If you are a caring gardener, then you inspect your plantings regularly and every season. Then you can notice in time on apple trees such a disease as a tinder fungus, which usually grows in tree hollows. Some amateur gardeners believe that such a growth protects the apple tree, preventing the hollow from expanding, but this is absolutely wrong. The fungus grows, causing the destruction of wood and sucking juices from the core. As long as there is only one such growth, the tree can still be saved.

You will need

• - knife, axe, hacksaw or chainsaw;
• - a solution of copper sulfate;
• - garden pitch;
• - mullein and clay;
• - nigrol, rosin, ash and wax;
• - hard brush;

Instruction

Remove mushroom. If it is already woody, take a large knife, hacksaw, hatchet or even a chainsaw. Healthy wood will also have to be destroyed, but the tinder fungus must be removed completely, to a clean place.

Clean the wound with a knife or scraper down to healthy wood so that a relatively smooth and even surface is obtained.

Disinfect the wound. To do this, take a 5% solution of copper sulfate or creosote and process the hollow. Then carefully cover this place. You can do this with oil paint or garden pitch. Or you can take nigrol, rosin, ash and wax in a ratio of 10:6:3:1, mix and cover the wound.4

There is another (old) version of wound treatment. Knead the putty from fresh mullein and clay, taking the components in equal parts. Mix well. For 5 liters of such a mixture (half a bucket), add 0.5 liters of a ready-made solution of copper sulfate (3 percent). Spread the damaged area with the prepared mixture.

You can treat with the agent that you prepared to putty the wound on all nearby parts of the apple tree - the trunk and branches (only dilute it with water first, excessive density is no longer needed). The fact is that you may not immediately notice the spread of the tinder fungus throughout the tree, and such preventive measures will prevent its germination.

However, simply applying the product to the bark is not enough. You need to prepare the surface first. To do this, take a hard brush (if the tree is old and the bark on it is thick, you can use a metal brush or even a piece of chain-link mesh) and clean the old bark from the trunk and branches (without fanaticism, only the upper, as if dead, layer). After that, you can continue processing.

Do not forget, upon completion of all work, to rake the old bark and fragments of the tinder fungus from under the apple tree and burn it at the stake. This must be done in order to destroy the cocoons and eggs of various pests, as well as the hyphae (cells) of the fungus.

There are several varieties of tinder fungus. Depending on the species, they can be white, brown or Brown as well as striped, streaked, hard, fluffy, dry, slimy, etc. Measures to combat all are the same. Useful advice

Experienced gardeners say that if the tinder fungus was large, then it will only be possible to get rid of it for a while. The fact is that the hyphae of the tinder fungus have the ability to penetrate deep into the wood, which makes it almost impossible to save the apple tree. It will gradually fade away, first reducing the yield, then becoming clumsy, covered with growths and hollows. Therefore, even if the operation to remove the fungus was successful, you should think about replacing the tree.

In the future, take care of the safety of fruit trees - protect them from mechanical damage, clean off rotten bark, close hollows and cracks.

Which of us has not seen growths in the form of a pillow sponge or fan-shaped ears on trees, stumps, deadwood? "Devil's hooves", as they were nicknamed by the people, are not afraid of either the sun, or showers, or blizzards. They live inside the trunks, and their fruiting bodies are distinguished by rigidity. These are tinder mushrooms. Most often they settle in clearings or conflagrations, but there are a lot of them in ordinary forests and gardens.

In our climatic zone, tinder fungi are found everywhere, settling on trunks, branches and even roots, causing decay, and eventually the death of plants. Therefore, summer residents and gardeners should be able to recognize tree destroyers and know how to deal with them.

A SECRET ILLNESS gnaws from within

In addition, tree mushrooms are not so simple, and they have tricks, as well as hardness, more than enough. They lead a life hidden from prying eyes: they can develop inside the trunk for many years, destroying it and not coming to the surface. In this case, the tree has no chance to survive. And only after it dies off, a fruiting body appears on the trunk. Developing under the bark and sending hyphae along the length of the tree, the tinder fungus, having only formed outgrowths-combs and breaking through the bark, exposes the lower part of the body. It is here, at the ends of the tubes, that rot carriers (spores) develop.

