Peaches in Russian gardens are rather moody plants. Fungal diseases, especially curly leaves, are not uncommon for them. Somewhat less often, but still tangibly, an attack of pests occurs. Sometimes there are problems with the lack of fruiting. We will try to familiarize the gardener with the most frequently encountered problems and ways to solve them.
The most common peach diseases
Consider the main possible peach diseases, their causes, methods of control and prevention.
Why does not fruit peach
There may be several reasons for this problem.
Peach is not blooming
The absence of flowering indicates that the necessary conditions are not created for the plant. The most common problem is this:
- Shadowing. For a peach when planting, you need to choose a well-lit place.
- Unsuitable soil. Peach grows best on loose, permeable soils (sandy, sandy loam, loam). On heavy clay, rocky or peaty soils, the peach will not bear fruit.
- Flower buds are affected by frost - they do not withstand temperatures below -28 ° C.
- Unbalanced diet. An excess of nitrogen fertilizers with a deficiency of potash and phosphorus is a common reason for the lack of flowering.
- And also do not expect the flowering of a peach affected by diseases, especially curly leaves.
Peach blossoms, but no ovaries form
If after successful flowering ovaries do not form, this indicates that the pollination of flowers did not take place. Peach is a self-fertile culture, but under adverse weather conditions - rains, strong winds - pollination may not occur. There is nothing to be done about it - you have to wait for the next, more successful season.
Peach's flowers fall
Falling colors are observed in two cases.
- The first is acidic soil. In this case, you can try to deoxidize it by adding ground or lump lime in the autumn for digging. Norm - 500 grams per 1 m2.
- The second is damage to flowers by the weevil weevil. More on this below in the relevant section.
Cameo-detection (gummosis)
Gum is a sticky, thick yellow-brown liquid that often stands out from wounds and cracks in the bark of a plant, as well as from fruits. In common people, gum is often called simply glue. The disease associated with the secretion of this sticky fluid is called gum dropping or gummosis.
The sticky thick yellow-brown liquid, which is often released from wounds and cracks in the bark of a plant, is called gum, and the process itself is called gum
This non-infectious disease is more commonly seen in stone fruits. There may be several reasons for it:
- Mechanical injuries to bark and wood.
- Incorrect or untimely pruning. It should be remembered that pruning of branches with a diameter of more than one centimeter should be carried out only in the resting state of the tree. And also we must not forget about the processing of all sections of garden var.
- Damage to the cortex as a result of frostbite.
- Excessive watering or stagnation of water in the root zone contribute to the formation of gum and its outflow.
- Fungal diseases (cytosporosis, black cancer) can also cause gum disease.
Small areas of gum excretion will not harm the plant, but if their area begins to increase, measures must be taken. They are simple and consist in cleaning the affected areas with a sharp knife to a healthy bark or wood (depending on the degree of damage), disinfection with a 3% solution of copper sulfate and treatment with garden var. There is also a folk remedy - wounds are rubbed with fresh leaves of sorrel. After drying, the procedure is repeated two more times, after which the wound is covered with garden varnish or putty.
Cracked bark on peach branches
This unpleasant phenomenon can be caused by various reasons.
- Most often, bark cracking is caused by frostbite. On frosty sunny days, the temperature difference on the sunny and shadow sides of the tree can reach significant values, which leads to the formation of vertical cracks. Since peach is a heat-loving southern plant, when growing it under more severe conditions, it is necessary to provide it with warming for winter time.
Cracks in the bark of fruit trees from frost damage are usually located vertically
- Thermal sunburns usually occur in the early spring, when due to strong heating by the sun's rays, the trunk, which is not adapted to heat after winter frosts, breaks the tissue structure, causing severe cracking and sometimes even the death of entire sections of the cortex. The prevention of this phenomenon is the liming whitewash of tree trunks and branches.
- Excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers in autumn causes active growth of the tree, during which the bark often cracks.
- The defeat of some fungal diseases - kleasterosporiosis, black cancer, cytosporosis.
Whatever the cracks of the bark are caused by, they must be treated. The treatment method is described in the previous section.
Peach sprout leaves
Growing peach seedlings from seed is a common method of propagation. If at the same time the gardener was faced with the fact that the leaves on the sprout began to dry, then the problem is probably caused by a violation of the cultivation rulesI. Possible reasons:
- Lack of moisture.
- Excess moisture, stagnation of water in a tank with soil.
- Heavy soil.
- The room is too hot and dry. The optimum temperature is 20-25 ° C, humidity is 70-80%.
