What to do if the bark of an apple tree cracks, causes and treatment methods

Cracks in an apple tree should cause concern among gardeners. If the disease is neglected, it will reduce the harvest and ultimately lead to the death of the tree. The disease easily spreads to other fruit crops and affects the entire garden in a short time. Every gardener needs to know what to do if the bark of an apple tree cracks and how to prevent it. Timely measures will help preserve the life of the plant.

Causes and symptoms of bark cracking

If the bark is cracked, you need to quickly figure out why this happened. At the beginning of autumn, during the period of heavy rains, shoots of the crop begin to grow rapidly. As a result, cracks appear along the entire trunk. This occurs due to a lack of elasticity. To cope with the problem, you will need to treat the plant with iron sulfate and then whiten it.

Nutritional imbalance

Cracks appear due to a lack of nutrients and lack of moisture. Therefore, the plant requires constant and proper care. Many summer residents exceed the dose of nitrogen fertilizer and violate the timing of their application, thereby causing a nutritional imbalance.

Stem pests

Stem pests cause the bark to burst. These include:

• woodworms;
• bark beetles;
• sapwood;
• rodents.

Every gardener needs to know how to fight and prevent pests.

Sapwood beetles

At the moment of sap flow, the beetle gnaws out a round hole. Next, the female crawls in and makes oblong passages under the surface of the bark and lays larvae, which gnaw through the transverse passages. As a result, the movement of sap is disrupted, and the plant begins to hurt. In such plants, the bark cracks and entire branches dry out.

Woodworm butterflies

Insects lay eggs on the trunk and branches of the plant in the summer. The emerging caterpillars bite into the top of the shoot and penetrate under the bark. Their food is wood from trunks and branches. By autumn, damaged shoots die off.

Physical damage

Relate:

• damage by rodents;
• faults caused by natural disasters;
• branch breakage due to an incorrectly formed crown.

To prevent the trunk from cracking, it is necessary to build protection against rodents.

Frostbite and burns

If the bark is cracked after the winter season, then the cause may be a sharp temperature change. If the crack is longitudinal and there is no darkening around, then severe frosts and sunburn are to blame. A simple whitewashing of the trunk will solve the problem.

A sign of frostbite is deep cracks and unchanged color of the bark. The plant heals wounds from frost on its own. During the process of sap flow, the cracks are tightened by the released juice. Therefore, treatment with garden varnish is not recommended.

Causes and signs of detachment

The cause may be fungal diseases, which can be recognized at an early stage and the plant can be saved.

Cytosporosis

The disease appears on weakened plants. Causes of weakness:

• non-compliance with watering regimes;
• poor soil;
• improper feeding;
• mechanical damage.

The disease manifests itself in the form of brown-red ulcers, which are initially characterized by slight darkening. In a short time, the ulcers cover a large area of ​​the cortex, while deforming the surface. The bark moves away from the trunk, and dying branches break off.

A fungal disease leads to the rapid death of the plant. After a maximum of 2 seasons, the apple tree will die.

European cancer

The disease begins with a small spot. Sagging forms in affected areas of the trunk and deep cracks. There are 2 forms of cancer:

• Open. The deeply exposed wood is ringed with an influx of tissue formed as a result of the action of the fungal toxins.
• Closed. The influx of callus closes the cancerous wound, leaving only a crack filled with rotted mass.

Lumps, tumors and ulcers are surrounded by red-dark bumps.The disease occurs as a result of wounds that occur when the bark is damaged during the pruning process. Plants of any age are affected.

Black cancer

The disease manifests itself in the form of cracks in the bark, which turns black and becomes covered with a sooty blackish coating. The disease is caused by a fungus that instantly infects the entire tree, including foliage and fruits. Over the course of 3 years, the culture gradually dies.

Treatment must be carried out at the first signs of the disease. Otherwise, if the disease spreads strongly, it will be impossible to defeat the disease.

To protect the bark, whitewash is applied before the leaves appear, during the period of increasing solar activity, which occurs in the last days of March.

Methods for treating young and old apple trees

To avoid the death of young and old apple trees, it is necessary to carry out treatment on time.

Treating fungus-affected areas

Treatment is carried out when the sap in the plant moves slowly. Otherwise, the highly released moisture will not allow the wounds to heal for a long time and will create ideal conditions for the growth of fungus. The affected areas are cut off along with part of the healthy surface and treated with the drug:

• "Topsin M";
• "Funaben."

Treatment should be carried out in dry weather. Excess moisture will reduce the effect of the drug in wounds.

Spraying with insecticides against pests

Use:

• "Confidor". Valid for a maximum of 20 days. The result is noticeable after 4 days.
• "Aktara". Works well on hot days, compatible with fungicides. Has a long period of action.
• "Spark". Has a fast effect. Apply after 2 weeks. Carry out 4 treatments.

The last time is processed a month before the harvest is ripe.

How and with what to cure an apple tree from cancer

If a crop is affected by cancer, it is necessary to cut off and burn all damaged areas and branches on which black spots have appeared. Treatment:

• the wounds are covered with garden varnish; drying oil is also suitable;
• the plant is treated with copper sulfate (3%);
• after flowering is completed, spray with Bordeaux mixture (1%).

To prevent the disease from appearing on the tree, it is necessary to pay constant attention to the plant. If cracks appear in the bark around the branch, the shoot must be completely removed. This will help get rid of the source of infection.

Proper care and regular fertilization

To prevent diseases, you need to properly care for the plant:

1. In autumn, remove plant debris around the crop. Dry leaves are a source of infection.
2. Apply fertilizing in a timely manner. Complex fertilizer will ensure rapid growth and proper ripening of the tree's wood. Feed in spring and autumn.
3. Treat damage regularly. The affected areas are cleaned with a knife, while capturing healthy tissue. Then disinfect with copper sulfate.
4. In autumn, crops are sprayed with fungicides.
5. Regular pruning of the crown is carried out and dry branches are removed.

Preventive measures

For prevention, treat:

• Copper sulfate. To do this, 50 g of powder is diluted in 10 liters of water and sprayed until flowering.
• The drug "Hom". Before the buds swell, treat the tree with a solution of 10 liters of water and 40 g of product.

To prevent frostbite, the trunk and skeletal branches are wrapped with natural linen tape and secured. To keep rodents out, mats are made from spruce wood, which are tightly wrapped around the trunk and lower parts of the branches. As soon as the frost disappears, the protection is removed.