The spores ripened by August are carried by the wind. Once on a suitable substrate, they germinate, forming a mycelium (mycelium). Spreading through the wood, it gradually (over several years) destroys it. At first, the growing fungus simply depresses, weakens the tree, slows down development, and then hollows form in the trunk, complete or partial death of branches and roots occurs. At the same time, fruiting bodies appear on the bark in the affected areas, and the wood gradually disintegrates.

VITAMINS EVERYONE NEED FOR GROWTH

The mineral nutrition of tinder fungi is determined by the state of the substrate. The wood of a growing tree is poor in ash (1% of the mass of dry matter), and mushrooms are undemanding to macronutrients. Their bodies usually contain a lot of phosphorus oxide (up to 40-50%) and potassium oxide (20-30%), other elements - a few percent. An increase in their quantity in wood, primarily nitrogen, accelerates the growth of fungi, enhancing their destructive activity. An important part of their nutrition is vitamins and growth stimulants. Some tinder fungi, such as false aspen, die off after cutting down a tree. A sufficient supply of oxygen and removal of metabolites is another of the conditions for the growth of tinder fungi.

According to the nature of the destruction of wood, rot is divided into white and brown. When only cellulose decomposes, the substrate darkens, acquiring, depending on the humic substances, a red or brown color. Wood crumbles, often cracks into small pieces, loses volume and mass (destructive rot).

If the tinder fungus is also able to digest lignin, the rot is called white (yellowish). This corrosive appearance of it, occurring more often, manifests itself in different ways. Sometimes the wood whitens evenly over the entire area. Sometimes only light stripes-cells are formed, filled with undecomposed cellulose (pitted, motley or partridge rot). But in any case, the wood becomes soft, fibrous, stratifies into rings, sometimes crumbles (does not crack), loses mass, but its volume does not decrease. There are other types of rot. The activity of enzymes plays a major role not only in the nutrition of polypore fungi, but also in the spread of their mycelium, which in some species can also occur in the soil.

THE MOST COMMON "UNINVITED GUESTS" OF THE GARDEN

The nature of the damage to trees by fungi depends on the variety of tinder fungus, of which the following species are most often found in gardens.

False tinder fungus settles on pear trunks, stone fruits (plum, cherry, sweet cherry), causing white core rot. Its fruit bodies are most often perennial, woody, hoof-shaped, with concentric grooves and fissures on the upper side. Their coloring can be yellow-brown, black-gray and matte with grayish edges, and the inside is brown. A typical sign of the disease: veins and black lines in the tissues of the affected wood.

Plum red tinder fungus causes rot of the core of trunks and branches in all stone fruits, bird cherry, hawthorn, less often in apple and pear trees. Sometimes the sapwood (near cherries) is affected, and the trunks and branches quickly dry out and break. Fruiting bodies are mostly hoof-shaped, at first velvety, then smooth, with a reddish-brown (to grayish-black) rind and a dull reddish edge. In the diseased tissue, there is a strong yellowing with brown stripes along the edges, the rot spreads up and down the trunk, often the roots are affected.

Prefers flat tinder fungus stumps, but can also affect weakened, drying out deciduous trees (plum, pear, apple, etc.). Causes white or yellowish-white rot, drying out and brittleness of trees. Infection usually occurs at the base of the tree and on its roots, from where the mycelium spreads upward along the core. Fruiting bodies are perennial, flat, sessile, the upper side is whitish-brown, wavy, furrowed, glabrous or covered with brown bloom with a rusty-brown color along the edges.

