From this article you will learn about diseases such as:
Apricot diseases are very insidious and often, gardeners attribute the loss of yield to one peculiarity of this fruit - it blooms at a time when the daily temperature is not yet stable, and frosts at this time are quite expected. As a rule, crop losses are blamed on frosts, but is everything so simple, and is it worth just complaining about weather quirks when your harvest is almost completely gone?
Monilia mushroom may be to blame for your crop failure. The disease can manifest itself as a monilial burn or as gray rot. Moniliosis apricot a very dangerous disease, in the spring it usually manifests itself in the form of a monilial burn; this disease is often mistaken for a consequence of frost; because of it, many gardeners are left without an apricot harvest.
Moniliosis symptoms:
One of the first signs of apricot moniliosis disease is a change in the color of the petal to brown and its further drying out, but note that the leaves do not fall off, but continue to grow on the tree. The next stage is the drying and withering of the leaves; young branches and shoots also succumb to this process. Thick branches become covered with cracks in the bark, the appearance of the tree becomes pitiful, as if it had been exposed to fire, hence the origin of the name of the disease - monilialburn.
Moniliosis methods of control and prevention.
Often, gardeners who are faced with this problem make a hasty decision to cut down the apricot, but this is not necessary, they should cut off the infected branches, rejuvenate the tree, as a rule, such actions are quite enough so that the new branches are healthy, but so that the disease does not return , the plant needs to be protected.
Prevention, protection of apricots, is not complicated, you need to trim diseased branches in a timely manner, make cuts, cover them with garden varnish or oil paint. You also need to remove dried fruits from the tree in the fall or in early spring. Also, to avoid disease, you need to whitewash the wood, use lime with copper sulfate. Frost is also a good ally in the fight against the disease moniliosis, because at temperatures below -20C, the fungus dies.
Another fungal disease that does not spare apricots is the valsa mushroom, an infectious disease that occurs when an infection gets into the wounds on the apricot tree.
Walsa mushroom symptoms: the disease typically appears as nodular, orange, corky growths.
Valsa mushroom prophylaxis : To avoid apricot infection with this disease, it is not recommended to prune the tree during its dormant period; you also need to keep the soil in a well-drained condition in order to combat the disease walsa mushroom use a fungicidal spray.
Another fungal disease of apricot. This time it is a soil fungus, it is located underground, and not only apricots, but also many other trees and plants suffer from it.
Verticillium symptoms: The disease manifests itself as wilting, yellowing, and death of the tree. The leaves on the tree turn yellow, curl, the process begins at the bottom of the tree, and over time, green leaves will remain only at the top of the tree.
Verticillosis control methods: the disease can be treated only in the early stages of development; if you have managed to identify the symptoms, before the entire tree is infected, you need to spray the tree with one of the following drugs: foundationazol, previkur, vitaros, topsin-M, the solution should be 0.2% ym.
Dangerous disease apricot, it is distributed in all climatic zones where apricot grows.
bacterial spot symptoms: the first signs of illness apricot bacterial spot, is the appearance of small, dark, watery spots on the leaves. Gradually, these spots become angular and begin to dry out and turn yellow. On fruits, the disease manifests itself as dark spots, which gradually increase in diameter and are brownish.
Bacterial spotting methods of control and prevention : To avoid infection with this disease, you need to carry out crop rotation with those plants that are not susceptible this disease, it is also worth eliminating all weeds near the tree. When planting, you need to use uninfected seeds; spray the plants with copper sulfate.
Symptoms: when stone fruits are affected by perforated spot, the first sign will be the appearance of brown spots on the leaves, then these spots begin to die off. Spots also appear on the shoots, they crack, and gum leaks out through these cracks.
The disease manifests itself most often in autumn and spring.
How to fight: As soon as you discover the affected shoots, they must be sawed off and burned, the cut areas are covered with garden varnish, these procedures must be carried out before the leaves begin to fall.
After leaf fall, and in early spring on the buds, the tree must be sprayed with 4% Bordeaux mixture, which can be replaced with a 1% solution of copper sulfate. In case of too humid summer, treatment is carried out every 2 weeks. You can also use a drug called “chorus”; it is diluted in proportions of 3 grams per 10 liters of water, it is safe for humans, and spraying is carried out in the pink bud phase.
