Methods to combat diseases and pests of apple trees

In order for the yields of apple trees to be large and healthy, it is necessary to timely detect the occurrence of diseases and pests and then try to protect the plant from them. You should carefully monitor the condition of the plant and know what symptoms have a variety of diseases.

Apple trees are trees that are susceptible to infecting a large number of diseases. Diseases are diverse, so it is important to know about the signs of each of them in order to start fighting in time and keep the fruit culture healthy and strong. A description of the most common diseases should be considered.

These diseases occur due to improper tree care. They are able to reduce fertility, make the plant weak.

• Twigs and bark of the trunk may be affected. freezing or temperature contrast. The bark is torn, the wood becomes darker, the thin branches die off completely.
• Chlorosis - This is a disease that occurs due to the lack of nutrients in the soil. The leaf plates of the tree change color, become yellow or white, the plant stops growing, the fruits fall off or lose their qualities.

• If at the beginning of growth the development of the inflorescence is impaired, flowers or fruits can grow together. The disease affects the apple tree under adverse conditions during periods of flowering.
• If the shape of the leaf plates is claw-shaped or lanceolate, then the tree is infected. rosette or small leaf. At the top of the shoots appear large sockets, formed of several dozen sheets. The tree becomes weak, its productivity decreases sharply. Ovaries fall off, and the fruits that remain on the tree, lose consumer qualities. This happens if the plant lacks zinc.

• Gardeners sometimes confuse the glassiness of apples with bulk transparency. The fruits are transparent, translucent to seed, which is due to a lack of calcium.

The causative agents of such diseases are fungi that overwinter in foliage on the ground or on other plants. They get to the culture through the wind.

• Most often, young apple trees are sick scab. Almost all sites are infected. On fruits and leaf plates, you can see gray or black spots that have a bright rim. At the onset of the disease, the ovaries fall off. If the fruits do appear, they are one-sided, have cracks. The disease is spread in dense landings that are poorly ventilated.

• European cancer has two forms. The open form includes certain symptoms. On the bark you can see deep wounds that do not overgrow. They have a red border, then thickenings are formed. Over time, they turn into growths of strange forms. The branches wither and die. If the plant is affected by the closed form of the disease, the wounds are tightened with growths resembling tumors and nodules. Only one decaying gap remains. Quite often, cancer attacks old and weakened trees.

• Black cancer able to hit many parts of the plant, there are brown spots on the sheets, wounds on the bark, which after a while begin to overgrow with lumpy growths that contain fungal spores. The bark becomes black, seems charred, cracks. Leaves and fruits fall. If the apples are still held on the branches, they become mummified. If the plant is affected during the flowering period, the flowers dry out.

• Tree roots can hit root cancer, which forms on them terrible growths, which are distributors of fungal spores.

• If the integrity of the bark is compromised by any type of burn, drought, or poor crop care, the apple tree may become sick cytosporosis. The fungus is on the branches and shtambe, they dry out and die. The disease seizes the entire trunk.
• If the cambium is damaged, the process is irreversible. Protect the tree should be using regular and proper pruning and whitewash in the autumn.
• Rust - This is an extremely dangerous disease. The pathogen overwinters on juniper, so do not plant this plant next to the apple trees. When the weather is humid, warm and windy, the spores are transferred to a fruit tree, on which bulging rusty spots appear, with black patches. In these spots accumulate spores of the fungus. The reverse side of the leaves is covered with outgrowths that resemble cones. If the disease affects the plant badly, the leaf plates dry out and fall off. In some cases, the disease is able to infect young shoots, apples, branches or trunk. The bark is cracked, the fruits fall off.

• Young shoots may be affected powdery mildew. The disease manifests itself in inflorescences and apples. Most often appears on old trees or in neglected gardens. On the infected parts there is a brown patina, the leaves curl and crumble, like flowers. If the plant is infected at the beginning of the growing season, it will die.
• Milky luster develops on branches, can cover the whole tree. The first sign is the color change of most leaves. They become light, gray, pearl shade, fragile. The disease can occur due to frozen bark, improper watering, lack of minerals in the leaf plates and young shoots.
• Causative agent fruit rot spends the winter on the fruits. When a tree is struck, you can see brown spots on the apples with a gray patina. Then they rapidly increase, turning the fruit into soft and inedible. Apples are showered or become mummified.

• Polypore are parasitic fungi that suck nutrients from plants. They penetrate extremely deeply, make the wood soft, flaking occurs. In gardens, there can be two types of disease: false and gray-yellow.
• Alternaria infects leaves with dark spots. After the apple tree blooms, the spots are small in size, but over time become larger. If apples are affected, brown patches can be seen on them.
• Lichen can be seen on a rather strong patina on the bark of a tree. It has a lamellar, scaly and bushy texture, silver, green, yellow or blue-green.

