Growing a plum on their site, gardeners can face many problems. Plum and cherry plum are often subject to various diseases and pest attacks. It is important to recognize plum diseases in time and take all the necessary measures to preserve the harvest. Pathogens must not be allowed to spread throughout the garden.
Common plum diseases
Most of the crop can be affected by a disease called plum pockets. In this case, the fruits take on a baggy shape, strongly stretching in length. At the initial stage of the disease, the fruits are covered with a whitish waxy coating. 2 weeks after fruit setting, the trees should be carefully examined. When the first signs of a disease are detected, the plants should be treated with an antifungal drug.
Another fungal disease is moniliosis, trees become infected with it during the flowering period with sudden changes in air temperature. When infected, the flowers and the leaves surrounding them dry up and fall, the branches crack. For the prevention of moniliosis, all affected branches should be cut off on trees in the fall and treated with an antifungal drug to destroy pathogens. For spraying, Bordeaux liquid or copper oxychloride is used; at least 4 liters of solution should be spent on each tree.
If red spots appear on the leaves, which lighten over time, the affected leaves crack. In the same way, the kidneys and fruits are affected - reddish-brown ulcers are formed on them. To prevent this disease of plums and cherry plums, before bud formation and immediately after flowering, trees must be sprayed with Bordeaux liquid or HOM preparation.
With a fungal disease, cercosporous spotting, brown spots appear on the top of the leaves, and dark knotty thickenings appear below. You should carefully examine the trees, remove the affected leaves and branches from them and spray them. Treatment with Bordeaux mixture or Abiga-Peak preparation is carried out after flowering and again after harvesting.
A dangerous disease of plums and cherry plums is brown spot. The leaves become covered with dark spots, and then curl and fall off. The fruits with this disease do not have time to ripen and are deformed. For prophylaxis, trees and the soil around them are sprayed with a solution of copper sulfate (1%) before flowering. 10 liters of water will require 100 g of the drug. 2 weeks after flowering, the plants are sprayed with Bordeaux mixture. Fallen foliage must be removed from the site, the soil around the trees is dug up.
In the middle of summer, plums and cherry plums often suffer from rust on their leaves. This fungal disease spreads throughout the garden through wind or rain. Bordeaux mixture is used to destroy fungal infection 3 weeks before harvest. Bacteria can penetrate the root system, and young seedlings may die because of this.
Plum pests
The most common pest is the fruit mite - a round insect no more than 1 cm in size. Clinging with its limbs to young branches and foliage, the tick sucks out all the juices from them. To get rid of a pest that can live on a tree all year round, you can use insecticides. In addition to chemicals, spraying with strong infusions of onions, garlic, mustard helps well. These folk remedies have a strong odor that repels pests.
Another problem for gardeners is ants, which feed not only on juicy fruits, but also on buds. To protect against ants, tree trunks are coated with tar. You can place a belt around the trunk, on which a thick layer of glue is applied.
Due to the presence of ants on trees, aphids also spread, attacking the entire plant. To prevent the appearance of aphids, it is recommended to water the trees with a strong infusion of marigolds. You can get rid of aphids by spraying with an ash solution: 1 liter of wood ash is stirred in 10 liters of water, 100 g of liquid soap is added. To scare away aphids, it is recommended to pour a bucket of strong citrus peel infusion with the addition of liquid soap under each tree.
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