What to do with gum disease and other diseases in apricots, treatment with chemicals and folk remedies

Many gardeners are trying to grow apricots in their garden plots. Stone fruit culture is famous for the usefulness of its fruits and the versatility of their use. For a good harvest, it is important to know about the rules of care and understand what apricot diseases exist. Otherwise, you may not only not wait for the first fruits, but also lose the plant due to its death.

Main causes of tree diseases

There are quite a few causes of apricot diseases. All of them are associated with the influence of weather factors, improper care or a disease of viral, bacterial or fungal origin. If there are health problems, the tree signals this with its appearance; abnormal changes appear on the trunks, fruits or leaves. Based on the symptoms, you can determine the nature of the apricot disease and the tactics for further action.

Timely, correct processing is the key to a healthy garden.

Apricots belong to the category of horticultural crops that are not able to regulate the volume of fruiting. Excessive weight of branches leads to their breaking, so to avoid this situation, spring pruning is required. The procedure is carried out until the active start of the movement of juices and the formation of inflorescences. Autumn removal of branches has a right to exist, but with the onset of early frosts there is a risk that the plant will not have time to recover by this time and may die.

Improper treatment of fresh wounds causes the apricot to weaken and gum to appear. The resin attracts harmful insects, which can cause viral diseases and further weaken the fruit tree’s immunity. To eliminate this situation, the wound is treated with a solution of copper sulfate and covered with garden pitch. When pruning, it is important to pre-sharpen and disinfect garden tools, which will prevent damage to the bark and infection.

Don't give up spring spraying. Treatment with chemicals will reduce the risk of apricot infection significantly. Modern products have the unique ability to simultaneously act against several types of pests, so one spraying is enough to obtain effective plant protection. Carry out processing apricot immediately after trimming crowns, but until the wounds are covered.

Diseases of seedlings and new shoots of the apricot tree and their treatment

The quality of fruiting of a young apricot is influenced by many factors. It is important to choose the right variety and follow planting rules. The tree does not like shaded and windy places, and denseness and high humidity increases the risk of fungal diseases.

On average, apricots begin to bear fruit after 3 years. Often the reason for the lack of fruits is burn moniliosis, in which the inflorescences become brown and dry out.

To combat these and other types of fungal diseases, spraying with a copper solution is carried out; Bordeaux mixture is most often used for these purposes.

The danger to young apricot seedlings comes not only from diseases of fungal and bacterial origin, but also from pests. The ovaries often suffer from the invasion of codling moths, so to combat them and other harmful insects, special chemicals are used, for example, “Chorus”.

Fungal and bacterial infections. Ways to deal with them

Most often, apricots are affected by fungal diseases; the risk of their occurrence in a young plant increases with high humidity and excessive precipitation. Apricot diseases and their treatment depend on the nature of the lesion.Apricot leaves can be affected by black spots; pustules, plaques, signs of necrosis and other manifestations may appear, each of which indicates the presence of a specific disease and requires specific actions.

The way to combat apricot diseases is to follow proper care and take preventive measures. A significant part of fungal and bacterial infections are eliminated by spraying, which is carried out several times during the season. In most cases, the first treatment is performed before flowering, the second after it ends. Each subsequent one can be performed every 14 days as needed.

Leaf curl

Fungal disease of stone fruit crops is one of the most common. The first sign is the appearance of red, swollen formations on the leaves. Over time, the plates curl and curl. The fruits do not have time to ripen and die, the appearance of the shoots changes greatly. The disease can be prevented only by preventive measures. Fallen green mass should not be left to rot and it is necessary to spray it with Bordeaux mixture in a timely manner.

Gnomoniosis

The appearance of rot and yellow marks on the leaves may indicate infection with gnomoniasis. The leaf blades become reddish in color, turn brown and dry out. Apricots do not have time to fully grow, greatly change their appearance and become “ugly”. In some cases, they completely fall off before reaching maturity.

Folk remedies speak of the need to completely clean the affected area when the first signs of the disease are detected. The tree is sprayed with a 1% solution of copper sulfate or Nitrafen.A preventative measure is the spring treatment of apricots with Bordeaux mixture.

Coccomycosis

When affected by coccomycosis, apricot leaves become covered with reddish-brown spots. Over time, they grow and merge into a single whole, after which the greenery dries out and falls off. With high humidity, a coating of fungal spores may form on the back surface of the leaves, which has a whitish or pink tint. The fruits do not ripen completely and acquire a watery texture.