This tinder fungus is found on almost all deciduous (mainly weakened and dead) trees and their stumps, including apple and pear. Due to the light yellow or white rot of the core, the wood becomes brittle, exfoliating along the growth rings. The fungus has been growing for many years. It has the appearance of a hoof with similar grooves on the surface. The color of the fruiting body is pale gray with blunt light yellow edges.

On cherries (less often on cherries, pears and other hardwoods), a sulfur-yellow tinder fungus settles, causing brown core rot, which spreads through the wood for quite a while. a short time. The affected tissue, cracking, is filled with whitish films of mycelium. Sessile annual bodies, connected at the base in a tile-like manner, at first watery-fleshy, then hardening, brittle, with a light yellow or orange wavy surface.

The scaly tinder fungus often settles on a pear, attaching with a short lateral leg, causing white rot of the core. Mushroom bodies are annual, semicircular, flat on top. Their color is initially light yellow or ocher, then brown with large scales.

HOW TO HELP FRUIT TREES

Knowing the varieties and characteristics of tinder fungi, the summer resident gardener will be able to protect against them fruit trees. Many underestimate the harm that tinder fungi can cause to trees, so they do not fight them in any way. And in vain: the consequences of such a neighborhood, as a rule, are very deplorable. Of course, the easiest way to destroy such trees is to eliminate the source of the disease. But you should not immediately take emergency measures and cut down half the garden - you have 2-4 years, or even more, in order to try to help diseased trees, and only noticing a decrease in yield, fragility of branches, exposure of hollows, it is worth planting a replacement, wait fruits and with a clear conscience cut down an old diseased tree.

General agronomic preventive measures can help extend the life of a tree, or even avoid disease. First of all, they are associated with improving the growth and development of plants: fertilizers should be applied in a timely and correct manner, increasing nutrition and selecting the necessary irrigation regime, as well as uprooting stumps, removing and burning damaged and drying branches, exfoliated bark, primarily attracting tinder fungi . Sections must be treated with a 3% solution of copper sulfate or garden pitch (preferably with petrapatum or carbolineum).

It is very important to protect the bark from wounds, frost damage, sunlight (renew whitewash at the end of winter), insects, rodents. An excellent prevention is spraying trees without leaves with a 5% solution of ferrous sulfate, and with foliage - Bordeaux liquid.

If it was not possible to prevent the appearance of tinder fungi, special measures must be taken: cut and burn their fruiting bodies. This is done no later than August, when the release of fungal spores is expected. At the same time, the places of cuts must be disinfected with a 4% solution of copper sulfate (300 g per bucket) and covered with garden pitch, the hollows should be “sealed” with small gravel or broken bricks and poured with a mixture of cement and sand (1: 3). To protect against tinder fungus, coat the stems with clay with casein glue (200 g per 10 l bucket) with the addition of 90 g of karbofos to the mixture.

If the wood was severely damaged when cleaning the tree from the tinder fungus with a metal brush, cover this area with clay mash: clay and manure (1: 1) with the addition of a small amount of copper sulfate and tie it with a bandage or gauze. If the branch is damaged by more than 50%, it must be cut down, and the cut should be covered with garden pitch or oil paint. Periodically, disinfection of affected trees should be carried out: spray the crown and trunk with a solution of copper sulfate (100 g).

But maybe it’s better not to spend so much effort on fighting tricky fungi using chemicals? Isn't it easier to think about our attitude to nature and start taking care of trees: do not break branches, whiten fruit trees in the fall, and not by the May holidays, cut down branches, cover cuts with garden pitch, do not ignore the appearance of cracks and burns on the trunks?

Tatiana Moiseeva

Let's figure out how trees are infected with tinder fungus spores, what kind of variety it is and what are the measures to prevent their appearance in the garden. After all, any gardener is extremely disappointed when a fruit tree grown with love begins to wither. And although polypore fungi are by no means desirable in a summer cottage, their role in the ecology of the planet is simply invaluable. So let's deal not only with our bell tower.

What do we know about tinder fungus?

