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What does it mean to be a “good gardener”? Perhaps this means that only the best varieties of fruit and berry crops are collected on the plot? Or does the quantity and quality of the harvest indicate high professionalism? In fact, these two words contain more voluminous concepts. First of all, every gardener knows that productivity directly depends on compliance with the rules of care and condition of the trees. Sick crops will not please you with their fruits.
Eastern wisdom says that “you need to study your enemy well, and then you will win hundreds of battles.” The first enemies in every garden invariably remain insect pests and diseases. One of these is apple scab. You will learn a description, photo and treatment methods for this scourge from this article.
What is this disease and its causes?
According to scientific definition, scab is the most common fungal disease affecting fruit trees.The causative agent is the marsupial fungus Venturia inaequalis. Almost all gardeners are constantly fighting or using a set of preventive measures to protect their crops from the harmful effects of scab.
The disease is spread by spores that are easily carried by the wind. Birds and insects also contribute to the spread of this disease. Scab spores are so resilient that they can easily tolerate low temperatures.
The smallest particles, settling on the foliage or bark of the apple tree, begin to develop rapidly. The rate of reproduction of harmful spores increases many times over at high humidity. Within literally 7-10 days, the signs of the disease will become so obvious that it will be very difficult not to notice them.
It is almost impossible to protect your garden from this infection. And if you don’t start fighting apple scab in time, the consequences can be catastrophic. The disease spreads very quickly, and literally within a few years it will cause serious damage to all the trees in the garden.
The fungus that infects apple trees eventually penetrates under the bark, destroying trunks and branches. The foliage becomes spotted, turns black, and falls off prematurely. The branches crack and subsequently dry out.
Scab also leaves its mark on the fruits: apples become covered with dark spots, which crack during the ripening process. Often the fruits become small and lose their attractive, appetizing appearance. The amount of vitamins in apples decreases and their taste deteriorates.
After 2-3 years, the apple tree affected by scab becomes very weak.Its resistance to low temperatures and other diseases decreases. Moreover, it becomes a source of spread of the disease, infecting nearby trees and shrubs.
Therefore, it is very important to learn to recognize the onset of the disease in a timely manner, promptly carry out treatment and a number of preventive measures. In this case, you will protect your crops and provide your household with a harvest of tasty and aromatic apples.
Signs of the disease
The main sign of apple scab disease - dark spots - can easily be confused with other fungal infections, such as brown spot. Therefore, you need to focus on other signs indicating the appearance of scab on an apple tree:
- First of all, scab affects young shoots;
- first, light, olive-colored spots with a velvety coating appear on the leaves;
- gradually they darken, acquiring first a rusty and then a black tint;
- numerous spots merge, leaves crack and dry out;
- subsequently, harmful spores infect the branches, trunks and fruits of the apple tree;
- the affected leaves fall off much earlier than expected, the branches dry out;
- There is a significant deformation of the fruits: they become ugly and small, covered with spots, and their taste is noticeably reduced.
When the first signs of scab appear on apple trees, treatment should begin as quickly as possible. The sooner you start treatment, the greater the likelihood of getting rid of the disease with minimal labor and financial costs.
Fighting methods
There are a lot of methods to combat such a scourge as scab on an apple tree. Conventionally, they are divided into:
- traditional, that is, using safe means;
- chemical. In this case, special agents based on potent chemicals are used.
Each of them has both its advantages and a number of disadvantages. Which one to use and how to treat scab on an apple tree is up to you to decide.
Traditional methods
Despite the fact that the market provides a huge amount of fungicides that can quickly and quickly cope with a fungal disease such as apple scab, many summer residents still prefer to use traditional methods of combating this disease. First of all, they focus on the safety of a particular method.
But when choosing the optimal means to treat apple trees for scab, you need to focus on the stage of the disease. If your trees have become diseased relatively recently, then you can use traditional scab treatment methods. At the initial stage, the probability of destroying the fungus is high. In advanced cases, such solutions will not cope with the disease, and then you will have to treat scab on the apple tree with fungicides.