Unsightly spots appear on their surface, and the fruit loses its presentable appearance. Apricot pulp acquires an unpleasant flavor.

High temperature and high humidity contribute to the spread of the disease. Fungal spores are spread by precipitation and wind. The main way to combat coccomycosis is preventive garden care. The pathogen overwinters in leaves and gum, so such residues are removed in the fall. In autumn, it is advisable to dig up the soil near the apricot. Timely pruning and crown formation work reduces the risk of disease.

Clasteoporiosis

The fungal disease becomes active immediately after flowering, as the pathogens overwinter in the infected buds. Red dots on fruits and leaves are the first signs of an anomaly. Light brown, rounded spots form on the greens; they look as if they have been pressed inward. The lesions lead to the loss of part of the leaf, which is why this apricot disease is often called hole spot.

Apricot disease responds well to treatment in the initial stages. For this purpose, “Poliram” or another fungicide of directed action is used.A good means of preventing clasteoporiosis is to spray with preparations containing copper.

leaf roller

The butterfly feeds on the leaves of fruit trees, which curl into a tube after its visit. It is there that the insect prefers to hide from danger. Caterpillars are famous for their speed of eating buds and leaves. In the summer, they mature into an adult butterfly, which lays eggs to form a new generation. Insects severely injure apricot bark, causing gum formation processes. The caterpillars are collected by hand, and the apricots are sprayed with preparations - “Decis”, “Inta-Vir”.

Scab

Fungal disease is one of the most common diseases of apricots. The first symptoms of the anomaly appear on the leaves of the plant, on which light, round-shaped spots form. They are arranged in a chaotic manner and are located on the lower surface of the plate. Over time, the spot begins to turn brown and spread, often covering the cutting. A large area of ​​damage leads to drying and falling of leaves.

Brown spots spread to the shoots and are observed on the surface of the wood. Further, fruits show the same changes. On unripe fruits they appear as gray or brown spots. As they ripen, the area of ​​the lesions expands; the surface of the apricots is covered with a velvety coating, the color of which varies from olive to black. Next, cracking of the fruit and destruction of the pulp are observed. Such fruits look ugly in appearance and rot during storage.

The reason for such an apricot reaction may be the stress of the fruit tree, a reaction to weather changes, such circumstances make it vulnerable to fungal infection. Fruits burst due to scab when there is high humidity or sudden temperature changes in the spring. Untimely preventive work or improper implementation can lead to illness.

The causative agent of the disease is a fungus that overwinters in fallen leaves and fruits, so plant debris must be removed.

For control, the latest generation of fungicides are used - “Kaptan”, “Topsin”. To eliminate scab on apricots, experienced gardeners water and irrigate the crown with a mustard solution prepared from 40 g of powder and 5 liters of water. Some people use potassium permanganate for these purposes; the liquid should be pink, since if the concentration of the drug is exceeded, the apricot leaves can be burned.

Moniliosis

If apricot leaves wither after flowering and acquire a brown tint, this may be the first sign of moniliosis. Further changes affect the fruits, which become covered with dark spots and begin to rot. The leaf plates curl, and their appearance resembles the effects of fire.

In order to cure, the apricot is treated with Topsin, Topaz or Strobi. Preventative spraying in the spring with a 3% solution of Bordeaux mixture will help prevent the occurrence of the disease. In the fall, it is necessary to eliminate the remains of foliage and damaged branches.

Wahls fungus, verticillium

The appearance of bright orange ulcers on the trunk indicates infection with the Valsa fungus. The disease leads to damage to the wood, as a result of which the circulation of sap is disrupted. Avoiding waterlogging of the soil, regular pruning and treatment with fungicides when the first signs of fungus appear will help get rid of the problem.

Apricot varieties are highly susceptible to verticillium wilt.An infected tree begins to lose its leaves at the beginning of summer; the greenery turns yellow and fades before falling. The ends of the branches become lifeless and dry out, changes from the edges begin to spread down to the center of the tree, and over time the shoots of the skeleton die.

To accurately diagnose apricot disease, you should cut the wood and examine the appearance of its structure. The infected tree will have a speckled layer in cross-section, the spots will have an irregular shape and in some cases are capable of forming rings.