The causative agents of bacterial diseases are unicellular organisms that make the plant extremely weak. Such diseases can greatly harm the fruit crop.

• Bacterial burn - This is a dangerous disease that can destroy the plant. On apple trees, it develops not too fast, so that the process of its flow to the death of the tree stretches for several years. First, the symptoms can be seen on flowers that turn brown, and then lethargic. Shoots acquire a curved shape, like a whip. Sheet plates are similar to charred, but not showered on the soil. On the bark you can see a lot of dark spots with a blurred border. Exfoliation of the epidermis occurs. Vegetative parts of the tree are destroyed, which contributes to his death.

• In the spring of bacteriosis can be confused with frost damage to the plant. The edges of the leaves become darker, then the petiole, stem and vascular structure of the wood are captured. At first, the disease does not cause concern to gardeners, but it is necessary to get rid of it in a timely manner, since it can destroy both young and old trees.

To understand that a plant is affected by a viral disease, you must carefully examine it for symptoms.

• Mosaic disease manifested by pale yellow or green spots between the leaf veins. In summer, when the weather is hot, the spots are more visible. Soon the leaf plates become brittle and then peel off.
• Symptoms flattening of branches is a change in the shape of branches (they become less rounded), violation of the message of the crown with the root system. This leads to the fact that the plant can not develop normally and dies.

Not only diseases can weaken or destroy fruit crops, but also dangerous pests that feed on tree nutrients and prevent it from developing normally. There are many harmful insects, so you should be aware of the symptoms that appear when they are attacked. This will help to combat parasites.

• Moth capable of attacking not only apples, but also other fruit crops. The butterfly of small size winters in a cocoon, which is located in the ground or under the crown of the plant. She lays eggs on fruits and leafy plates of an apple tree. In 2–3 weeks, caterpillars feeding on the pulp of apples hatch. They make moves inside the fruit to eat the seed box. If conditions are favorable, an adult insect can produce new offspring several times a year. Quite often, most fruits are affected by worms.

• Apple sawfly puts its eggs inside the buds or flowers. When the larvae become more mature, they make many moves inside the apples, reaching the seed, and then gnaw the middle of the fruit. This parasite is extremely dangerous, as it multiplies very quickly and can harm half of the fruits and ovaries. The sawmen spend the winter in the ground, so that in order to avoid such problems, it is worth digging the soil around the stem of the plant. If there are few parasites, they can be shaken from fruit trees early in the morning, as they are not very active in the cool.
• Aphids (green flies)) attack the plant with a colony, strike leafy plates and shoots. Since they actively feed on the leaves, the leaf plates are corroded. They have a specific plaque.

• Apple Red Tick gives up to six generations in one season, spreads extremely quickly, eats the juice of the green areas of the tree, causes great harm. The mite spends winter in the old bark, so the gardener needs to thoroughly clean the trees and get rid of the waste (it is better to burn them).
• In March may appear suckerwhich is located inside the kidneys. Buds spoil, do not open, there is no greenery.
• Females tsvetoyedov put the eggs in the buds of flowers that have not yet had time to open. When the offspring appears, it feeds on what is inside. Adults use kidney food.

• Apple Blossom eats the flesh of flowers that have not yet opened. If you do not pay attention to the insect, most of the fruits will be destroyed.
• Silkworm eats leaves, ovaries and flowers. It is quite easy to see, as it has an average size of seven centimeters.

• Bark beetle leaves behind small round or oval holes. Near the passages you can see a large amount of wood flour (white or brown). Insect helps to stop the development of shoots, the ovary can not be formed, quickly die.
• Whitefly larvae drink the juice from the leaf plates, damaging them. The leaves become deformed, begin to dry out and quickly fall off.

In springtime, the plant should be sprayed during the period starting from the sap flow of the tree and ending with the separation of the buds. And it is also possible to carry out the treatment when the separation of the buds ends (in June). It is important to use useful recommendations, otherwise you can harm the plant. Insects must be fought as follows:

• plants are sprayed with preparations and folk remedies from the moment the ovaries appear (they must be of a size similar to hazelnut);
• processing ends when the fruit begins to color;
• should be treated by spraying crowns;
• You should not use spraying chemicals at a time when the crop is finished ripening;
• in autumn, trees should be processed from the moment of harvest to the first frost (from minus five degrees);
• gardener can carry out the processing after the end of the leaf fall.

If chemical products are used to get rid of insects, they must be replaced in a timely manner, since the parasites are capable of producing resistance to a particular means.

It is necessary to select drugs depending on the insect that attacks the apple tree, namely:

• in the summer, Tiamethoxam, Thiacloprid, Carbosulfan;
• if the apple tree is attacked by the moth, one should use one of the most effective means: Alpha-cypermethrin, Tiacloprid, Lufenuron, Tiamethoxam, Lambda-cygalothrin;
• in order to get rid of the leafworm, it is necessary to treat the tree with "Carbosulfan", "Dimetoatom", "Permetrin" or "Chlorpyrifos";
• poisonous drugs to combat the tracks are Carbosulfan and Permethrin;
• if ticks appear on plants, it is worth using Pyrimiphos-methyl or Permethrin.

