Cuscuta – How to identify and fight

Cuscuta, with the scientific name Cuscuta spp. And the name folk entrusted or torch is a parasitic herb on the stem, annual, Dicotyledon, herbaceous, which multiplies through the seeds. In Romania, cuscute is present in many species that parasitize various cultures. The most common crops that parasites are those of peppers, young tomatoes, aubergines, carrots, dill, onions, garlic, beets, potatoes, clover and alfalfa. Other cultures they can attack include linen, hemp, hops and meadows sown with legumes.

Cuscuta has average requirements compared to the temperature. The plant has a net appearance, there are no real roots and get food through guests from the host plant. It has different colors, depending on the species, including the red to yellow palette. Its stem is filiform, cylindrical, branched and wrapped in the upper part of the plant.

The leaves are missing or do not develop, remaining in the stairs or peaks phase. Cuscuta has hermaphrodite flowers, small, of various colors, triangular and short sepals and flowers are grouped 8-12 in inflorescences.

Once on, cousin plants are looking for their guest plant on the soil surface. Its stem is curled around the guest plant and parasitically through the auster, which penetrates the parasitic plant in the search for food. The couscous voltage can quickly reach heights up to 5-6 meters.

The guest system undergoes reduced increases, weak fruiting and the formation of small fruits, which cultivate decorable.

How to fight cucute?

In order to prevent and combat cushion, it is recommended to assemble and destroy the vegetable residues that remain due to the collection, the correct preparation of the germond bed, the correct asset, the strengthening and burning of the cucumber plants that appear in the harvest before they form seeds, as well as the use of the seeds certified and free for the seeds for the crops. It is also recommended to use herbicides Approved to combat cushion, according to the culture concerned.