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other countries and regions, introduce advanced planting technology and management experience, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of cucumber industry.
Through the implementation of the above measures, we believe that the problem of cucumber plant death will be effectively solved, and the cucumber industry will usher in a better tomorrow.
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