In fact, many summer residents and gardeners know practically nothing about the tinder fungus, except that it can form on trees. And why and why it is formed there - many do not even suspect. At the same time, this fungus is a very serious threat to the life and health of fruit trees, and its growth must be restrained, and it is better to prevent its occurrence.

So, everyone has seen this mushroom “growing” on trees more than once. It is rigid, fan-shaped or hoof-shaped, or similar to ears, and on one side is firmly connected to the tree. It can be either flat or spherical, like a pillow; its color also varies from black-dirty to yellow-brown. It can have both single outgrowths and multi-stage bodies covering a considerable area of ​​the trunk. And all this depends mainly on the variety of tinder fungus, of which there are a great many.

Different tinder fungi behave differently, and their destructive activity is not the same. We are only interested in those species that harm fruit trees specifically, namely: false tinder (pear, plum), real tinder (deciduous trees, apple, pear), flat tinder (apple, pear, plum), yellow tinder (cherry , pear, cherry), plum (plum, cherry, sweet cherry), scaly tinder fungus (pear).

The tinder fungus decomposes wood, making it available for decomposition in the soil, which is good food for all plants, enriches the soil composition. It is the tinder fungus that allows you to make a tree - organic. But there are also some types of tinder fungus that attack healthy trees and live while the tree lives, feeding on its tissues. But they can also live on already dead wood, until it completely becomes dust. Basically, the strong point of the tinder fungus is weakened and damaged trees.

Why does the tinder fungus appear in the garden?

Fruit trees for the tinder fungus are exactly the same trees as everyone else. His appearance does not just happen. There must be a reason for that. As mentioned above, it attacks diseased, weak, damaged trees, which means that if a mushroom appeared in your garden, then somewhere they overlooked the pet, somewhere he did not receive the necessary care.

There are fruit varieties that are resistant to all kinds of infections, and if there is an alternative, it is worth choosing them for planting.

Maturation of the body of the fungus occurs around August. It is at this time that he throws out his spores, which are carried around by the wind, insects, etc. Naturally, spores are introduced into the bark of a tree through mechanical damage, cracks from frost, wounds from the activity of rodents and insects, places sunburn, yes, through simply broken branches! In general, a fungus spore can fly into even the smallest wound and begin its destructive activity! Once inside the tree, it germinates and forms a mycelium (mycelium).

Signs of the appearance of a tinder fungus on a tree

If the mushroom has not yet broken out, but is operating inside the trunk, it is very difficult to notice. But external signs, of course have. The tree starts to wither. It slows down growth (if it is in the stage of intensive development), acquires the fragility of the branches - they can break from a slight blow, or a gust of wind. There is also a noticeable decline in yield. Since the tinder fungus greatly weakens the tree, it begins to pick up various other diseases. The formation of hollows on the trunks is also a sign of the presence of a tinder fungus.

All this indicates that the tree is "sick". But the gardener has a few more years left (or even all five) to compete for cherries or plums. But control measures are not always successful, and the tree dies. Therefore, when the first signs of an attack by a tinder fungus appear, you should play it safe and make new plantings so as not to inadvertently stay with a bald garden.

How to deal with tinder fungus?

If the tinder fungus has already broken out, then it is important to understand that the damage to the tree has already been significant, and therefore to deal with this phenomenon, oh, how difficult. In some cases, the tree cannot be saved. But trying to fight for the life of a pet is very worth it!

So, here it is - our fruit tree, and here on it - a mushroom grows calmly for itself. What should be done first?

