No one is immune from the appearance of pests or diseases on fruit trees. therefore it is important to know preventive measures and how to deal with various ailments. In this article we will talk about the causes of the appearance of wormy apples and how to combat this disease.
Table of contents
Why do wormy apples appear? What should I do?
It often happens that an apple tree produces a good harvest, but among tens of kilograms a healthy fruit is rarely found.Why? Most of them are wormholes. Such a sign speaks about the appearance of pests, the most dangerous of them is the codling moth, which leaves behind such unpleasant traces.
The codling moth is a butterfly, no longer than 20 millimeters long, the main danger is the caterpillars of such insects. Years of butterflies begins in mid-June and lasts just over a month. During this period, they lay green eggs on the leaves and fruits of the tree, firmly attaching them to the support.
The worm gets inside the apple through the stalk fossa or mechanical damage to the peel.
How to get rid of worms in apples, methods of treating wood?
There are many ways to combat apple worms. Many tools are used as prophylaxis and to combat insects that have already appeared.
- Chemicals - organophosphate preparations have proven themselves in the best way. The effective time for use is considered to be the period of the appearance of caterpillars from eggs.It is important to respect the proportions, usually all measurements are indicated on the labels, otherwise the tree will be damaged. Examples of such remedies are Calypso, Tod, Zolon, Atom, Bean, Coragen. The following precautions exist:
- This method of struggle is not suitable for the time of flowering and fruiting trees.
- If several treatments are planned for one season, they are carried out with the help of various preparations.
- We must not forget that the work occurs with toxic substances, so gloves, respirator and other personal protective equipment must be used without fail.
- Biological agents - In addition to chemicals often recommendations on the use of organic substances. There are several types of such processing means:
- Fitoverm - is the most popular among experienced gardeners, it can be used at any time and it will not bring harm to man and the crop.
- Lepidocide - effective during periods of mass filling of apple trees with caterpillars.
- Bitoksibatsilin - use is allowed only during the growing season.
- Cleaning the trunk from the old bark - very often insects overwinter in exfoliated tree bark, therefore, in order to avoid their reproduction, in the spring period they perform these actions.
- Digging around the apple tree also serves as a method of fighting insects.
- Creating original traps on tree trunkswhich will prevent the return of the moth to the crown. To do this, take a bag with a width of about 20-30 centimeters and secured with twine on the trunk, at a height of 40-50 centimeters from the ground.
- In late November and early April tree must be whitewashed.
- All damaged apples are best removed.The same rule applies to collecting carrion.
- Considering the peculiarity of butterflies that do not like to wet their paws, during the summer of insects in the evening period the foliage needs to be sprayed with water.
What is black cancer on an apple tree, how to fight?
Black cancer - one of the most dangerous diseases of fungal plants, because if you find it at a late stage, then saving a tree is almost impossible. Most often, symptoms appear on a tree trunk and on its skeletal branches, but there are cases when black cancer appears on the leaves, flowers, and fruits. There are the following signs to detect the disease:
- The last and most dangerous stage will be the blackening of wood.. First, brown-purple spots will appear on the bark, which will eventually begin to crack, and then they will fall off altogether. When such symptoms are detected, the apple tree cannot be cured.
- Spots on the leaves - initially they appear immediately after the blooming of the leaves and look like small purple specks in the upper part of the leaf. Over time, they grow, and the middle turns brown, then after a few weeks the bodies of the fungus begin to form.
- The tree starts dropping infected leaves until the fruit ripens, therefore the yield is significantly reduced even in the early years of black cancer.
- The fruit of the affected tree is first covered with brown spots.which can later turn completely black, as well as black dots and fungal formations appear on the leaves.
- Affected apples remain hanging on the branches even after falling leaves.. They are painted black or brown and have a rough surface.
Causes of
- Old garden - The disease rarely affects young trees with good bark. Weakened apple trees are more likely to develop fungal formations on them.
- Bad care - trees need to be abundantly watered and fed with various fertilizers, otherwise they will not have enough nutrients to protect themselves from the disease.
- Sunburn - arise in the early spring. If the trunk is not whitened, then until all the snow cover is gone, on those days when it is clear and sunny in the morning and the night temperature is rather low.And in a day the difference reaches a difference of 30 degrees, the bark of trees burns, which contributes to the reproduction of the fungus in the damaged part.
- Wrong or late trimming.
- Apple pests are carriers of various diseases, including black cancer, so you need to promptly prevent their appearance.
Preventive measures
- Correct pruning - in order to avoid the development of fungal diseases, it is necessary to ensure good ventilation of the crown, by removing unnecessary branches. Also, this procedure inhibits the aging of the tree and stimulates fruiting. It is necessary to carry out it in a timely manner so as not to have to remove thick branches. The appearance of large wounds that heal for a long time can also trigger the onset of the development of black cancer.
- Disinfection of garden tools - To avoid becoming a peddler of a dangerous disease, knives and secateurs are wiped with a special alcohol-containing compound after each use.
- To eliminate the possibility of excessive moisture or, on the contrary, sunburn on a tree trunk, its need to whiten at the beginning of spring (April) and at the end of autumn (November).
- During the preparation of the garden for wintering any remaining leaves and fruits are removed.that can be sources of infection.
- After leaf fall Trees need to be treated with fungicides. They are applied to the trunk and branches of apple trees, as well as pristvolny circles. The drug Hom, Brodsky liquid or copper sulfate proved to be the best.
- Regular fertilizer application makes the bark more stable and mature.
Fighting black cancer
Most often it happens that the affected trees are no longer subject to recovery and they have to be removed, but there is a way to try to cure an apple tree.
It will be effective to perform this operation when a small spot is found on the bark of a tree. The patient site is carefully cleaned with a garden knife., at the same time 1-2 centimeters of healthy tissue are captured, then this place is processed with 3% copper sulphate or 5% iron sulphate. When the wound formed dries, it should be covered with garden pitch to avoid the appearance of new fungi in it.
Affected branches, fruits and leaves are removed immediately after detection.otherwise the disease will spread to healthy parts.
One of the most significant damages to the garden can be the codling moth or black crayfish. Both of these diseases will significantly reduce the amount of the crop or even lead to the death of the tree. The main measure for the treatment and prevention of lesions will be the removal of infected areas. and their immediate destruction.