How to deal with scab on an apple tree and protect the crop?

In almost every region, apple trees are prone to such insidious disease as scab. It causes irreparable damage to the garden, reducing the yield and winter hardiness of the tree. Every gardener should know how to recognize the disease, what measures to take if the trees are already affected by scab.

In this article, we just consider these topical issues. We learn how to deal with scab on an apple tree, how to do it in summer and autumn, and how dangerous this disease is for a tree.

What is scab: where does the disease on apples come from and is it harmful to humans?

First, we learn what a scab is and where it comes from. Scab is a fungal disease that is widespread throughout Russia. It is caused by marsupials that affect not only the leaves, but also the fruits of the plant. The scab is very insidious, as it often disguises itself as other diseases, so it is difficult for newcomers to gardening to determine it reliably. This leads to outbreaks of the disease, which cause great harm.

The most common scab can be found in regions with a temperate climate, where there is a particularly wet and cold spring. In a rainy summer scab can hit up to 90% of the garden. In addition, the disease not only reduces the yield of the tree, but also the performance of the fruit. The affected fruits are poorly stored, lose their vitamin value, become unattractive. The tree rarely dies from scab, but its winter hardiness decreases, which can lead to freezing.

Fighting scab is not easy, but necessary. The disease tends to move from one tree to another. If scab pathogens have settled in the garden, then all plants should be treated.

How can I identify a disease in apple trees?

To understand how to cure a garden, it is important to know how to identify a scab on apples. Disputes overwinter in unripe fruits and in fallen leaves. In early spring, when the humidity is high enough, spores dissipate. They are easily carried by the wind and birds, attached to the leaves of the plant. An outbreak of the disease occurs at high humidity.

A scabbed ripe apple

The development of the fungus occurs on the top leaves of the shoots at a temperature of about 12 degrees .At the initial stage, you can find subtle light olive spots or young leaves of the tree. This is how the disease develops. Already during this period you need to start the fight with the disease. In the process of development, brown spots form on the leaves, and the ovaries, pedicels and shoots become infected with fungus and begin to rot.

Even after harvesting, the fungus continues to grow in fruits and on fallen leaves. In the fall, the last stage of spore ripening occurs, which easily tolerate the winter. Affected fruits deteriorate during storage, their keeping quality is reduced. The cunning of the disease is that it affects the garden throughout the season, even late varieties of fruit trees cannot withstand the disease.

If you miss the moment and do not fight the disease, it passes to the fruits that become unsuitable for storage and processing.

How does it look?

There are several reliable signs, in the presence of which we can speak of scab:

• presence of round olive spots on young leaves of apple trees;
• with a spring lesion spot size reaches 13 mm, and in the fall the spots are much smaller, up to 2-3 mm;
• with a running disease on the fruits of the apple also appear dark spots, almost black;
• with the growth of fruit spots crack, their edges become bright;
• the presence of a large number of ugly and small fruits on the tree;
• early fall foliage during spring infection;
• on the tree bark swells, then crack and peel off;
• affected shoots slow growth and die.

As you can see, scab affects all parts of the tree, so it is difficult not to notice the disease. Apples look unpresentable and sometimes they don’t feel like eating at all.

Scab-affected apple tree

Treatment methods for fruit trees in autumn and summer

To cure the scab on apples and prevent infection of other fruit trees, it is necessary to resort to comprehensive control measures. In the initial stages of the disease and as a preventive measure, you can use folk remedies.

When running a disease without the use of chemicals no longer do. How and what drugs to use, when to carry out treatments for scab - these are the main issues that concern gardeners.

How to get rid of the disease by chemical means: what to spray and process?

Before using chemicals, it is important to know the basic rules for their use:

1. When spraying trees you can not use the same drug all the time. This is due to the fact that the fungus is adapted to the substance contained in its composition.
2. Only fungicides of the 3rd and 4th class of hazard are allowed to use in the garden plot. Use industrial preparations for the garden can not. Substances that are contained in their composition, can accumulate in the fruit and penetrate the skin, which is harmful to human health.
3. The treatment is carried out only with a special sprayer, spreading the mixture evenly over the surface of the tree.
4. Spraying is carried out only with the use of personal protective equipment, as well as in favorable weather.
5. Garden scab treatment should be carried out in conjunction with preventive measures.