1. Rid the tree of all fruit bodies fungus, which must be burned immediately, avoiding the spread of spores. It is advisable to do this before the fungus begins to scatter these same spores, which happens, as we remember, in August.
2. Clean the section of the trunk affected by the tinder fungus. To do this, it is better to use a metal brush. It is necessary to clean out all the rot, down to healthy, clean wood.
3. Treat the cleaned area with a solution of Fitolavin. This is the disinfection of the wound, which is necessary so that the tree does not pick up any infection again. During the year, this area will not hurt to be impregnated with any other biofungicides (Alirin-B, Gamair, etc.). As practice has shown, the stripping site should not be treated with additional garden pitch - it is always wet under it and the pathogenic microflora develops more strongly.
4. If the wood is severely damaged as a result of the above measures, then it is better to prepare the so-called "clay talker": for this, clay and manure are taken in equal proportions, bred with a small addition of copper sulfate. This solution is carefully coated with damage sites, and wrapped with a clean rag or gauze.

But it also happens that a tree branch is so badly damaged by a tinder fungus that its cleaning does not make any sense. This happens when more than half of the branch has already rotted. Then it just needs to be cut into a ring.

Also, there are hollows on the affected trees, which cannot be left just like that. The procedure is as follows:

After all these actions, you should not think that the entire list of activities has been completed. It is necessary to continue to keep a vigilant eye on the tree, and periodically carry out disinfection measures - spray both the trunk and the crown with a solution of tank mixtures with the addition of biofungicides.

If all these control measures did not help, and the tinder fungus still won, then nothing but removing the tree from suburban area, does not remain. A diseased tree must be uprooted and completely burned to prevent the spread of infection, as spores live for a long time. Another option is to install an old basin / bucket in place of a sawn tree and do not touch it for 2-3 years, so that everything is digested under it, so to speak.

How to prevent the infection of trees with tinder fungi in the country

It is very difficult to fight the tinder fungus, so it is best to take preventive measures to prevent it and close to the trees. All these activities are associated with improving the growth and development of the fruit tree as a whole:

Counting losses, summing up

Moniliosis is rampant in our garden, and although we cut off damaged branches and regularly clean the bark, the trees suffer greatly. It is not clear whether the tinder fungus is the root cause, or the monilla. I had to get rid of the third tree already. Two apple trees of the "Golden Excellent" were lost, and a pear "Talgar Beauty". The fruit bodies of the tinder fungus also regularly appear on the bare trunks of Aport. Harvest on them (we have 2 apple trees) is laughter and sin, but until the hand rises to get rid of them. And here is the current loss, pear:

So, on the one hand, polypore fungi are rather dangerous destroyers of wood, it is they that invisibly infect and lead to subsequent death of living fruit trees. The vegetative body of the fungus (mycelium) develops and functions in the wood of living or dead trunks, roots, stumps, and in tree branches. Mycelium filaments (hyphae) are very thin, colorless. Mycelium contributes to the spread and nutrition of the fungus. At the same time, most of nutrients required by the tinder fungus is in an insoluble state.
Therefore, enzymes or enzymes that convert insoluble compounds into soluble ones (cellulose, lignin) play a significant role in the life of these fungi. The products of enzymatic cleavage are available to fungi and are a source of nutrition and energy for them. At the same time, the activity of enzymes plays a role not only in nutrition, but also in the penetration and spread of mycelium along the trunk. Enzymes dissolve cell membranes, thereby causing rot. Destructive rot leads to the complete decomposition of wood, which acquires a brown tint (as in the photo above).

Tinder fungus is popular not only because it is a material for making tinder, with which fire is made in field conditions, and not at all because of the series healing properties. The fungus takes an active part in the process of decomposition of the wood of dead trees, which is a great danger for a living tree.

The larger and younger the tree, the longer it will live.

The outer growth on an apple tree or plum is the tip of the iceberg, only the fruit part of the tinder fungus. Its main part, the root system, called mycelium, is located inside the trunk.

When a tinder fungus appears, the death of a tree is only a matter of time

Causes of damage to trees

The bark of a tree is, in a way, its skin, which protects the tree from penetration into its trunk of infection and insects. Cortical lesions are open door for infection and tinder fungus spores, including. A plant can get such damage for a number of reasons:

• weather impact,
• branches broken by the wind
• sunburn,
• cracking from extreme cold.

