Cabbage is a plant that requires considerable attention from the gardener. It is susceptible to various diseases, among which can be called white and gray rot , powdery mildew, rhizoctonia, late blight, black leg and others, as well as invasions of numerous pests.
One of the problems, often troubling novices, is the curling of cabbage leaves. Before deciding what to do and what to process the plant, if the cabbage leaves on the bed curl inward, you need to find out why this happens.
Why are the leaves on the cabbage curled and what to do about it?
There are several reasons why leaves can curl. Let's look at each of them and find out how to deal with it:
- One of the most common causes of this behavior is the attack of cabbage aphids - the main pest of this vegetable. At the same time twisting of leaves is only one of many troubles. Settling on cabbage large colonies, aphids - a small insect of grayish-white color - inflicts a huge and sometimes irreparable damage to this plant. It sucks out the cabbage juice, so that the leaves are covered with patches of white, then brown, and twist. The very same plants begin to lag behind in growth, they do not tie their heads, and cabbage may even die. Therefore, to fight cabbage aphids should be started as soon as possible - as soon as you notice the first signs of its invasion. This implies the following measures: sprayed with anabasine sulfate, a dense of metaphos or a decoction of tobacco dust. And even more effective will be the prevention of pests - since mid-summer, take the rule of regularly inspecting the lower leaves of cabbage. Remember that the most dangerous aphid becomes in the late summer, when it begins to multiply intensively. For the winter, it is necessary to dig deeply the soil, removing the post-harvest remnants of cabbage and other crops of this family, because they can be hibernated with aphid eggs.
- Many beginners gardener are interested in why the leaves are twisting in cabbage seedlings. This may be due to the attack of whitefly - a white gnat, like a small moth. First, on the underside of the leaves, you can see the larvae of this pest, and then you will see how the leaves of the cabbage twist, they appear black fungus plaque, and then the plant withers together with the unrevealed buds, if they have already appeared. The fight against the whitefly is difficult, because its larvae, covered with a waxy coating, are not amenable to treatment with chemical preparations. To destroy should already adult insects, using drugs Intra-vir, Aktellik, Fufanon, as well as the usual adhesive tape from flies (whitefly itself flies to her, attracted by yellow color).
- Also, the leaves of white cabbage, like any other vegetable garden, can begin to curl because of the banal lack of moisture . Check the soil cover at the roots of the plant and, if necessary, pour it, moistening the soil well.
- Sometimes cabbage foliage is curled because of a lack or, on the contrary, a surplus of nutrients in the soil . In the first case, the best solution will be the use of mineral fertilizers, because it is quite difficult to find out exactly what your cabbage lacks. But also to fertilize the plant on the principle of "the more, the better", also it is not necessary - this is fraught with over-saturation with mineral substances, which will not be of use.
- The appearance of the leaves is sure to be affected by chemical burns with pesticides , if you inadvertently sprinkled cabbage with an excessively concentrated solution. In this case, it is unlikely that it will be possible to restore the plant, and the harvest is likely to have to say goodbye.