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A plentiful spring flowering and the fruit of the apple tree pleases every gardener. But often, the closer the case comes to harvesting, the less beautiful fruit is left on the branches, and the tree itself becomes ill at the same time. A large number of diseases and pests interfere with normal fruit bearing and ripening of fruits. You can get a healthy harvest only if you have the right care and timely protection of plants.
Photo of pests of apple trees and fighting with them
A huge number of insects like to eat flowers, fruits and leaves of this tree. If you find and correctly identify the type of pest in time, then fighting with it will not be as terrible as it is drawn. Among the most dangerous pests for the garden can be identified several species of aphids, ticks, moths and moths. The struggle with each of them occurs from the beginning of budding to the ripening of fruits.
How to Defeat the Fruitflood
This type of pest is considered the most dangerous for the crop. The moth lives in almost all regions of the country. A small butterfly with dark transverse wavy lines begins its years with the period of flowering of the apple tree. Their females lay eggs on the smooth surface of young leaves or only formed ligature. Through the petiolate fossa, caterpillars penetrate into the fruit and begin to develop in them (reach up to 20 mm). Creeping from one fruit to another, each individual is capable of causing serious damage to the crop. And when an immature, spoiled apple falls, the caterpillar leaves and goes a long way along the trunk to a new fruit. The wrecker winters in warm cocoons under the bark of damaged areas.
Methods of combating the moth fruit on the apple tree are quite diverse, but the whole process continues throughout the year.
- In the event of a thaw, the damaged bark needs to be cleaned in order to remove the cocoons that hide beneath it, after which the trunk of the plant should be whitewashed or treated with a garden crock. The same procedure should be carried out in late autumn.
- In May, throughout the site, you can arrange special pheromone traps, which attract butterflies, which significantly reduces their population. To make a bait syrup, boil 100 grams of dried apples (20-30 minutes) in 2 liters of water, and after cooling the liquid to 60-70 ° add sugar and yeast to it. Banks with syrup evenly distributed throughout the garden.
- The daily collection of the carrion will not allow the caterpillars to leave the fruit and continue their disastrous activities.
- During the period of insect release from eggs before introduction into apples (8-12 days after peak summer of butterflies) it is recommended to conduct chemical treatment with special insecticides.
If you miss the timing of spraying and allow the penetration of caterpillars into the fruit, then any further chemical or biological treatment will be meaningless. It will do more harm than good.
How to deal with aphids on apple trees?
This pest sucks the juices from the young leaves and shoots, as a result of which they bend, slow down in growth and completely wither. Small insects of a yellowish-green color, 1 to 3 mm in size, spring climb the tops of the kidneys, and after their dissolution are introduced into the interior, which greatly hampers the destruction of aphids.
Some predators ("ladybug larvae of flies or goose bumps) eat apple green tulips. Therefore, sometimes present on the site of useful insects is enough to fight the pest. Otherwise it will be necessary to spray trees with various preparations. Spring treatment with a 2% emulsion of nitrafen (200 g concentrate per 10 liters of water) or phosphamide (10-15 g / 10 liters of water) will help to kill wintering aphid eggs.
The greatest concentration and activity of insects is usually observed in early summer. The following recommendations will suggest how to deal with aphids on apple trees in June. When a large number of pests appear, only the spraying of the crown will be effective. A good insecticidal property is a 12% hexachlorane dust or a 2% aqueous suspension of this preparation, as well as a soap solution (200-300 g / 10 l of water) washed by damaged areas.
Why do the leaves dry at the apple tree?
Even a complete extermination of all pests does not guarantee a good healthy harvest. Trees are also subjected to many diseases, as a result of which their leaves become covered with bloom or stains, and then curl, wither and fall off. Of the most common diseases of the apple family - scab, powdery mildew and moniliosis (fruit rot).
Apple scab and methods of its treatment
This type of disease is one of the most dangerous for many fruit trees and shrubs. The scab is a spore-bearing fungus that is activated and multiplies when exposed to moisture. Initially, brown spots appear on the leaves of the apple tree, and over time the fungus affects young shoots, flowers and unripe fruit.
The main reason for the appearance of scab on the apple tree is the excess moisture in the absence of ventilation in the crown. Therefore, the first preventive action is the spring pruning of excess branches and shoots. To combat scab, also should be treated with certain drugs.
- The disinfecting action is exerted by a solution based on urea (500-600 g / 10 l of water). Sprinkling of trees is carried out in the early spring and autumn.
- Antibacterial effect has Bordeaux liquid (300 g of lime and copper sulfate per 10 liters of water)
- Twice a year (before flowering and after the ovary), treatment with copper chloride should be carried out at a rate of 40 g per 10 liters of water.
Good reviews of many gardeners today received Topaz and Hom. The first is spraying before budding, the second - immediately after flowering.
Powdery mildew
Why the leaves are twisted on apple trees, not everyone knows. Many gardeners mistakenly associate this with the activity of caterpillars. In fact, the main cause of deformation is powdery mildew. And caterpillars just populate ready-made "dwellings". The first signs of the disease are expressed by the appearance of a dirty white or gray plaque on the leaves. At the initial stage, it is easily erased, but eventually becomes denser. The leaves on the apple tree twist, stop in development, turn yellow and die.
Spraying with colloidal sulfur will help get rid of the disease. The causative agent of powdery mildew "waits" for the winter in the kidneys of the tree, so the first treatment is recommended to be carried out simultaneously with their extension. Immediately after flowering it is necessary to perform a second spraying, and after two weeks - the third.
Moniliasis or fruit rot
High humidity at high air temperatures contribute to the development of infection, in which the rotting of fruits directly on the branches is observed. The causative agent of monolioze is introduced into the fetus through the sites of damage by other diseases or pests. In such places, initially a small brown stain appears, and over time, rot covers the entire fruit. The development of infection will prevent spraying with a Bordeaux liquid or a 3% suspension of copper chloride.
Important Tips and Tricks
Regardless of the type of damage to the tree, there are a number of recommendations that will help to prevent the population of insects and the development of any infections.
- Any infected parts of the crown should be immediately cut off and disposed of.
- Damaged leaves, young shoots and fruits should be burned. Throwing them on the compost pile is highly undesirable.
- Wind, rain and insects contribute to the rapid spread of infections. Therefore, when signs of any lesions appear on one of the trees, a number of preventive actions should be taken throughout the garden.
- Spraying of trees should be carried out in windless weather, observing a set of safety measures.
The use of chemical remedies during the ripening of fruits is unsafe!
Photos of pests and diseases of the apple tree will help in a timely manner to determine the nature and origin of the problem. However, it is better not to wait for its manifestation, but to conduct all preventive actions regularly throughout the year. After all, any ailment is much easier to prevent, than unsuccessfully to struggle with it all life. Read the same article: Why do the leaves turn yellow in June?
