Content
Pine diseases and their treatment are a topic that interests all lovers of beautiful and useful pine trees. Common pine can be affected by dozens of diseases and pests, so it is important to know the main warning signs and methods of treating the plant.
Pine pests and their control
Common pine can be affected by many pests - some of them are characteristic of this coniferous species, others appear on both coniferous and deciduous trees. It is important to know the main signs of pine diseases and pests in order to save it from serious damage and death.
Pine silkworm
The pine silkworm is the most common and dangerous pest of common pine, since it most often affects this plant and is rarely found on other trees. This pine pest is a caterpillar that feeds on pine needles.
It is quite easy to recognize a silkworm; its appearance is indicated primarily by damage to the needles, which the caterpillar simply eats. If you look closely, you can see gray caterpillars themselves, about 10 cm long, on the shoots of the plant. The danger is that if left untreated, the silkworm can eat the entire pine tree. Even winter frosts will not harm the insect, since it will simply wait it out at the roots, and with the onset of spring it will return to its food base on the branch.
Treatment of pine is carried out using insecticides. In particular, the drug Lepidocid helps well - coniferous plantings are sprayed with a solution at the rate of 3 liters per 1 hectare.
Pine armyworm
Another dangerous pest that feeds on young pine needles and buds is a caterpillar called pine cutworm. Despite the fact that the feeding period of the insect is only about 30-40 days, during this time the cutworm can cause serious damage to the pine tree - damage the needles, fresh shoots and buds, thereby causing the plant to dry out.
The presence of the cutworm is indicated by noticeable depletion of pine needles and damage to shoots and buds. Measures to combat the pine cutworm consist of treatment with Lepidocide and treatment with other insecticidal agents.
Pine hermes
The name pine hermes hides a species of common aphid that sucks juices from pine needles. You can recognize the pest by several symptoms. First of all, in the initial stages, pine needles are covered with a white coating; if you look at a photo of Hermes pine, you can understand that this coating is a colony of very small insect larvae. Later, due to the harmful effects of Hermes, the pine needles turn yellow and fall off.
Measures to combat pine Hermes are reduced to treatment with insecticides, for example, Decis, Karbofos, Actellik or other means. The treatment must be repeated every 4 weeks throughout the season, since generations of Hermes change very quickly. For complete treatment, you can also pour Aktara solution under the root of the pine tree.
Pine sawflies
The pest is a small green larvae about 8 mm in length that live on the shoots of pine trees and feed on its needles. The work of the pine sawfly can be seen on a pine tree from afar; the disease manifests itself as yellow spots on the crown. If you come closer, you will find that the pine needles are not just dried out, but also twisted and bitten by the pest.
To combat the pine sawfly pest, it is necessary to spray pine trees with insecticides - Karbofos, Lepidocide and other means. Also, during treatment, it is useful to dig up the soil around the pine trunks; the soil may contain pest larvae, which are characterized by amazing vitality and frost resistance.
Pine aphid
The pine pest, the brown pine aphid, poses a great danger because it usually infects the tree in large colonies. At the same time, in the spring, aphids are located mainly on young shoots, but in the summer they move to thicker old branches and thus pose a threat to the entire plant. A symptom of the appearance of aphids is the darkening of the needles - the needles curl, dry out and acquire a dark brown color.
Disease control and treatment are carried out using conventional insecticides - you can spray the tree with Enzhio, Karbofos, Lepidocide. During treatment, attention should be paid not only to the needles, but also to the branches and trunk, otherwise part of the colony may survive and reproduce again.
Pine scale insects
The spindle-shaped pine scale insect is an insect that feeds on the vital juices of pine needles, thereby causing the needles to fall off. It is difficult to fight the scale insect, since the body of this pest, as can be seen from the photo of the pine pest, is covered with a hard shield, which ensures the safety of the insect. Pine is affected mainly by larvae and females of scale insects; their presence can be recognized by unexpected yellowing and shedding of needles. A particular danger for pine is that, if left untreated, even young branches can suffer and fall off.
Treatment of pine for scale insects is carried out with insecticides - Karbofos, Mospilan and others. It is necessary to spray the tree in the spring before buds appear, during the period when pests are most vulnerable and the pine tree has not yet suffered serious damage.
Bark beetles
These insects are pests of pine bark; they appear on the trunks and roots of the plant and are especially dangerous for seedlings and weakened trees. The bark beetle gnaws through thin passages inside the bark, actively reproduces, remaining almost invisible, and can produce up to 3 generations during the season.
It is difficult to treat pine for bark beetle, primarily because it is difficult to notice. In the initial stages of a pine disease, only traces of sawdust near the roots can indicate the presence of a bark beetle. The owners of the plots rarely notice the passages themselves, since the bark needs to be looked at very carefully, and for this, in turn, foundations are needed. If the moment of initial infection was missed, then most often the presence of the bark beetle becomes obvious only after the needles begin to turn yellow and the trunk is gradually exposed.
