Prevention and Treatment Tips for Black Rot Disease in Succulents
For many girls, understanding the explanation of succulents and the prevention and treatment of black rot disease, let's learn about it together below.
Since the beginning of summer, many succulents of flower friends have died from black rot to varying degrees. Many flower friends have asked if there is a specific medicine for black rot? My greenhouse recently encountered pest infestations (cottony cushion scale, root mealybug) and fungal diseases (black rot), so I consulted experts from the Institute of Plant Protection, Vegetable Research Institute, and Medical Plant Research Institute of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and invited someone to the scene. They all said there is no specific medicine for black rot.
Black rot is mostly caused by saprophytic fungi. It often occurs during the summer high temperatures when succulents are dormant and have low resistance, and there is currently no specific medicine to solve this problem. Black rot does not only occur in succulents but can also happen to other animals and plants. For example, food is prone to mold in summer, and animal wounds are easily infected for the same reason.
For black rot in succulents, greenhouses from Europe and America to Japan and South Korea do not have special treatment methods (I have personally visited and consulted several bases). Some advanced methods use water curtains or industrial fans to cool down and apply several fungicides targetedly (sealed fumigation after cooling). Small greenhouse owners just blow fans and use broad-spectrum antibiotics. However, no matter which method is used, damage is inevitable, only a matter of more or less. Of course, it's not that the medicine is completely ineffective, it's just that the effect is not significant for black rot (because there are many pathogens).
For example, before applying the medicine, 50 out of 1000 plants might die, and after applying, 45 might die. This ratio can be negligible for succulents in ordinary households. Moreover, if ventilation and cooling methods are used, the effect is significantly better than applying medicine. So, it's better to blow fans than to spend money on medicine whose effect is unknown.
I still got a bunch of medicines from the lab. They also said that there are many effective medicines for scale insects (when there are no children or pets at home, you can buy some agricultural medicines and use them carefully). Regarding black rot, they only gave me some relatively professional broad-spectrum medicines. They especially reminded that the key to preventing black rot in succulents in the summer is ventilation, cooling, and pest control (summer is also the outbreak period for scale insects and ants, and many black rots are caused by the interaction between scale insects and ants - sooty mold, as plants with wounds are more easily infected).
Some people have asked about the传染性 issue of black rot. Black rot is contagious, but it does not mean it will definitely spread. It depends on the resistance of the individual plant. This is why sometimes in a pot, plant A may rot completely, plant B may be fine, and plant C, which is far away from them, may also rot.
In summary, black rot in succulents in the summer is a law of nature, survival of the fittest. Death is inevitable. When growing succulents at home, there will always be some pests (eggs) brought in. Be more diligent, wash the roots and inspect them carefully before potting, and apply some medicine when potting (there are many agricultural medicines available on the market that are effective against scale insects, such as chlorpyrifos, please use them carefully). In the summer, ventilate and cool down more. This will maximize the reduction of black rot. If it still dies, there's nothing that can be done: ) There's no such thing as a plant that never dies.
About the medicine for scale insects: The inexpensive chlorpyrifos is very effective against scale insects, and many others, including Kelbuzhi mixed with some surfactants, are also very effective. Many horticultural medicines are not of high quality, some are placebos, and some are effective, but the effect is not significant due to the problem with additive ingredients. You can try to add some surfactants, which are generally available at pesticide stores. (But it's not necessary because it's麻烦 and the direct insect-killing medicine itself is very cheap)
For those that have black rot but not completely rotten, you can use a disinfected scalpel to dig out as much of the rotting part as possible, and it's best to dig out some of the non-rotten part as well, because you may not be able to tell if it's infected or not.
Postscript: To avoid trouble, I'm just sharing what I know with everyone, which does not represent authority. Whether the "experts" are experts or not, we cannot say randomly, because the term "experts" has been derogatory, only that the people I found are relatively authoritative in the industry.
The above is a detailed introduction to the prevention and treatment of black rot disease in succulents. Do you know now?