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Mold on apple trees appears due to fungal diseases. In the early stages, the problem can be dealt with with chemicals and home remedies.
What does fungus look like on an apple tree?
Fungal diseases of apple trees that cause mold can be caused by various pathogens. You can understand what kind of disease has affected the tree by looking at the symptoms.
Sooty fungus
Sooty fungus affects any part of the apple tree - the central trunk, branches, leaves and fruits. A black dry coating covering the plant allows you to recognize its presence. Over time, small dark spots form on the leaves and fruits.
The fungus, which really resembles soot, draws juices from the apple tree and causes the plates to fall off prematurely. The crop yield is reduced, the fruits are small and quickly deteriorate during storage.
Sooty fungus often develops on apple trees against the background of heavy aphid infestation.
White fungus on an apple tree
White mold on apple trees is caused by powdery mildew. At the initial stages of the disease, the leaves are covered with a dry powdery grayish coating, over time it becomes denser and turns brown. Apple tree branches dry out, flowering decreases, and the formation of ovaries stops.
White mold due to powdery mildew often affects apple trees when there is an excess of nitrogen in the soil
Powdery mildew usually appears on trees with weakened immune systems. Gray fungus on apple trees develops most actively at a humidity level of 60-80% and at a temperature of 17-25 ° C.
Scab
Mold due to the scab fungus leads to the appearance of numerous raised brown spots on the leaves and apple fruits. In the early stages, the disease does not manifest itself in any way and becomes noticeable only as it develops, which makes its treatment difficult.
The occurrence of brown mold is promoted by waterlogging of the crown. The disease often affects dense trees whose branches do not receive enough oxygen.
Scab on apple trees develops mainly in regions with rainy and cloudy summers.
Lichen fungi
Apple lichen can be gray, bluish, yellow-green or silver. This type of mold is caused by single-celled microorganisms that often settle on weakened trees.
The lichen itself does not harm the apple tree - it does not feed on its juices, since it has no roots. However, fungi and pests like to settle under it, posing a real threat to the fruit crop.Therefore, when gray, yellowish or green mold appears on an apple tree, it is necessary to carefully clean it off the trunk and branches without injuring the plant itself.
Lichen helps insects survive the cold winter on the apple tree trunk and begin active reproduction in early spring
Red fungus
Red mold in apple trees is caused by cytosporosis, a fungus similar in symptoms and degree of danger to black cancer. The disease can be recognized by purplish-brown ulcers and dark small raised spots on the surface of the trunk, branches and fruits.
Red mold appears on crops in conditions of low temperature and high humidity. It quickly spreads throughout the garden along with the wind and insects, and in the absence of countermeasures, it affects neighboring fruit trees.
Red mold can be treated, but all affected parts of the tree must be urgently pruned
Black fungus
Black mold on an apple tree appears due to a dangerous disease - black cancer. Small indentations with a red-brown center first form on the bark. Over time, these ulcers grow, the tree turns black and appears to be charred. The bark cracks and begins to fall off. The disease quickly spreads along the trunk and branches, deeply affecting the wood.
Gradually growing purple dots with a dark edging appear on the leaves of black cancer. If symptoms of the disease occur, it is necessary to carry out radical pruning of the crop to healthy wood.
Black cancer can destroy an entire apple tree in 3-4 years
What to do if a fungus appears on an apple tree
When fungal mold of any kind appears on an apple tree, the first thing you need to do is determine what exactly caused it. After this, you need to start treatment immediately.In the absence of adequate treatment, mold can destroy even young and healthy trees in just one season.
Treatment is carried out as follows:
- If a fungus is detected, the apple tree is trimmed and all affected parts of the tree are removed. The sections are treated with a solution of copper or iron sulfate 5% to avoid further development of infection.
- Therapeutic spraying is carried out with chemicals against fungus on the apple tree - with the preparations Skor, HOM or Topaz. You can also use Bordeaux mixture.
- A couple of weeks before harvesting, treat the crop with a solution of 1% copper sulfate with the addition of laundry soap. In the fall, the procedure is repeated again so that the tree goes into winter healthy.
During the treatment process, it is necessary to take into account that the occurrence of mold on the crop is facilitated by waterlogging, dense crowns and a large number of pests. If you eliminate these factors, it will be much easier to deal with fungi and prevent their reappearance.
To prevent pests, fungi and mold, it is recommended to spray the apple tree with Bordeaux mixture 3% in early spring.
To protect against mold, it is necessary to regularly trim the crop for sanitary purposes and keep the area clean. Sticky traps can be used to prevent the spread of pests.
Features of treating fungus on different parts of the apple tree
Removal of fungus on an apple tree and treatment depend on which part of the tree is affected by mold. For the trunk, fruits and leaves, different methods of counteracting infection are used.