Pest control of pine seedlings is carried out using conventional insecticides or preparations based on bifenthrin. Treatment should be carried out from April to August.
Spider mites
Red spider mite is another dangerous pest that can completely destroy a pine tree. The insect not only feeds on the vital juices of pine needles, but also entangles pine shoots with a thin dense web, which prevents access to sunlight and interferes with the process of photosynthesis. Under the influence of spider mites, pine needles quickly dry out, change color first to red, and then to brown, and ultimately crumble.
Despite the danger of spider mites, this pest is good because traces of its vital activity are very easy to notice with the naked eye. Accordingly, this makes it possible to take timely measures to eliminate the mite and preserve the health of the pine tree. To eliminate the insect, it is necessary to treat the plant crown with preparations containing colloidal sulfur and insecticides; pruning seriously damaged shoots will also help.
Spider mites most often appear on pine branches in hot and dry weather. Therefore, one of the treatment methods is simply spraying the pine with cold water; if you maintain a normal level of moisture, the risk of damage will noticeably decrease.
Scots pine diseases and their treatment
In addition to pests, characteristic tree diseases pose a danger to pine; they are most often caused by fungal pathogens. If left untreated, any of the diseases can lead to the death of the entire tree, so you need to know what alarming symptoms the diseases manifest.
Pine spinner
The causative agent of this disease is a rust fungus called Melampsorapinttorgua; most often the disease affects young branches of seedlings and pines that are not yet 10 years old. The most striking symptom of a fungal disease is the curvature of shoots, which normally should be straight and even. If left untreated, the disease can lead to the death of an individual pine tree or an entire planting, since the fungal spores quickly spread to neighboring plants.
Measures to combat pine whirlwind consist of removing all infected shoots and spraying pine trees with antifungal agents - Bordeaux mixture 1%, polycarbacin 1% and zinebum 0.8%.
Necrosis
The causative agents of the disease are the fungi Sphaeriapithyophila Fr. and others, which appear most often in the second half of summer and affect the lower branches of pine trees. Necrosis leads to local death of areas of the bark on young branches and drying out of shoots; with advanced disease, the fungus can also infect buds and needles and spread, among other things, to the middle and upper branches. If left untreated, necrosis will eventually lead to the death of the entire pine tree.
You can notice the disease at the initial stage by carefully examining the branches - the harmful fungus looks like microscopic black growths on the bark, single or collected in groups. Most often, the disease develops in conditions of excessive humidity and lack of light, which is why necrosis primarily affects the lower branches.
Treatment measures include complete removal of the affected branches and treatment of the pine tree with a solution of 1% Bordeaux mixture. The same remedy is recommended to be used to prevent the disease if the pine grows in a poorly lit area and in conditions of high humidity.
Biatorella pine cancer
The disease is caused by the fungus Biatorella diformis and usually affects the trunk in the middle and lower parts or at the roots. Under the influence of a harmful fungus, the pine bark changes color to brown and dries out, and over time, ulcers characteristic of tree cancer form. Soon after the bark dies, the needles begin to turn yellow and crumble, which can lead to the complete death of the plant.
To stop the spread of cancer, it is necessary to carry out treatment - cut off the affected branches and areas of bark with a sharp and sterile instrument. For treatment purposes, cuts and exposed areas on the trunk must be treated with a solution of copper sulfate.
Scleroderriosis
The cause of this disease is infection of pine by the fungus Scleroderrislagerbergii, which most often selects young seedlings no older than 2-3 years. It is quite simple to recognize scleroderriosis - with this disease, the needles at the ends of young shoots, near the bud at the top, hang like an umbrella and fall off from a light touch. In the initial stages of the disease, the needles remain green, but then turn brown.The spread of the disease most often begins from the upper branches to the lower ones; in the last stages of the disease, not only young shoots are captured, but also the deep tissues of the branches and trunk.
The disease poses a great danger to seedlings, as it often leads to their rapid and complete death. In mature trees, scleroderriosis can develop for years without treatment, but the appearance of the pine continuously deteriorates, and ultimately the tree still dies.
Treatment of scleroderriosis is recommended with fungicidal agents, the most famous of which are Bordeaux mixture and copper sulfate. Infected parts of the plant must be removed so that the disease spores do not spread from them to healthy shoots.
Rotten
A dangerous and insidious disease is numerous rots - diseases of the pine trunk that also affect the roots. Their effect is manifested in the fact that over time the needles begin to turn yellow and crumble, and the wood of the trunk loses its density and acquires many voids. The roots of the plant also lose their vitality, the pine becomes fragile and can fall even from a moderately strong wind.
It is very difficult to recognize rot in the early stages, since diseases of this type develop over years, affecting only 1 cm of the tree annually. Typically, rot is noticed in the later stages, when the characteristic fruiting body of the fungus forms on the pine trunk.
