What if the apple leaves curl?

Practically in every garden and on the summer cottage there are several varieties of apples, because they are useful and tasty fruits. In order for the harvest of apple trees to be consistently high, it is important to properly care for them, to ensure that there are no signs of illness and pests. If the leaves begin to curl on the apple tree, you should not postpone solving this problem until later, at best there is a risk of loss of the crop, at worst - the tree itself.

All those who care about their health and are engaged in the cultivation of fresh vegetables and fruits, no doubt, will cultivate an apple tree. This tree grows well in our climate zone and gives good yields, however, it is important to know how to care for the crop, and what to do in case of signs of illness. Most of all, you need to be afraid of pests that affect the leaves, which makes them dry and fall off, but do not forget about the diseases that, when in a state of neglect, lead to catastrophic consequences.

If the young apple trees curl and redden the leaves, this is the first reason to sound the alarm and make a full inspection of the tree. It is important to examine each centimeter in order not to miss the cause of the defeat. The first thing you need to look at themselves twisted leaves, they can hide the answer to the question of interest causes changes in the appearance of the plant. Usually the leaves are twisted in a boat or wrapped up, then they dry out if they do not receive proper assistance.

The gardener must make a quick, and, most importantly, correct conclusion about the reasons that influenced the tree in order to begin treatment. If the conclusion was made wrong, then those leaves that have already twisted into a tube will definitely not be able to save, and they will fall off, but there will be a chance to help the rest of the tree.

The most common causes of problems with the growth and development of apple trees are such pests and diseases as:

• aphid invasion;
• the presence of spider mites;
• ringed silkworm attack;

• the presence of a moth;
• powdery mildew;
• the effect of scab.

Each option has a different effect on the leaves. Some of them collapse and turn brown, others wither in spring or June, but one thing is clear that they will most likely not be able to save those that have already curtailed, the main thing is to prevent the spread of the lesion and cure the tree.

The apple tree may be affected by a number of pests, but if the leaves began to curl and change their color from green to red, then a red-haly aphid settled on the tree. The peculiarity of this pest is that it feeds on apple juice and gradually exhausts it. If you do nothing for a long time, then the foliage, which has already curled, begins to die off and fall off, and soon the branches will remain bare. It is difficult not to notice aphids, because it changes the color of the leafy surface and its shape.

The invasion of red-pea aphids is dangerous because it multiplies actively, breeding at least four times a season, and therefore the rate of damage to the tree increases every day. Adults have visible sizes, and they can be seen near the tree, but the larvae are usually tiny, and are located on the rear surface of the foliage. Aphids out of season lay offspring in the bark, and with the onset of spring, the larvae begin to emerge, which move to the green areas of the crown.

The effect of such a pest has a negative effect on both the leaves and the tree as a whole, and the result may be the death of a serious part of the foliage and damage to the crop, which will also have reddish spots. A healthy tree will be stronger, and will be able to produce a large crop and large fruits, while the affected plant will spend strength to fight the pest.

Those gardeners who have long been engaged in growing apples, isolated scab, as the most dangerous disease that exists for this tree. The danger is that it affects not all individual areas, but the entire plant. You can notice the disease from the leaves - if they began to become covered with gray spots, which may also have a green patina, the next step will be to increase the size of the spot and darken it to black. It ends with a complete defeat and fall of the foliage.

When the disease spreads further, shoots are affected, on which the crust cracks and splits. Then the influence of the scourge will spread to the apples themselves, on which black spots will appear, and the appearance will have various kinds of deformations. In addition to external influences, scab also changes the internal properties of the fetus, making its flesh coarser and harder.

No less rarely on apple trees can you see a disease like powdery mildew. It affects the bark, leaves and buds of the tree. Outwardly, it is manifested by white bloom, which may not be dangerous for an inexperienced gardener, but it is not. The affected parts begin to dry out and die off gradually. The process goes from the leaves and further, to the very trunk of the tree, which may eventually result in the death of the apple tree.

Mealy dew is a fungal disease, therefore it actively progresses on the plant, affecting it more and more each day. In the initial stages, only the crown suffers, then the effect reaches the fruits, which are getting smaller, and they eventually disappear completely. If untreated, the fungus absorbs the tree for several years, and it dries out.

If there are no pests on the apple tree and there are no signs of the disease, and the tree is still weak, with obvious signs of some problems, it is worth considering other reasons for this phenomenon. Most often, they include improper care of the crop, insufficient watering, and also a lack of nutrients.

In order for a tree to produce a crop, it must grow well and develop properly. Regarding the apple tree, the care of it is not difficult, but there are certain nuances that you need to know. At non-observance of these rules it will be difficult to achieve good fruiting and fast growth of a tree. There are two reasons why the problem of apple development can be observed:

• improper pruning;
• vertical position of the branches.