Symptoms: unfortunately, plum pox also affects other stone fruits with the same success. Depressed stripes appear on the fruits, and the pulp around them becomes dry. Fruit ripening occurs faster than normal, but the taste of such a crop will be very low.
Signs: They can be detected on the foliage even before the onset of summer heat. The growth of shoots and leaves slows down, and their shape may also be incorrect or distorted. After the fruits ripen, swollen spots appear on them, red in color with a brown tint. Such apricots fall prematurely without having time to ripen.
Both variants of pox enter the plant during grafting or budding. Therefore, the main thing is to adhere to all the rules during these procedures, and then this disease will not threaten your harvests.
How it manifests itself: the most recognizable symptom is the simultaneous flowering and appearance of young leaves. In the summer, light green spots appear on them, the leaf itself becomes denser and thicker, and they begin to curl.
Fruits also suffer from viral wilt. Near the seed, the pulp begins to acquire a brown color, and gradually it dies. The tree may also die due to this disease. Infection occurs during budding or grafting.
In the spring, when the leaves begin to bloom, a disease called ribbon mosaic can be noticed on apricots. Stripes appear on seemingly healthy leaves yellow color. Then the stripes grow into a pattern, and the tissues gradually die off.
It is not at all difficult to carry out procedures that will significantly reduce the risk of apricot diseases in your garden. The main thing is not to be lazy, and after each procedure treat the plant with special substances, disinfect your hands and tools after work, and everything will be fine. We wish you good luck.
Apricot is found in almost every amateur and professional garden. It is impossible not to admire the seemingly unpretentious tree. It amazes with its spring splendor and delicious, very useful fruits. Apricot, like any other garden tree, has peculiarities in care and will respond to gardener mistakes with low yields. Only a competent approach to growing apricots will allow you to avoid specific diseases and an abnormal lack of flowering and fruiting.
There are several reasons for the lack of fruit on apricots, and in each specific case there are different ways to solve the problem.
Apricot is a tasty, beautiful and healthy fruit
Apricot has long ceased to be a privilege only of the southern regions. Zoned varieties allow you to enjoy healthy and sweet fruits with own tree even residents of the Urals (for example, Orenburg) and Primorye. The gardener, having decided to plant a whimsical seedling, eagerly awaits the appearance of the first delicate flowers and, of course, fragrant fruits. But, if when planting apricots they were not taken into account temperature conditions region and the tree is not adapted to survive in such conditions, it is useless to expect abundant flowering from it. The tender buds of southern varieties cannot tolerate severe frosts and die.
There is a high probability of complete death of an apricot planted without taking into account the adaptability of the variety to the growing area.
If apricots are damaged by frost and sunburn every winter, fruiting is delayed. The sprout directs its forces to restore damaged parts, and flower buds do not form.
Varietal seedlings begin to bloom in the third year
The age of the tree should also be taken into account. The flowering period for varietal zoned seedlings obtained by grafting occurs at 3–4 years. In trees grown from seed, the first flowering occurs, at best, 5–6 years after planting in the garden.
Apricot is a rather demanding tree regarding the conditions in which it is grown.
Apricot requires careful and competent care. If there is a lack of attention, wait bountiful harvests pointless. Even an adult tree that has been bearing fruit for a long time favorable conditions ceases to impress with the presence of fruits.
Timely feeding will provide the plant with deficient microelements. For young trees, organic matter is used as fertilizer. For adults, add a complex composition of 850 g. superphosphate, 250 gr. potassium chloride and 350 gr. saltpeter.
However, an excess of both organic and mineral fertilizers may have a negative impact on yields. A tree oversaturated with fertilizers becomes fattened. It is impressive with its size and growth of shoots, reaching up to 1 meter or more per season. Significant growth due to high availability nutrients occurs to the detriment of fruiting.
Apricot loves light soil and sun
Excessive care results in a lack of harvest. Give the tree a rest period during the season. Next spring it will delight you with abundant flowering.
Apricot is also sensitive to the presence of moisture. And if an excess leads to cracking of the fruits, then a deficiency leads to their absence altogether.
A tree needs four main waterings during the season:
If the time of watering the apricot coincides with active rains, you should not add excess moisture. Nature itself will do the necessary work.
Last but not least to ensure apricot fruiting is proper pruning (processing). The tree tolerates any removal of branches well. But in order to enhance the ability to appear flower buds, carry out double pruning.