Verticillium is difficult to diagnose and the disease is difficult to treat. The fungus is capable of demonstrating wait-and-see tactics for a long time, overwintering in fallen leaves and, when activated, completely spreading throughout the tree. Preventative measures include the correct choice of planting site; you should not place apricots in areas where potatoes, tomatoes and strawberries were previously present. It is necessary to carry out preliminary fumigation or solarization of the soil.

Cytosporosis

If the leaves of an apricot dry out, then there is a high probability that an infection with cytosporosis has occurred. The fungal disease affects the wood of the trunk, localizing in places of damage and cuts. The first signs appear at the beginning of the summer period, when immediately after flowering the apricot leaves begin to wither sharply, the process begins from the top of the tree, and changes are clearly visible at the ends of the young shoots.

The lesion is observed on the surface of the trunk and branches.

The disease of the bark looks like smudges of a brown tint, it becomes brown in color, a large number of cracks appear, from which gum oozes. Over time, the wood becomes covered with black tubercles, which after a year transform into fungal growths that grow deep into the layers of the tree.

Apricot disease is treatable only at the initial stage. To do this, the affected branches and lesions are removed, covering 10 cm of a healthy area. The wound is treated with a solution of copper sulfate and covered with garden pitch. In autumn, phosphorus and potassium are added to the soil.

Fusarium

Damage to apricot health can occur from a fungal pathogen at any time, but the risk of infection is higher during the flowering period. With fusarium blight, depressed brown spots appear on the leaves, gradually spreading to the fruits. The fruit pulp becomes dry and rotten, the skin wrinkles.

The disease mainly affects weakened trees and shoots with signs of mechanical injury. In order to combat infection, branches are promptly removed, pruned, fertilized and sprayed with special preparations. The causative agent of fusarium lives in the soil, so fallen leaves and remnants of vegetation around the tree are removed.

Apricot gum production

When apricot gums, resin appears on the trunk. The cause may be mechanical damage, a reaction to stress from frost, or sunburn. The disease causes weakening of the fruit tree and reduces the yield of its harvest. The damaged area is cut out, treated with a solution of copper sulfate and “soldered” with garden pitch. To seal cracks, it is not recommended to use products based on petroleum products, as they are often harmful to humans and trees.

Pests and methods of protection against them

The list of apricot pests is quite diverse. The invasion of such insects leads to a weakening of the plant’s immunity and a decrease in the quality of its fruiting. Weakened trees are more likely to be susceptible to various diseases and are less resistant to environmental factors.

Aphid

Numerous aphid infestations are usually observed until mid-summer. Pests settle on the back surface of the leaves and suck the vital juices out of the plant. Lack of nutrition negatively affects the growth of shoots and leads to their deformation. They get rid of aphids with “Fitoverm” or “Fufanon”.

codling moth

Butterfly caterpillars appear towards the end of the summer period. They eat apricot fruits and go into the ground for the winter, often choosing the tree trunk area or bark in the lower part of the tree for this purpose. A solution of “Chlorophos” or “Entobacterin” saves you from the codling moth.

Weevil

Small beetles often land on apricots from other stone fruit crops. Pests feed on greenery and damage buds, inflorescences and fruits. If there is a large invasion of them, the tree may lose all its leaves already in June. Insects wait out the winter in the bark or in the soil, so it is recommended to dig up the soil in the fall. To combat beetles, they are manually assembled and treated with drugs - “Decis”, “Kinmis”.

Set of preventive measures

To obtain a strong apricot and good fruiting, it is important to follow a set of preventive measures. Key recommendations include:

• do not allow the soil to become waterlogged;
• pruning branches correctly and in a timely manner;
• remove damaged and diseased shoots, fallen leaves and fruits;
• monitor the growth of weeds around the base of the apricot, loosen the top layer of soil in the tree trunk circle;
• monitor the moment the first signs of apricot disease appear, and if they are detected, take immediate action.

In the spring, for preventive purposes, apricot wood is treated with 1% Bordeaux mixture. Fumigation of shoots with sawdust shows good results.When pests or infestations are detected, the plantings are treated with targeted chemicals.

To combat harmful insects, they dig up the soil around the apricot trunk in the autumn, since the larvae often choose such a place for wintering. In the fall, the trunks are whitewashed. Special types of insecticides are used for control.