Natural biological processes, in turn, can weaken trees. Dead branches, holes in the bark made by birds, insects or animals can easily open up infection. A person also causes significant damage to the flora. Throwing knives and axes on trees leaves deep, long-lasting wounds on trunks and branches. Trees weakened and damaged by drought and old age are also a target for tinder fungus.

Damaged tree bark is the main cause of infection

Signs of damage to trees

• tinder real,
• gray yellow,
• hedgehog,
• scaly,
• umbrella,
• volatile,
• false,
• smoky,
• colorful,
• varnished.

Tinder fungi, despite the fact that the tree is fighting the disease, cause wood rotting, the spread of rot along the trunk, branches and leaves. This leads to tissue necrosis, drying and weakening of cherries, pears, plums or apple trees. Obvious symptoms of tinder damage to a tree are darkening and peeling of the bark, dark color cut wood and a specific sheen on the leaves. The foliage becomes brittle and dry, which leads to further weakening of the tree.

If tinder fungi appear in different parts tree, at the root, in the center and at the top, this indicates that the tree is completely affected and, moreover, the mechanism for its destruction by the tinder fungus is running. It becomes a source of dangerous infection for the entire garden. This situation is quite dangerous, but not critical. There are many ways to deal with this problem and emerge victorious.

How to deal with tinder fungus?

When, having familiarized yourself with the problem of mushrooms on trees, you have to hear the words from the gardener: “I fight the tinder fungus successfully,” then you should be seriously interested in his experience. Initially, you need to understand that tinder fungi spread throughout the territory with the help of spores that come out of the outer fruiting bodies. Therefore, if the owner of the garden is thinking about how to deal with the tinder fungus, then he must first learn how to get rid of the spread of fungal spores. Experienced gardeners advise cutting mushrooms from trunks at the end of summer. At this time, spores are already formed, but there is time before they dissipate.

If the mushroom has settled on a branch, then this is an encouraging sign. Perhaps the infection did not have time to reach the trunk and infect the entire tree. In this case, it is better to cut the branch near the trunk. By the state of the cut, you can determine how far the infection has penetrated. If the wood is bright, moist and hard, then the danger has passed. In the case when the wood has darkened and become soft, it can be said for sure that the tree is completely affected. The detection of a growth on the trunk indicates that the fruit plant is infected from root to crown.

If all the plants in the garden are healthy or reliably processed, this is not at all a reason for complete reassurance.

Around the garden can grow a large number of trees, some of which may be affected by tinder fungi. A few tens of meters to the garden for light spores is not a distance. Thus, the fight against tinder fungi must also be carried out outside their territory. Therefore, in order to get rid of the source of infection, it is necessary to completely prevent infection of neighboring trees.

The cut at the place where the tinder fungus was, must be carefully processed

Apple trees are blooming - what a miracle. Indeed, there is no better color when the apple trees bloom and it’s a shame to tears if the garden is literally empty during the summer. Diseased fruits rot under the trees. In years with epiphytotic damage to trees, up to 90% of the crop dies.

Apple trees, like other horticultural crops, are affected by 3 types of diseases: fungal, bacterial and viral. In addition, every year an increasing number of trees in the gardens suffer from violations of agricultural practices for the use of fertilizers, water and temperature regime, use of means of protection against diseases and pests. You need to know the enemy in person, only then the struggle for the harvest will be crowned with victory without harming the health of the family and animals. A common enemy for garden plantings is a violation of agricultural care.

Sebastian Stabinger

General agrotechnical measures for the care of horticultural crops

The garden must be kept fallow or tinned. Systematically destroy weeds in which diseases and pests accumulate.

Every year during the growing season and in the fall, it is necessary to clean the near-trunk areas from fallen leaves, fruits and other debris. Sick fruits are destroyed. The leaves of healthy trees are usually placed in compost pits or used for mulching.

Apple trees become infected with rust from common juniper. Therefore, juniper plantings should not be located close to the garden.

