San Jose lice, aphids, mites — these are just some of the pests that can affect your garden with unpleasant consequences and difficult to correct. Find out more about the dangers to which fruit trees are exposed, regardless of the season, how they manifest and what you can do to prevent contamination and spread of the disease and to get a rich harvest.
Fruit trees are one of the best choices when it comes to an efficient and productive way to use the land. It does not require as much maintenance as vegetables, cereals and cereals and gives you more harvest each year. But it is important to know what pests and diseases can endanger them.
San Jose lice
Quadraspidiotus perniciosus or San Jose lice is one of the most dangerous pests of fruit trees. The most sensitive and affected species are currant, hair, apple, quince, gooseberry and stone species such as apricot, greenery, cherry, sour cherry. The larvae and females of lice attack the tissue of the trees by means of an enzyme that they leave behind when they feed. They destroy in turn the bark, the young shoots, the stem and later the flowers and leaves.
Affected trees are recognized by the appearance of coarse bark dust, given by the accumulation of larval and insect shields. Young trees dry out 2–3 years after infestation, and old ones in about 7–8 years. Drying begins from the top to the base, the affected branches and leaves turning yellow in turn. The larvae begin to feed in the spring. The control is best done with herbicide, applied in two rounds, as long as the larvae have just come out of hibernation and have not yet formed their shield.
monilia
Also known as kernel moniliosis, it is a species-specific disease with seeds (plum, apricot, sour cherry, peach, almond, etc.) caused by a microscopic fungus. The symptoms of the disease consist in the withering of the leaves, which later take on a brown color and dry out, without falling. The branches wither and begin to bend, taking the shape of a hook.
Moniliosis attacks rotting branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. It is good to know that sometimes the fruits that are infected become dehydrated, but remain stuck in the branch, favoring the spread of the disease in the next season. In the case of plums, the skin of the fruit cracks and as a result of the leakage and drying of the sweet liquid, you will notice fruits glued in pairs.
You can prevent this disease by cleaning the trees very well and removing the dried fruit every year. Also, the branches considered affected are cut and burned. Herbicide treatment is done during the vegetative rest period, in spring, before flowering and as many times as needed.
Aphids or lice of plants
Small insects, similar to mosquitoes, aphids attack both fruit trees and vegetables, garden or apartment flowers. I use the buccal apparatus in the form of a tube to extract nutrients from the trees you are trying to grow. Among the most vulnerable trees are peach, apple, hair, etc.
In addition to delaying the development of trees, aphids can also affect trees by transmitting various diseases, and the sugar-rich substance they leave at the site of the sting can attract fungi and ants. The signs of infection are easy to notice. Aphids can be seen with the naked eye on the leaves and along the veins through which the sap circulates, the leaves begin to have spots and atrophy, then turn black and twist.
The treatment is done with herbicide at any time when the presence of larvae or adults is observed. The best atomizers that you can use are in this case for spreading the solution are those that allow light spraying at height, in order to better cover the affected area.
Leaf sifting
Common in stone trees such as apricot, peach, greenery, nectarine, plum, sour cherry, cherry, etc., leaf sieving is a disease caused by a fungal agent that manifests itself especially in less well-kept orchards, in rainy years and causes intense leaf fall. .
The leaves are attacked immediately after the budding period. The beginning is manifested in apricot and greenery through round spots of 0.5 to 3mm, with brown interior and purple outline, in plum through brown-gray spots, and in cherry and cherry through light brown areas with darker edges , from 2 to 7mm. Over time, the affected areas necrosis and fall, giving the leaves a sieving appearance.
Prevention of the spread of the disease is done by cutting the affected sections, spraying with copper-based fungicide and covering large wounds with oil-based paint. You can also reduce the risk of spraying during rest periods with a solution for moniliosis.
It is equally important to maintain the trees as well as possible, to remove any affected branch or leaf and to burn them. It is also necessary to scrape the snake and use a fungicide paste to cover the areas with which the diseased branches have come into contact. The chemical treatment is done in winter, spring and summer.
Mites
If aphids are plant lice, mites are tiny spiders that can compromise your fruit trees.
The most dangerous species for orchard trees is the red mite of the trees, with dimensions of 0.3–0.4 mm and orange or red spherical eggs. It has 4 to 8 generations per year and attacks by stinging leaves and stems and extracting cell juice, and their presence is indicated by gray-looking leaves, parchment, with fine spider webs on both sides.
The leaves turn yellow and fall quickly, and some flowers abort, lowering productivity. The trees grow more slowly, the younger leaves begin to twist on the edges. It affects the stage of transformation of buds into fruit and the quality of fruits. Apart from this effect, just like aphids, mites can transmit all kinds of diseases to trees, which is why they must be removed as soon as possible.
Prevention and treatment is done by spraying with acaricidal solutions, from the beginning of the vegetation stage, every three weeks, and in the hot summer periods, every two weeks.