How to treat mold on an apple tree trunk
If the trunk of an apple tree is covered with fungus, first of all it must be cleaned to white wood and treated with an antiseptic.It is recommended to use caustic soda - 100 g of powder is diluted in a bucket of water and applied generously to the affected areas.
If the treatment does not bring sufficient results, the apple tree is sprayed with copper or iron sulfate 5%. The procedures are repeated weekly until the symptoms of the fungus completely disappear.
Mold on apple tree branches and leaves
If black or white mold on an apple tree appears on the branches, first of all it is necessary to remove all affected parts of the plant. After this, the sections and the entire tree are treated with an antiseptic composition.
In early spring, it is recommended to use iron or copper sulfate 3% for antifungal spraying. If the apple tree has already budded or bloomed, use the same compositions, but with a concentration of 1%. During the fruiting period, the tree is sprayed with a solution of ordinary baking soda or caustic soda 1%.
Root system
Treatment of the root system for mold is carried out according to the same principle as the treatment of the trunk. The underground part is carefully excavated and areas damaged by the fungus are cut off. Then healthy tissues are washed with a solution of caustic soda or copper sulfate.
If a young apple tree with gray mold is severely damaged by fungus, it needs to be dug up entirely, the roots treated and the plant transplanted to a new location. It is usually easier to destroy an old tree and spray the soil with a disinfectant. Treatment in this case rarely gives a good result - usually the plant dies one way or another.
Before destroying a valuable apple variety, you can take a cutting for subsequent grafting onto a healthy plant
Fruit
You can remove the fungus from apple trees and fruits using non-toxic preparations of biological origin, for example, solutions of Fitosporin and Gamair. It is also allowed to use baking soda diluted in water in an amount of 100 g per 10 liters for spraying. Such products do not harm ripening apples, do not change their taste or reduce their beneficial properties.
It is recommended to treat the crop in the early stages of fruit formation, when most of the crop can still be saved. If ripe apples are covered with mold, they should not be eaten in any case. Antifungal treatment is carried out with the onset of autumn or even before harvesting, but damaged fruits are thrown away one way or another.
Processing technique depending on the season
To successfully remove fungus from an apple tree, you need to take into account the season. At the beginning and end of the growing season, different means are used for treatment.
Spring
In the period before the buds swell, it is recommended to treat the trunk of the apple tree against fungus in the spring with Bordeaux mixture. The product is prepared from 210 g of quicklime and 120 g of copper sulfate per 12 liters of water. At the end of March and beginning of April, spraying is repeated.
At the end of flowering, the apple tree is treated with a solution of wood ash - 200 g per bucket of liquid. Spraying is carried out once every ten days to prevent the recurrence of mold.
To get rid of fungus on an apple tree in the spring or to prevent its occurrence, the tree can be fed with compost or rotted manure. At the beginning of flowering, potassium-phosphorus preparations are added to the soil.
in autumn
Autumn antifungal treatment helps improve the health of the apple tree and prevent mold from appearing next season.After harvesting, the following activities must be carried out:
- thoroughly clean the area from dry branches, fallen leaves and fruits rotting on the ground;
- burn all plant debris in the far corner of the garden to destroy pathogens;
- spray the apple tree with a solution of copper sulfate or one of the antifungal biological preparations;
- prepare whitewash from water, lime and clay, taken in a ratio of 7:2:1, and treat the trunk and base of the skeletal branches;
- Carefully dig up the soil at the roots - pests and fungal spores like to overwinter in its top layer.
For the winter, the apple tree is mulched with a thick layer of organic material of at least 10 cm. The crown of young seedlings is additionally insulated. Trees damaged by frost in winter are especially susceptible to attacks by fungi and pests in the new season, so the apple tree must be protected from damage.
Prevention
The appearance of mold on the bark of an apple tree can be prevented through proper prevention. When growing a crop you must:
- carry out sanitary pruning annually in autumn and spring, removing in the process not only diseased branches, but also healthy shoots that thicken the tree;
- regularly apply phosphorus-potassium fertilizers - they strengthen the crop’s immunity and prevent the development of diseases;
- control the amount of watering and prevent waterlogging of the soil at the roots of the apple tree;
- install special insect traps on the trunk and branches;
- regularly dig up the soil at the roots of trees and spill it with disinfectant compounds in late autumn;
- carry out preventive spraying against mold with mild antifungal drugs;
- destroy weeds in close proximity to trees.
All gardening work must be carried out exclusively using clean and sharp tools. When harvesting, you need to be careful and try to remove apples so as not to damage the tree itself. Even minor injuries reduce the health of the crop and make it vulnerable to fungal infections.
Rotten and dried apples must be promptly removed from the branches so that mold from them does not spread throughout the plant
Conclusion
Mold on an apple tree appears due to fungal diseases and affects any part of the tree from the roots to the ripening fruit. The fight against the symptoms of illnesses must begin immediately, before the infection has time to spread throughout the plant and cause serious damage.