Salt, mustard, potassium permanganate
At the first sign of scab damage to your apple tree, use one of the following recipes. These compounds can also be used if the foliage is covered with light yellow or pale green spots. At this stage, it is difficult to establish what kind of disease we are talking about. But any disease is easier to cure in the initial stages.
Mustard infusion
Mustard powder has a very powerful antiseptic effect, is sold in many grocery stores and costs pennies. Moreover, it is completely safe for both apple trees and the environment, humans and pollinating insects. Apple tree processing for scab, mustard infusion does not affect the taste of the fruit at all.
This natural control can be used 4-5 times during the season. This solution can be used to treat apple trees for scab during the following growing seasons:
- after the first leaves have blossomed;
- during the period of bud formation, but before the flower stalks bloom;
- 10-15 days after flowering, when the first ovaries appear;
- 2-3 weeks before ripening and planned harvest.
Dissolve 80-100 grams of mustard powder in a bucket of warm water and mix thoroughly. The resulting solution should be sprayed generously onto the apple trees.
Potassium permanganate solution
Potassium permanganate copes excellently with many bacteria and fungi. Apple trees should be treated against scab with a dark pink, concentrated solution no more than 3 times per season.
You need to spray not only the crown and branches, but also generously irrigate the trunk and root circle. Healthy, nearby trees can be treated with a light pink solution of potassium permanganate for prevention.
Don’t be alarmed; after treatment, the bark of apple trees becomes covered with dark brown stains. It is safe for trees and will not harm them.
Brine
You can spray apple trees against scab with saline solution in early spring. This remedy, rather, has a protective function.After treatment, the trees lag somewhat behind in the growing season: buds open a little later, buds appear several days later than usual. Scab pathogens do not survive on trunks and branches coated with brine.
Dissolve a kilogram pack of salt in 8-9 liters of warm water and mix the solution thoroughly. Water the apple trees generously with the resulting product. The solution should flow down the trunk.
When choosing the appropriate method, do not forget that any folk remedy for scab on apple trees will only help if the disease is at an early stage. In more complex cases, it is better not to waste precious time and resort to the help of chemicals.
Chemical compounds to combat disease
Traditional methods of fighting scab are effective, but every gardener knows that they act very slowly. A fungal disease, on the contrary, spreads very quickly, affecting neighboring trees and shrubs.
Therefore, if you need to get rid of scab on an apple tree as quickly as possible, you should take care in choosing fungicides. Treatment with special equipment must be carried out within strictly specified periods, adhere to the recommended dosage and do not forget about personal protective measures.
There are currently many products on the market for apple scab that easily destroy fungal spores and protect fruit trees from their harmful effects. But before you start processing, it is important to understand which means are most effective, when and how to properly process trees.
When choosing fungicides, please note that with regular use of the same drug, the fungus adapts to its effects. Subsequently, it would seem that powerful chemicals will be absolutely useless. Therefore, scab medications need to be changed from time to time.
Before processing, you should take care of personal protective equipment. You can spray apple trees only in dry, windless weather.
Apple trees should be sprayed evenly, covering branches, foliage and trunks with a thin layer of the product. It is imperative to treat all fruit crops in the garden, including berry bushes, as well as the trunk circles of each tree.
The number of required treatments depends on:
- apple varieties;
- stages of the disease;
- season.
There are several drugs for scab that have proven themselves and have earned recognition among gardeners.
"Raek"
"Raek" is characterized by high activity, which is due to the rapid penetration of the solution into plant tissue.
To get an excellent result, you will have to process the apple trees at least 3 or 4 times:
- the first treatment is in the pink bud phase. Catch the moment when the flower stalks are just forming, but before they bloom.
- second treatment – after 1.5-2 weeks.
- subsequent preventive treatments should be carried out once every 3-4 weeks.
- The total number of treatments of apple trees with this drug is no more than 4 times.
The drug is effective for 3-4 weeks and is not washed off by rain.
"Skor"
Spray trees This solution can be used no more than 2-3 times. The drug is effective for 3 weeks. The concentrate must be diluted in accordance with the instructions and immediately before processing the garden.
After spraying, the emulsion solution penetrates plant tissue within 2 hours, blocks the growth of spores, and to some extent reduces the level of sporulation.