The following drugs that can treat apple trees can be considered the most popular anti-scab agents on apple and pear trees:

Scab on leaves and green apples

• fungicide "Raek" .The substances contained in the preparation, penetrate into all parts of the plant. The effect of the drug lasts for the next 3-4 weeks. The tool is resistant to washing off with rain. Up to 4 treatments are allowed per season. The first time spraying is carried out before blooming buds, then - during budding and after flowering. The last treatment is carried out during the formation of the crop, three weeks after flowering;
• drug "Skor" .During the season, only two sprays are allowed using this drug. The validity of a substance on an apple tree is up to 20 days;
• "Chorus". This drug has proven itself when the temperature drops to +3 degrees. It is resistant to washing with rain, the effect of the drug lasts up to 30 days. Processing is carried out two times: before bud break and after flowering;
• Strobi Complex Fungicide. Treatment with this drug is carried out three times, after which you need to apply different means from it. The strobe protects the tree not only from scab, but also other fungal diseases. The term of the drug - 35 days;
• Fitolavin. This drug belongs to the group of antibiotics. It is used against scab on fruit trees. During the season 4 treatments are allowed, the interval between which is 15-20 days.

Recently, biological products have been used in horticulture, which are less toxic, but have a detrimental effect on the fungus. These include "Fitosporin", "Gamar".

How to fight with folk methods and cure apple trees?

If the disease in the garden is not too common, then you can try to stop its development with the help of folk methods.

1. At the first signs of the disease of fruit trees, the garden is treated with a solution of mustard. To do this, dry mustard powder is mixed with a small amount of water, then the solution is adjusted with 10 liters of warm water. Freshly prepared solution is sprayed with an apple tree and stem circles. Processing should be carried out immediately after the rain. It is especially important to spray the apple tree in spring and early summer, when the disease can still be stopped.
2. Good help from scab and manganese solution. After spraying on the leaves of the tree may appear dark harmless spots. Processing is carried out repeatedly.

Treatment of apple trees with mineral fertilizers can be attributed to folk remedies for scab protection. In the spring, trees are sprayed with a solution of one of the fertilizers:

• potassium salt;
• potassium nitrate;
• ammonium nitrate;
• potassium sulfate.

Application of chemical mixtures for spraying infected trees.

In the autumn, the tree and the stem should be sprayed with a solution of urea.

Prophylactic measures and protection of apple trees

Every gardener knows that it is much easier to prevent the disease than to cure it, therefore the prevention of scab is an important event. What to do to prevent scab damage on apple trees?

1. Plant the most resistant to defeat varieties. It is important to remember that the same variety behaves differently in different climatic zones. Choose varieties that are suitable for the local climate.
2. In the fall, all the fallen leaves, fruits and branches must be collected and removed from the site.
3. With the onset of stable frosts, they dig up the soil around the trees so that the spores are not in favorable conditions.
4. After harvesting, the bark of the tree must be trimmed to healthy wood, then the trunk should be whitened by adding copper sulfate to the solution.
5. Compliance with the cultivation of apple trees will be a good preventive measure. Scab most often develops in dampness with thickened plantings and not well-groomed trees, in too shaded places. Planted an apple tree in a well-lit place, in time to carry out sanitary cleaning of the garden.

Below is a short video on how to get rid of scab on apples:

Conclusion

Scab causes great damage not only to the apple tree, but also to the neighboring fruit trees in the garden. For the successful struggle and the preservation of the health of the garden, it is important to detect the disease in time and take all the necessary measures for complex treatment.

Every gardener must remember that disease prevention is half the success on the path to a healthy harvest. Do not neglect garden cleaning and preventive spraying. In case of more serious damage to apple trees should be resorted to chemicals.