Treatment of the disease comes down to the fact that the mushroom growths that appear must be cut off and the cut areas treated with copper sulfate. Fruiting bodies are dangerous not only for diseased pine, but also for other plants, since spores from them spread throughout the area.In order to, in principle, prevent the appearance of elusive rots, it is necessary to annually carry out preventive spraying of trees with fungicidal solutions and carefully monitor the quality and moisture of the soil.
Rust
Rust, caused by the harmful fungus Coleosporium, is one of the most common diseases of coniferous trees. It is very easy to recognize rust; at the beginning of spring, small orange “pads” appear on pine needles, and after this the needles themselves turn yellow. As a result, the pine tree loses its attractive appearance, and if the disease is advanced and without treatment, it may die.
Treatment of the disease is carried out with drugs with a high copper content, these include solutions of Kuproxat, Oksikhom and others. During the treatment process, it is necessary to treat not only the affected tree, but also neighboring plantings, including herbaceous perennials - fungal spores very easily spread to nearby plants.
Powdery mildew
The development of the disease is provoked by spores of the fungus Erysiphales - plants infected with powdery mildew become covered with a whitish coating with small transparent droplets on the surface. These dew-like droplets are fungal spores and pose a great danger to trees. Infected parts of the pine tree cease to develop and receive sufficient amounts of sunlight, which leads to darkening and falling of the needles. Under the influence of powdery mildew, the tree as a whole weakens and not only loses its decorative properties, but also becomes less resistant to changes in weather and temperature.
To treat the disease, the plantings must be treated with a solution of foundationazole or colloidal sulfur, and the trees must be sprayed not just once, but at least 3-5 times.
Schutte
The disease, caused by a fungus called Colletotrichum gloeosporiordes, manifests itself in a change in the color of pine needles. In the first stages of the disease, microscopic black spots and transverse stripes appear on the needles, and subsequently the needles become gray or brown. The disease leads to shedding of needles and weakening of the tree, so pine needs timely treatment.
To eliminate the disease, pine must be treated with fungicides and colloidal sulfur. And since Schutte infection occurs in the fall, treatment and prevention are best carried out shortly before snow cover is established, so that fungicidal solutions remain on the needles until winter.
Drying disease of needles and shoots
The disease is caused by the fungus Acanthostigmaparasitica and develops most often in conditions of high humidity and high air temperature. Under the influence of fungal spores, the needles, apical buds and shoots of pine dry out, turn pale and yellow, and then die. The disease affects young trees up to 15 years old, often develops in a focal pattern, and can affect wood under the bark.
The disease is treated by spraying with fungicidal preparations in April or May - during the period of growth of young needles on the shoots. For the best effect, it is better to spray 2-3 times to completely eliminate fungal spores.
Verticillium wilt
The disease is caused by spores of the fungus Verticillium albo-atrum and is expressed in the gradual death of the roots of the tree, which inevitably leads to the death of the pine if left untreated. You can suspect the presence of Verticillium wilt by discoloration and softening of the needles at the tops.
Treatment of the disease is carried out not only with fungicidal agents, but also with neutralization of the soil; the lower the soil alkalinity, the weaker the manifestations of the disease. To prevent the development of the disease, it is necessary to monitor the degree of soil moisture and carry out regular loosening.
Sclerotinia snow mold
This disease develops under the influence of the fungus Sclerotiniaborealis and is expressed in the fact that in the spring, immediately after the snow melts, pine needles turn yellow, and then acquire a red-brown color and fall off. The disease especially often affects pine trees after warm and snowy winters, since the development of the disease occurs precisely under the snow.
To treat pine, it is necessary to use chemicals - copper sulfate and fungicidal solutions; it is also useful to plow the soil at the roots of the tree from time to time.
Preventive actions
Any disease of common pine caused by fungal spores or pests is much easier to prevent than to treat. To maintain the health of pine seedlings and mature trees, the following rules must be observed:
- pay attention to the quality and level of soil moisture, regularly apply mineral fertilizers;
- plant pine in well-lit areas with good ventilation - many ailments develop precisely in conditions of shading and stagnant moisture in the soil;
- choose only high-quality seedlings and seed material for planting;
- annually carry out preventive treatment of pine trees with Bordeaux mixture and fungicidal substances, the products do not harm the plant, but allow you to prevent the appearance of pests and carry out treatment in the early stages;
- regularly weed and loosen the soil at the roots of the pine tree and prevent overgrowth weed, many of them are intermediate carriers of fungal spores and pest larvae.
Conclusion
Pine diseases and their treatment is a question that all summer residents who decide to take up the cultivation of ordinary pine need to become familiar with. Despite its external strength and durability, the tree is susceptible to the harmful effects of many fungi and pests and requires constant protection and periodic treatment.