Spring pruning accelerates the appearance of young shoots
The first stage occurs in March before the start of sap flow. Shoots whose growth direction is inside the crown or horizontally upward are completely removed. Skeletal branches cannot be pruned. And the side branches growing from them are shortened when they reach 50 cm. After such pruning, the growth of shoots increases with the formation of flower buds.
In June, repeated work is carried out, during which only the tops of young branches are removed. This procedure ensures additional growth of new side shoots, which will give next season flower buds.
For old trees that do not bear fruit, rejuvenating pruning is used. In addition to removing improperly growing shoots, skeletal branches are also significantly thinned out.
Don't skimp on old threads. New shoots on the apricot will provide it with a second youth and productivity.
Flowering under favorable conditions ends with the appearance of the ovary. But there are situations when even the presence of flowers does not guarantee adequate yield. This anomaly occurs quite often, but it can also be dealt with.
The tree, entering the time of flowering, becomes defenseless. But no one is immune from the return of frost. And flowers affected by low temperatures die and fall off. Of course, the ovary will not appear this season. But this process can also be prevented:
The use of special preparations such as auxins for spraying helps to shift the flowering time by at least 10 days.
Most varietal zoned apricots are self-fertile and do not require additional conditions for the appearance of the ovary. But if a single-sex tree is planted, the ovary, even with abundant flowering will not appear without cross-pollination. Therefore, they try to plant several plants in gardens. In this case, the distance between them should not exceed 100 m, and the flowering periods should coincide. There are several ways to influence the pollination process:
Rain and fog prevent insects from performing their duties
Affect pollination and weather conditions. If flowering coincides with a period of rain, drizzle or heavy fog, insects are not able to transfer pollen.
During flowering, apricot is affected by the fungal disease “burn” moliniasis. At the same time, the flowers, and subsequently the leaves, turn brown and dry out. Fungal diseases can be avoided. To do this, for preventive purposes and for treatment, the tree is sprayed with solutions containing copper (copper chloride, cuproxate, Bordeaux mixture). Spraying is carried out in autumn period after the leaves have completely fallen and in the spring before the buds open.
A difficult-to-diagnose disease is confused with monilial burn, in which the flower primordia (pistils) inside the buds are damaged. At the same time, flowers bloom on the tree, but the ovary does not form.
Remember! The young ovary is destroyed by the plum moth. With rapid reproduction, the pest is capable of destroying the crop during the period of ovary emergence.
There are a number of diseases and pests that can spoil the health of apricots and reduce its yield.
Fungal disease. Activates with the arrival of heat in a humid environment. It affects young shoots and leaves, which wither and turn brown. Infected fruits become covered with dark spots and begin to rot. The missing fruits do not fall from the tree and, remaining on the apricot until spring, become breeding grounds for infection.
Moniliosis affects both foliage and fruits
The fungus enters gardens with the wind and is carried by birds and insects. The infection is actively spreading in the garden. Without appropriate measures, moniliosis spores overwinter well in fallen leaves and infected fruits and branches.
What to do? It is difficult to fight moniliosis, but it is possible:
When treating apricot for moniliosis, do not forget about other trees. Even if they are missing clear signs infections, they are subject to preventive treatment.
Be sure to remove and destroy the affected parts of the plant and fruit. Autumn work with apricots, they involve collecting leaves and fruits, which are disposed of, and whitewashing the trunks with a solution of copper sulfate.
Gum on apricots is quite common. Why is this happening?
The tree “cries” in response to damage
The release of gum is associated with the tree's reaction to mechanical damage, to injuries caused by frost or temperature changes, to excessive or improper pruning. The appearance of sticky formations is enhanced by infections such as moliniasis and clasterosporiosis that have entered wounds. Influxes of gum are observed on trunks, branches, and even foliage.
Affected areas must be removed until healthy wood is removed. The surface is treated with a composition containing copper sulfate. The top is covered with garden varnish.
ClusterosporiasisBrown spots appear on apricot leaves affected by hole spot. In their place, after two weeks, holes will form, and subsequently premature leaf fall is possible.
The fungus manifests itself as foliage damage
Fruits with marks of perforated spotting, while still green, are covered with red-brown spots, and by the time they ripen they are completely deformed.
To combat the disease, cut off all infected branches and leaves. For preventive purposes, spraying with 4% Bordeaux mixture or 1% copper sulfate is provided. Work is being carried out late autumn and in the spring.