In autumn, after the leaves have fallen, it is necessary to systematically inspect the trunk and skeletal branches. Carry out sanitary pruning, freeing the crown from diseased, dry, inward-growing branches. Clear the trunk and skeletal branches from the old lagging bark.

It is necessary to close up hollows, cracks with special compounds with the addition of medicinal preparations. Paint over large saw cuts with paint or other protective compounds.

Pruning is carried out from February to March, when the plants are at rest (there is no sap flow).

Several times a year (not only in spring and autumn), whitewash the trunk and skeletal branches with a freshly prepared solution of freshly slaked lime mixed with clay, blue vitriol, glue, fungicidal and bactericidal preparations.

In autumn, before digging, apply phosphorus-potassium fertilizers and disinfect the soil using copper sulfate, ammonium nitrate, and biological products. If the garden is tinned (not subject to digging), then drill 5-10 wells along the edge of the crown, cover with a mixture of fertilizers, cover with sod and water.

During the growing season in spring, feed apple trees with nitroammophos at the rate of 50-100 g per crown. Annually carry out top dressing with microfertilizers.

During the summer (especially dry), watering is required at least 2 times. After watering, mulch the soil or work it superficially with a hoe.

Fight against fungal diseases

The defeat of the apple tree is caused by pathogenic fungi. The mushroom picker and its spores hibernate in fallen leaves, diseased fruits, in cracks and hollows. Overwintered spores, parts of mycelium in a warm spring weather begin to multiply actively, capturing healthy areas of the vegetative and generative organs of plants. The most common and harmful fungal diseases are fruit rot, powdery mildew, black and other types of cancer, scab, rust, brown spot, cytosporosis.

Symptoms of the manifestation of the disease

Each type of fungus has its own distinctive features and properties that can be combined according to the manifestation of external symptoms. Fungal infection manifests itself in the form of separate oily translucent or rounded red, yellowish dry spots, grayish-white blooms, various velvety to the touch, round formations on the leaves. They turn yellow, curl, stop growing. Separate rounded spots appear on the fruits, which grow. The tissue of the fruit begins to rot or becomes woody, covered with cracks. The fruits mummify on the branches and fall off. The most favorable conditions for the spread of fungal diseases are warm, humid weather.

At home, you always want to grow an environmentally healthy crop, so some gardeners believe that it is best not to use any drugs at all. But such an approach is fundamentally wrong, since in a few years nothing will be left of the garden except dried or completely diseased plants. Protective measures in the garden are a must. Now biological preparations are used for garden treatments, made on a natural basis - beneficial microflora that destroys pathogenic fungi. These drugs are absolutely harmless and can be used literally a day before harvest.

Apple tree affected by scab. © Jan Homann

Protection technology using biological products

In autumn, along the bare crown of an apple tree and in spring, before awakening from winter holiday we carry out blue spraying with a 2-3% solution of copper sulfate.

In the spring, before bud break, we disinfect the soil with a 7% solution of urea or a 10% solution of ammonium nitrate. We carefully spray the soil of the near-stem circles and after 2-3 days we dig up 10-15 cm.

In the pink bud phase and further every 7-10 days, we process apple trees according to the recommendations of one of the biological products "Fitosporin-M", "Gamair", "Integral", "Mikosan", "Gaupsin" "Agat-25", "Planriz" . They can process the garden until harvest, and the use of the drug "Planriz" helps to lengthen the shelf life of products. In order not to cause addiction of negative microflora to drugs, the biological product is constantly replaced when processing plants.

Remember! Biological drugs do not cure the disease one-time processing. Mandatory systematic treatment of trees. The greatest effect is achieved in 2-3 years.

Chemical measures to protect the apple tree from fungal diseases

Sometimes orchards are so affected by diseases that the use of biological products does not have an effective effect on the affected trees. In this case, chemical protection measures are applied.

When using chemicals, be sure to observe health protection measures (robe, gloves, glasses, headgear). After work, wash your face and hands with soap or take a shower.