It is important to properly cut the branches so that they are enough for the normal growth of the tree. In case of excessive pruning, the apple tree will spend the entire season on building up lost branches, and the harvest should not be expected, at least large. If you do not produce pruning at all, then a year or two flowering will be abundant, and you can even observe the harvest, even though it will be small. Gradually, the plant will be difficult to feed the abundance of branches, which is, and they begin to dry out, which, in turn, will affect the yield, which will be either very low or zero.

For the correct growth of the culture, it is important to timely and correctly carry out pruning, which should be both rejuvenating and sanitary and formative. This is the only way to get a healthy tree that can produce a good harvest.

Another problem that hampers yields, are vertically growing branches. Not everyone knows that the color and fruits are formed only on horizontal branches, therefore it is necessary to artificially change their position in order to achieve the desired effect. With the help of twine need to delay the branches so that the position was as close as possible to the horizontal.

After the change in inclination, you will have to wait several years for the apple tree to start bearing fruit. In order not to bother yourself with such works, it is worthwhile to correctly form the crown of the tree immediately after its disembarkation, and to maintain the right outward year every season.

Like any other plant, an apple tree cannot exist without watering. Lack of or excessive use of moisture will harm the crop and affect yield. To properly irrigate, you need to know how much moisture an apple tree requires:

• a young tree needs from 20 to 30 liters;
• three or five year old trees require between 50 and 80 liters;
• Apple trees need to pour at least 100 liters of water.

The increase in the amount of water with the growth of the tree is due to the fact that the root system grows, moisture must penetrate to all the roots, having fed them. If the tree lacks moisture, the leaves can be sluggish or even curl, but the reason for this will not be pests or diseases, but drought. In the case of prolonged heat and lack of rain, be sure to water the tree, making the necessary amount of water.

There is also the problem of disturbed water exchange, which occurs as a result of a sharp change in the weather from frost to spring heat. In addition, moles that have developed vigorous activity around the roots of an apple tree can also affect these processes. In this case, the person can not help, you just need to wait until the culture itself is restored, and establish the movement of moisture from the root to the leaves.

To understand that the apple tree lacks fertilizer or some important components is quite simple, because everything will be reflected on the tree itself. In the case of a lack of nitrogen, the color of the foliage changes, it becomes lighter from dark green, and if nothing is done, it gradually turns yellow, and the leaves fall. The lack of an adequate amount of this element becomes the main cause of poor growth and development of the apple tree. Low nitrogen content provokes poor growth of new branches, and a weak crop with small-sized fruits that do not ripen to the end and fall prematurely.

To compensate for the deficiency of this substance, you can make ammonium nitrate or fertilize apple tree slurry. To make the effect as fast as possible, it is necessary to sprinkle the tree with a 0.5% urea solution.

If the culture lacks phosphorus, the leaf color becomes dull, you can observe the appearance of a bronze reflux and a red or violet hue. Leaves that dry up, become completely black color. Another sign of the lack of the necessary amount of phosphorus is a delay in the growth of shoots and poor resistance to frost in winter. In order to raise the level of phosphorus, it is necessary to add superphosphate, and in the case of acidic soils it is necessary to use phosphorite. Organic fertilizers, which contain everything necessary for culture, have a very good effect on the plant.

If the apple has a lack of potassium, then the leaves become pale, with a blue tint. The edges of the leaves begin to curl down and dry out, the leaf plate itself develops unevenly, which affects the shape of the adult leaf. With an insufficient amount of potassium, the apple tree suffers from any frost and dies even with a minimum decrease in temperature in winter. To help the plant, you must make potassium chloride or slurry.

In the case of calcium deficiency, we can observe the leaf whitening and twisting up of its edges, besides, the dying up of the growing point begins, after which the foliage falls. If the problem is not solved, the growth of the tree will be very slow. To remedy the situation, it is necessary to carry out the procedure of liming the soil, and to make calcium sulphate.

If you diagnose problem areas in time and correctly recognize the cause of the tree's state change, then there is an opportunity to help the culture to quickly deal with the problem without losing the green, avoiding any disturbances, and not losing the crop.

The garden usually grows many trees and bushes, and therefore the development of diseases and the presence of pests cannot be avoided.To deal with them, it is necessary to use effective means in time and properly care for the plants. If everything is done correctly, then there is an opportunity to avoid the appearance of undesirable factors, which will make the treatment of trees unnecessary, and nothing will threaten their growth and development.

If you do not want to treat apples annually, you need to treat them with the necessary preparations:

• copper sulphate - the universal remedy allowing to exterminate all pests that have wintered in the soil;
• "Karbofos"It helps to destroy the pests of the apple tree;

• "Fufanon" - helps to get rid of weevils and sawflies;
• "Nitrafen" - destroys aphid, sucker, scab, spotting;
• Bordeaux Blendwhich saves in most common diseases.