An insidious fungus, having entered the conductive channels of wood through wounds, affects young shoots and leaves. As a result, the foliage on the lower branches turns yellow, withers and begins to fall off. Gradually the process spreads up the tree. Young trees are more susceptible to the disease.
To prevent the disease, avoid excessive moisture, and especially flooding. When digging up the soil around the apricot, they try not to injure the roots, and the cut branches are disposed of in a timely manner. Wood is treated with solutions of foundationazol, previcur, and vitaros preparations.
The cytospora fungus settles between wood and bark. Under its influence, the leaves at the top begin to fade, and brownish-brown spots and dark streaks appear on the bark. Over time, the fungus spreads throughout the tree: the leaves wither, the branches dry out, and the plant dies.
Cytosporosis can destroy a tree
To prevent the spread of infection, dry branches and affected areas are carefully removed to healthy wood. Contaminated material must be disposed of.
Without paying attention to unusual spots on the bark and dried branches, you can completely lose the entire tree.
Viruses are more difficult to fight. Viral infections can be observed on apricots in the form of:
The following will help prevent tree infection and the spread of viruses:
Make a plan for working in your apricot orchard, strictly follow the care recommendations, water and fertilize the trees, create barriers against the development of infections and the spread of pests, and impressive yields will no longer be just a dream.
Our beloved apricot comes from the warm regions of Armenia, India, and China. Diseases of apricot trees and their treatment - photo on the page - are associated with changes in living conditions. In a climate uncharacteristic for the tree, fungal and non-infectious diseases develop, reducing the productivity of the garden. Only prevention and proper care will help prevent the spread of diseases.
Nothing in the garden happens by chance. A leaf or twig that turns yellow or withers at the wrong time makes the gardener wary. Unfortunately, it is impossible to eradicate the infestation in public gardens. The proliferation of spores and bacteria in an infested area can be reduced by regular biological control treatments. A single tree in an abandoned garden can be a breeding ground for spores and cysts.
If the garden is affected by apricot diseases, then the fight against them should be systematic. But to do this, you should know the signs, dangerous periods, and methods of treating each ailment.
There are different types of diseases:
To treat a disease, you need to know its signs. There is a guide that contains photographs of diseases of apricot trees and their treatment is described. The disease can be prevented preventive measures– purchase seedlings that are tolerant to diseases common in the region, carry out protective measures, and carry out agrotechnical measures during the process.
Moniliosis is caused by the introduction of the marsupial fungus monilius. The disease develops in two forms - it affects foliage and causes gray rot of fruits.
You should expect disease on the leaves after warm winter. If the flowering period coincides with humid, foggy weather, the spores are introduced into the wood through the open pistil of the petal. In this case, the flower turns brown, and the affected wood does not supply food to the leaf.
Precisely, infection is the reason why apricots dry out after flowering. The leaves do not fall off and become mummified, but cracks appear on the branches, which the tree seeks to patch by secreting gum.
A measure to combat monial burn is to cut out damaged branches twice, during the onset of the disease and after 2-3 weeks. Treatment with copper preparations will reduce the proliferation of the monilius fungus. Prevention - autumn whitewashing of the garden with the addition of cuproxate to lime.
Moniliosis of apricot and its control will be required in the middle of summer, during the warm, humid season. When the crop is preparing to ripen, the fruits become covered with a white, gray fluffy coating, then rot. Such fruits must be collected and destroyed. But already in winter, trees are treated with Bordeaux mixture three times. In the spring, even before flowering, the garden is treated with fungicides, one green cone at a time, one bud at a time:
Treatment against insects is necessary, as they transfer rot to healthy ovaries.
Next year, the weakened plant must be freed from part of the harvest by removing branches and thinning the plant. At the same time, this technique is prophylactic against fungal diseases.
You carefully examine the through holes, look for the leaf beetle, and in front of you fungal disease– apricot clasterosporiosis. First, small light spots will appear, pressed into the plate. Then necrosis, and a hole appears. If measures are not taken, the stains become larger and the sheet is destroyed. The source of the disease may be a fungus, an infection, or violations in agricultural technology. Thus, leaves can be burned during preventive treatment; if the dose of chemicals is exceeded, the tree can be weakened by infection. But if there are no other reasons, it is a fungus, and treatment with fungicides is needed. And the wounds that appear, where the gum oozes, need to be treated and covered with garden varnish.