Plants infected with scab should be treated with the chemical drug "Topaz", which is a very effective tool. The drug is diluted in two and a half liters of water. The tool should be sprayed on the tree after flowering. To combat powdery mildew, “Skor” or “Topaz” is used. Drugs are diluted in a bucket of water (2–2.5 milliliters of money are needed). After the tree stops blooming, you can spray it with “HOM” (40–45 grams per bucket of water). After harvesting, the effect is fixed with a solution of copper sulfate (45 grams per bucket of water).

Cytosporosis bark should be removed and destroyed. The treatment process takes place in February, when sap flow is suspended. Expose the exposed area (cut) to a solution of vitriol and carefully bandage. If a tree has cancer, the affected bark is removed with a knife.

It is worth considering the folk methods and methods that can save trees from pests and diseases.

• Ordinary wood ash removes aphids from the tree. Two glasses of ash should be dissolved in ten liters of boiling water. One tablespoon of liquid soap is added to this mixture. The remedy is infused twenty-four hours. The infusion is filtered, the plant is sprayed when the weather is warm. This procedure is carried out before the apple tree begins to bloom, as well as after the appearance of buds. And you can also use beautiful flowers - marigolds. In the fall, flowering plants are cut and dried. In the spring, dried flowers are crushed, placed in a bucket (two kilograms of raw materials). Capacity is filled with water. The tool is infused for several days, then filtered. There should be added 40 grams of chopped with a grater of soap.

• Quite an effective and effective tool against parasites is the black henbane. Means containing this substance should be used during the formation of ovaries or before the tree begins to bloom. A kilogram of dried, finely chopped plants is poured with 10 liters of water. Infused 12 hours. Then filtered. Forty grams of chopped soap dissolve in the product.
• From the moth the plant will save the infusion of wormwood. It is possible to use both a fresh plant, and dried.You need 350 grams of wormwood finely chopped, pour a bucket of liquid. Leave to infuse for a day. Next, put the bucket on the fire, bring the product to a boil, boil for thirty minutes. Broth is filtered, 40 grams of soap dissolves in it. Spray the trees with this solution.

• Another worthy folk remedy is the branches, leaf plates and fruits of tomatoes. It takes 4 kilograms of green tomatoes or their leaves to fill with a bucket of water, bring to a boil over medium heat, boil for thirty minutes. Broth is filtered. At three liters of funds should be dissolved 40 grams of soap. Then the resulting liquid is added to ten liters of water. The finished tool is stored for a long time, so you can make a decoction with a margin.
• Many insects are scared away by the smell of garlic, which means that garlic tincture is the most effective and budget option. Five hundred grams of garlic cloves should be crushed, add to five liters of water. Let stand for several hours, then strain using gauze. Water is added to this solution so that the total volume reaches ten liters. Trees are sprayed.

• Chamomile is a difficult plant that helps to cure diseases not only to people, but also to trees. Remarkable remedy for parasites. Seven hundred grams of dry plants is filled with boiling water. The product is infused for 9–10 hours, then fifty grams of crushed laundry soap is dissolved in it. Water is added to the total volume of ten liters.
• Even such a common remedy as soda ash can make a fruit crop healthier and stronger. Seventy grams of soda is dissolved in water, twenty grams of liquid soap is added there. The total volume should be ten liters. Well helps from diseases, the causative agent of which is a fungus.
• If in the spring pests attacked the apple tree, they can be driven out with the help of a hot pepper decoction. One hundred grams of dry ingredient is poured with one liter of water. Then the broth should be boiled for several hours, let cool and strain. Topped up with water so that the total volume was ten liters. Plants are processed in the morning and evening.

Leaves that fall in the fall should be carefully and timely removed. It is better to bury them in the ground or burn outside the site. Every year it is necessary to cut the crown of a plant, thin it out, remove dry and infected branches, which will harden the fruit crop, increase its immunity and resistance to diseases, and also provide protection. The soil around the plant is timely dug up.

The tree is sprayed several times. For early spring processing, copper sulfate or “Nitrafen” is used, and before and after flowering (but not during), the culture should be sprayed with iron sulfate.

Rotten fruit and damaged areas are removed. Before purchasing, you should check the seedlings, ensure that they are healthy. It is better to buy plants in a special nursery, as there is grown decent planting material for gardens and orchards. It is better to take preventive measures and rid yourself of the problems associated with diseases and parasites than to lose most of the crop or the entire crop. If the gardener takes care of the tree properly, he will receive a good harvest and positive emotions from growing it.

See how to look after an apple tree in the next video.