Tillage with copper sulphate is carried out under conditions where the air temperature does not exceed five degrees of heat, and all insects and pests are still hibernating. The whole tree and its tree circle are subject to processing.

"Fufanon" sprayed in the morning or evening hours, well irrigating them foliage.

"Nitrafen" is sprayed solely on the foliage, the soil does not need to be treated.

In order to somehow control the situation with the defeat of diseases and pests, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures. They cannot give a full guarantee that the tree will not be affected, but will increase its resistance to this kind of danger. The simplest prevention option would be to use insecticides twice during the season of active growth. The correct timing is mid-autumn, when pests begin preparing for wintering and arrange nests, as well as early spring, before the leaf opening period or at the very beginning of this process, when the pests also came out of hibernation.

It is advisable to simultaneously spray the tree Bordeaux liquid to prevent powdery mildew. Preventive measure is whitewashing the lower part of the trunk with the help of lime, which deters pests from the apple tree. It is best to perform this procedure twice a year: in the fall and spring.

Treating trees is worth of pests such as cicadas, aphids and other carriers of viruses. The most effective way to deal with them is with insecticides, which can be found on sale in specialized country stores. The most popular are: "Aktara", "Dantop", "Confidor Maxi". To exclude the spread of pests and diseases through associated crops, it is necessary to keep the area around the tree clean, weeding out all weeds and other unwanted plants.

Another preventive technique that is worth doing in the spring during the flowering period is shaking off hairy deer beetles that are active during this period and can harm the apple tree. It is necessary to carry out the procedure in the morning, spreading a cloth or polyethylene on the ground, where beetles will fall, which in the mornings almost do not show activity. If there are difficulties with morning work, you can spend them in the afternoon, but for this you need to water the tree abundantly to limit the movement of the beetles.

The trees may appear on the trees, if their number is rapidly increasing, it is necessary to take measures to combat it. The shaking off method is also used for this, but leaves fall from the tree. Those affected will be dry, and those that have fallen must be removed from the ground in order to minimize the center of propagation of the bekarki.

For those who do not wish to fight pests with insecticides, you can use herbal decoctions. Leaves and flowers of elderberry, which are mixed with a solution of soap, help to fight with aphids. You can also use chamomile for the same purpose. In some cases it is possible to deal with the problem exclusively with the help of insecticides.

To properly select the means to control pests and diseases of the apple, you need to be well aware of the purpose of each composition and its function. Improper use will not only not bring the expected result, but also, most likely, harm the tree.

In order for the garden to be always healthy and well fruited, you need to be able to react in time to changes in the appearance of the tree, and quickly navigate the problem that you had to face. If cytosporosis is found on the apple tree, it is recommended to conduct such activities:

• using the mechanical method to remove all areas that were infected, it is important to remove as many affected branches as possible;
• if the bark is damaged, cut it with a knife, with a supply of healthy bark of at least one centimeter;

• to process copper sulphate;
• cover with a mullein and clay, and wind them to the tree with gauze or a thin cloth, which during the summer will be wetted with a heteroauxin solution (in its absence, you can use plain water).

If the gardener is faced with cancer culture, then it is very difficult to cure them, and the result is impossible to predict, because they advise you to just dig an apple tree and get rid of it. If the defeat has just begun, it can be localized by cutting out a sore point and using:

• copper sulfate, after which putty made from mullein and clay;
• oil paint, which is painted small affected areas of the tree.

Lichens are another problem that a novice gardener can reveal for himself. By themselves, they are absolutely harmless to both humans and trees, but pests often hibernate under them, which from the first warm days begin to spoil the fruit tree. To remove the lichen, it is best to use a scraper, which can be carefully scraped off an unnecessary object on the apple tree. The use of metal mesh will be undesirable because of the high risk of damage to the bark.

If the apple tree began to turn black, there are a number of reasons for this:

• sunburn;
• the effect of soot fungus;
• defeat ordinary cancer;
• black cancer infection.

To protect the trees from such phenomena, it is necessary to carry out some preventive measures:

• make feeding in time, giving the necessary substances to the tree;
• prevent thickening of the branches;
• periodically inspect all parts of the apple.

Variants of pests, in different cases of attacking the apple tree, and diseases that the gardener faces during the entire care of the site, can be a huge amount. The longer the experienced owner works in the garden, the faster he orients himself in the situation and makes the right decisions. Growing a healthy garden is not easy, but this way provides invaluable knowledge and skills, as well as a large crop of various fruits that are useful for children and adults.

The ways to combat leaf curl on fruit trees are described in the video below.