Technological events

Protective measures begin in the fall. After harvesting weeds, fallen leaves and fruits, we use blue spraying of apple trees with a 3% solution of copper sulfate.

In the spring, before bud break, you can repeat the blue spraying for crown treatment or use a 1% DNOC solution.

Instead of copper sulphate and DNOK, it is possible to spray the crown, as well as the stem and soil of the tree trunks, with a solution of mineral fertilizers for a preventive purpose. We carefully treat the crown with a 5% solution of urea, and the soil with a solution of 7% concentration. You can use a 10% ammonium nitrate solution or a 15% ammonium sulfate solution to treat the trunk and skeletal branches. After a few days, the treated soil must be dug up to a depth of 10-15 cm.

In the phase of the green cone of leaf buds, before and after the end of flowering, the crown is treated with 1% Bordeaux mixture. Bordeaux liquid effectively protects trees from scab, moniliosis, powdery mildew and other fungal diseases. It does not apply to poisonous preparations, therefore it is allowed to treat trees with its solution after flowering.

Starting from the phase of rose buds, apple trees are treated every 2-3 weeks according to the instructions with Horus, Flint, Skor, Strobi, Raek preparations. During flowering, spraying is stopped. The last treatment is carried out a month before harvesting or in the phase of fruit set.

To reduce the load from the number of treatments, it is possible to switch to the treatment of trees with tank mixtures in the protection system, having previously checked the compatibility of the preparations.

Virus diseases and protection technology

Viruses are the smallest particles of a protein substance, invisible in an ordinary microscope, but quite harmful to living plants. They are spread by pests when working on open plant tissues (grafting), water, wind.

External symptoms of the disease

At the beginning of the introduction of the virus, its destructive work is not visible and the plant continues to function as healthy. The manifestation of the disease by external symptoms is in many ways similar to a fungal infection. Spots appear on the leaves, the fruits are deformed. Over time, the differences become more pronounced. Separate spots on the leaves merge into a mosaic pattern of green-yellow colors and shades. Dechlorinated areas of leaf blades become necrotic, affected leaves fall off. Flattening, flattening of shoots, softening of wood is observed. The branches become unusually soft, gutta-percha, easily break under the load of the crop. Individual flowers and inflorescences are strongly deformed, acquire ugly forms. During spring development, at the ends of young shoots, bunches of dwarf shoots with leaves or only leaves of an unusual shape and unusual color are formed. On old branches, bunches of fattening shoots (witch's rings) are formed. The fruits crack, form crusty spots and growths, lose their taste, and also fall off.

External manifestations of viral diseases determined their names. The most common viral diseases of the apple tree are: mosaic, star cracking of fruits, panicle (witch's broom), rosette, proliferation or outgrowth of vegetative and generative organs (ugliness), chlorotic ring spot, wood pitting.

Technological methods of protection against viral diseases

There are no drugs that destroy the virus as a source of infection yet. Therefore, the main control measures are agrotechnics of culture.

Agrotechnical measures are the same as those used to combat fungal diseases. Be especially careful when carrying out the following work.

Pruning should be done only when the plants are deeply dormant (February).

When pruning, all diseased parts of the plant and the tree as a whole must be destroyed. Under no circumstances should waste be used for composting.

With a clear manifestation of the most common diseases of rosette and panicle of apple trees, it is necessary to reduce the dose when using simple shapes phosphoric and nitrogen fertilizers. Switch to fertilizer with complex forms, in which the elements are in the optimal ratio for cultivated crops.

Introduce microelements into top dressing, including zinc sulfate, especially with a clear manifestation of rosette.

Use Epin or Zircon phytohormones for spraying, which increase plant immunity to viruses. The drugs are effective in preventive measures. They do not stop the developed disease.

Note! The main protection against viral diseases is the destruction of sucking pests, which are the main carriers of viruses.

Bacterial diseases will be discussed in a separate article.

• Part 1. Fungal and viral diseases of apple trees