However, it is worth remembering that “Spore” shows excellent results only if the scab on the apple tree is in the initial stage. If the fungus on your trees has already begun to form and scatter spores, the drug will be practically useless.
"Horus"
Apple trees need to be treated for scab with Horus twice. The first time in the green cone phase, the second time - after 1-1.5 weeks.
As when working with any chemical substance, it is necessary to spray apple trees with Horus only while wearing a respirator, gloves, goggles and a protective suit.
"Strobe"
"Strobi" is a universal drug with a wide spectrum of action. It can cure almost all known fungal diseases.
This drug is the only one of a large number of fungicides that can be used even during the flowering of apple trees. You can spray apple trees with an antifungal drug throughout the season. The last treatment must be carried out at least 35-40 days before the expected harvest.
If you are faced with the question: how to treat apple trees for scab, give preference to Strobi.
"Fitolavin"
"Fitolavin" is an antibiotic that fights scab on apple trees and other fruit trees. In addition, it has a wide spectrum of action against many pathogens of fungal diseases. The maximum number of treatments is no more than 4 times.
The effect of the drug lasts for 2-3 weeks. It has a healing effect and subsequently protects trees from re-infestation.
The fungicide provides apple trees with high-quality and fairly reliable protection for up to 20-25 days. Compared to other antifungal drugs, Fitolavin is environmentally friendly. You can spray trees with it even 7-10 days before the planned harvest.
Among gardeners, “Fitolavin” has earned only positive reviews.
Treating apple trees against scab with Bordeaux mixture gives good results. It is necessary to spray trees with this solution very generously in early spring so that the drug drips from the branches and leaves in drops. After treatment, the apple trees become covered with a bluish coating. Therefore, spraying apple trees with Bordeaux mixture is popularly called “blue irrigation.”
Time and timing of tree processing
Apple trees can be processed at almost any time of the year, except winter. Gardeners usually start the first spraying in early spring, when the snow has just melted and warm weather has set in. Spring work can be carried out until the apple trees begin to bloom abundantly. Otherwise, you may be left without a harvest.
You can resume processing the garden 2-3 weeks after the end of flowering, when the formed fruits are clearly visible on the branches. All spring work in the garden should be checked with the instructions for use of the product you decide to use. It is important to maintain the required time between treatments so as not to harm the apple trees.
In summer, the garden can be cultivated almost any time. When spraying early varieties of apple trees, stop spraying at least 3-4 weeks before the fruit begins to ripen.
But in the fall you need to start working in the garden no earlier than the last harvest. You can combine spraying apple trees with autumn work, such as pruning and processing branches, cleaning leaves and other activities.
Before you get rid of scab on apple trees, remember that in the fall you can use more powerful and concentrated solutions without fear of harming the trees.
Prevention measures
In addition to treating trees, it is necessary to regularly carry out a set of measures aimed at preventing the spread of the disease:
- Pruning apple trees in spring and autumn to remove damaged and diseased branches, as well as to thin out the crown.
- Regular garden cleaning. Leaves and dry branches must be collected and removed from the site. Ideally, they should be burned, but you can put the garbage in a compost bin, covering it with a thick layer of fresh manure.
- In the fall, if lawn grass does not grow in the garden, the tree trunk circles need to be dug up. If you have a lawn, thoroughly treat the soil around the trees with fungicides.
- Damaged trunks need to be cleaned, stripped and treated with copper sulfate.
- Carefully select apple trees for your future garden - give preference to zoned varieties that are highly resistant to scab.
- Apple tree seedlings should be planted in sunny, well-ventilated areas.
- Follow gardeners' recommendations regarding planting patterns for apple trees.
- Do not forget about regular feeding of apple trees - fungal disease most often affects weakened trees.
- When the first signs of the disease appear, immediately take drastic measures.
You should not skip such important events as spring and autumn whitewashing, as well as treatment of apple trees for the purpose of prevention.
The author of the video will tell you how to deal with scab on apple trees.
Conclusion
It is difficult to fight such an insidious disease as apple scab. But if you follow the rules described above, you will protect your garden from this scourge, and the apple trees will thank you for your care with a rich harvest of fragrant and juicy apples.
