How to deal with a sooty fungus on an apple tree, chemicals and biologicals for treatment

Warm and damp weather provokes the development of fungal diseases on apple trees. Healthy plants resist infection, while pest-affected and weakened specimens instantly fall ill. Apple trees are affected by sooty fungus most often as a result of damage to the culture by aphids and insects that leave sugary secretions. For the correct growth of plantings, preventive measures are regularly carried out, and when a fungus appears, treatment.

General information about the disease

The first signs of a sooty fungus are the appearance of a black coating on:

• bark;
• branches;
• leaves;
• fruits.

The fungus eats:

• sweet secretions of insects, they are mainly secreted by aphids;
• juice released from the apple tree.

The great danger to the plant is not the pests themselves, but the disease caused by their appearance. Fruits with black spots are allowed to be consumed without harm to health. Only their presentation is lost. Affected apples are poorly stored and quickly rot.

It is imperative to treat the plant, since:

• the pores of the tree are clogged;
• normal leaf respiration is disrupted;
• the process of photosynthesis is suppressed;
• winter hardiness decreases.

The fungal disease tolerates severe frosts and attacks again in the spring.

Causes and signs of fungus

A harmful fungus settles on apple trees with numerous wounds that appear after damage to branches and pruning. As a result, a large amount of juice is released, containing organic substances, which feed on various microorganisms and fungal spores.

The sooty fungus multiplies rapidly, covering the surface of the bark with hyphae in the form of a black coating, thereby clogging its microscopic holes. As a result, air exchange is disrupted, which provokes oppression of the tree.

The reasons:

1. In a dry year, a large number of aphids and copperheads appear. They create a good breeding ground for the fungus that appears next to the pests. Most often, the disease becomes noticeable the next year. The first sign of pests on apple trees is ants running along tree trunks.
2. The fungus develops when the plant is shaded, in a non-thinned crown, when crops thicken in the garden. Moreover, on the peripheral part of the crown, the fruits may remain intact.
3. The causative agent is able to get on the plant with insects, winter on fallen leaves and under the bark.

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Description and characteristics of the apple variety Orlovskoe Polesie, cultivation

Signs:

1. The infected area turns black. Plaque looks like soot or ash. Unlike scab, the lesion has a different shape, size and is easily erased.
2. Fruit contamination occurs before harvesting.Apples become small and unpresentable.
3. Leaves that are severely affected by the disease dry out quickly.

At the first signs of the disease, they immediately begin treatment.

How to deal with sooty fungus

Before starting treatment, it is necessary to determine the cause of the appearance of the fungus and eliminate it. Strongly overgrown trees are pruned and put in order.

If the reason is insects, then they are treated with chemicals:

• "Decis";
• "Fufanon";
• "Karbofos";
• Iskra D.

More sustainable methods can be used:

1. A hunting belt applied to the trunk will allow you to catch insects in large quantities.
2. Bait traps with fermented compote are hung on trees, which attracts pests.
3. If the population of insects is small, then spraying with infusion of tobacco, garlic, and bitter wormwood helps. Coniferous concentrate, decoction of potato and tomato tops are effective. The listed plants retain their toxicity for a short time and do not harm the environment.
4. Planted herbs around the trees help ward off pests that like to settle on apple trees.

Severely affected branches are cut and burned. For prophylaxis, after trimming, it is recommended to clean and rinse the trunk with a solution of copper sulfate. If less than two weeks are left before harvesting, they are treated with a soda solution. Add 150 grams of soda to a bucket of water. After harvesting the fruit, they are re-processed.

When a fungal disease is affected in the fall, the affected branches are necessarily cut off within reason. Fallen leaves are collected and burned. Before the winter cold, the trunks are whitewashed.

It is also effective to combat the formed soot fungus due to pests using biological preparations:

• "Lepidocide";
• "Bitoxibacillin";
• Fitoverm;
• "Entobacterin".

These preparations can be used to treat the crop 5 days before harvesting the fruit. Fitoverm is the most gentle drug that contains normal microflora and suppresses the development of fungus.

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How often apple trees need to be watered in summer and during fruit ripening, frequency and frequency

Prevention

To prevent the appearance of a fungal disease, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures:

• treat wounds with garden pitch;
• monitor the soil moisture, it should not be constantly wet;
• thin out the crown in time;
• fight pests;
• treat the plant from fungi and insects.

If you follow simple guidelines, trees will develop properly and grow healthy.