It seems for no reason that the still green or yellow fruits without taste begin to crumble, freeing the branches from the load. Why does the apricot crumble? There are many reasons. Perhaps the tree is overloaded with fruits and there is not enough nutrition. The owner did not regulate the load, and the exhausted tree gets rid of the harvest.
Perhaps a hurricane wind passed through the area and dropped the fruits. But temperature changes and damage to the trunk give the same result. The tree will experience apoplexy if the temperature drops to 0 degrees. The cell sap froze, the cells became suffocated, the leaves drooped and withered. After this, the affected tree begins to dry out and is no longer able to harvest. Bacteria and fungi then invade the affected tissues. Treatment of apoplexy involves treatment with copper-containing preparations and cutting out the affected branches.
Gum is a protective sticky secretion of a tree - glue, resin, diluted with juice. What to do if gum disease takes away from an apricot vitality? The disease is called gommosis and is characteristic of stone fruit crops.
The gum secreted is a sticky, thick substance designed to cover wounds like a band-aid. A medicinal substance used in traditional medicine. An open wound, a crack should heal. But the introduced fungi and bacteria interfere, the wood is destroyed, the outflow continues, weakening the tree.
You can prevent the appearance of growths with proper care:
They whiten 3 times a year - in summer, mid-winter and autumn. Wrapping the trunk in burlap in winter will help. A balanced calcium composition in the soil is important to stop gum production. Excess calcium can be removed by watering it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate during the season.
There are many methods for combating gum disease, as well as the reasons why the disease arose. The main thing is to find the cause and, after eliminating it, carry out agricultural measures. The diseases of apricot trees shown in the photo and their treatment most often form a complex; the symptoms are intertwined. A specialist agronomist can clarify.
Why do apricot branches dry out? Causes of branches drying out fruit trees maybe several. One of them is the disease cytosporosis. Apricots are primarily affected, although other stone fruits are also affected.
First of all, weakened trees damaged by frost, drought, and sunburn can be called vulnerable. The disease is also called infectious drying, that is, fungal spores penetrate through various mechanical damage, frost holes, cuts and saw cuts. It turns out that winter has passed, and so have the frosts. The tree develops and suddenly... Quite unexpectedly, we notice that the leaves begin to wither. Here and there. For some reason the young branches are drying up. Not only apricot, the same picture happens with peach. But individual sections of bark, entire branches are already drying out, and even trees are dying.
It seems to us that this happened suddenly. But cytosporosis, the drying out of fruit trees, does not come so easily. This means that the trees were weakened and wounded. The fungus penetrated the wood and began to develop there. The mycelium even penetrates into the core. An increased secretion of gum can be noted. It is she who disrupts the movement of juices, clogging blood vessels, which leads to death. With the onset of warmth, in spring and autumn, outbreaks occur cytosporosis diseases. Drying can occur simply at lightning speed. Unlike black crayfish, the bark does not turn black, but has a brownish-red color. Also, it does not peel off, but is wet. Pay attention to the pycnidia - these are dark gray pads, located over the entire area, and not concentrically.
Although the disease cytosporosis differs from black cancer, the control measures are the same.
First of all, do not allow spores to penetrate into the wood. To do this, seal the wounds with garden pitch, cover large areas with a mixture of mullein and clay, and cement large hollows. All damage from frost, sun, and drought must be disinfected with copper sulfate and then repaired.
Unfortunately, wound treatment is only effective in the initial stages, that is, before the fungus penetrates the wood and cambium.
Potassium and phosphorus supplements will be very useful. Be sure to apply potassium-phosphorus fertilizers in the fall. You can use available fertilizer for this purpose - ash. Combine fertilizing with watering. A tree lacking moisture and nutrients is more susceptible to disease. There are a lot of great tools on the market right now. foliar feeding. They provide an opportunity nutrients quickly penetrate the leaves and support the plant. Don't neglect such opportunities.
If you are unsure about the health of your garden or if the winter was difficult and many branches were damaged, then in early spring spray with a 3% solution of Bordeaux mixture.
Read more about means of combating fruit drying read the article fruit tree cancer . Do not neglect winter whitewashing. In the spring it will no longer be useful, but will only become a decoration. On the contrary, this operation, carried out on time, will protect against frost damage.
The reason for the drying out of fruit trees may be monilial burn. Read more about it.
Often contracted Verticillium wilt (wilt)