- Damage to the roots by pests or fungus.
It is clear that for the prevention and elimination of the problem, one must strictly observe the rules of cultivation, ensure a balanced diet and watering regime.
Peach leaves turn red and curl.
This is an alarming symptom of a dangerous peach fungal disease - curly leaves. It usually manifests itself in the spring after flowering on young shoots. In this case, first, red tubercles form on the leaves, in the future they are twisted. At the next stage, the leaves turn black and dry, then fall off. If you do not take measures, then by the middle of May - June, most of the leaves will be twisted, the fruits either do not set or become wrinkled, ugly. The disease progresses rapidly and without urgent intervention the tree can die.
When lesions with curly leaves first red tubercles form on them, later they curl
In order to fight, the affected parts of the plant should be cut and destroyed, and the plant itself should be treated with fungicides - Horus, Strobi, Abiga-Peak, Skor, etc.
Peach froze after winter - how to help
Peach suffers from frost more than other crops. If in winter the frosts were severe and in the spring it turned out that the peach was frozen, then first of all it is necessary to determine the degree of damage. This can be done only with the beginning of the growing season. In any case, the only way to help the tree is to conduct competent pruning. If it turned out that only fruit buds were damaged, and the wood was not damaged, then those branches are cut that do not have flowers. Pruning is done up to 2-3 year old wood. After falling off the ovary, you need to remove all branches without fruits.
If all fruit buds are affected, then this is an occasion for a strong anti-aging pruning with cutting out all vertical shoots and transferring them to lateral branching (on 4-5 year old wood). And also make strong thinning of the upper and inner parts of the crown. The same pruning is done with strong frostbite shoots.
With severe damage to the skeletal branches and their bases, pruning should be carried out in June after the awakening of sleeping buds and the growth of shoots from them. If the buds on all branches wake up weakly, then pruning is transferred until next spring. When frost-bitten young trees to the level of snow cover, pruning is carried out with the capture of 10-20 mm of healthy wood of the stem. Then, from the shoots formed above the vaccination site, a new aerial part is formed, and it is better to do this in a bush form.
It is clear that such stress greatly weakens the plant and reduces its immunity, and the risk of infection with fungal diseases, especially curly, increases. Therefore, during this period, preventive treatment with fungicides is mandatory.
Peach pests - main representatives, description, control measures
In addition to disease, peach is at risk of attack by various pests. The gardener needs to know who they are, how they look and how to deal with them.
Black aphid
Aphids are small half-winged insects no larger than 2-3 mm in size (there are some rare species up to 5-8 mm in size). More than 3,500 species of aphids are known, having the most diverse color - black, red, white, green, yellow, peach, etc. Regardless of color and species, all aphids feed on plant juices and secrete a sweet, sticky liquid (the so-called honey dew) in the process of life. Control measures are also the same for all species. On a peach, black aphids are more often observed, but its other species are also possible.
Aphids, as a rule, are carried on the crown of a tree on their backs and planted on leaves and shoots. They do this in order to subsequently feed on honey dew secreted by insects. Aphids can be detected by twisted leaves, inside of which its colonies are located on the back side. And also it can be located at the tips of young shoots.
Ants like to eat aphid
Aphid can cause any significant harm in the case when it is not fought and allowed to reproduce quietly. But usually it doesn’t come to that. There are many chemical and folk remedies for the destruction of harmful insects, as well as to prevent their attack. We list the main ones:
- Creation of an obstacle to the penetration into the crown of ants, bringing aphids into it, by installing hunting belts on the stubs and performing lime whitewashing.
The hunting belt is easy to make from improvised materials
- Flushing insects from leaves with a strong stream of water from a hose.
- Processing the crown with infusions of tobacco, marigolds, garlic, onion peels, etc.
- A complex of treatments with insecticides (drugs for combating harmful insects). In early spring it can be DNOC (not more than once every three years), 5% solution of copper sulfate, Nitrafen. In the spring and early summer, Decis, Karbofos, Iskra, etc. are used. In the last month, preparations such as Iskra-Bio, Fitoverm, and other bioinsecticides are used.
Weevil beetle
The small bug (up to 5 mm) has a long proboscis, to which it owes its name. Winters in cracks of the bark, fallen leaves and topsoils. In spring, when the soil warms up to +10 ° C, the beetles rise on the crown. Swelling buds are the first food items for weevils. Then they switch to young leaves and shoots, as well as to flowers and ovaries of peach. Female flower beetles gnaw buds and lay eggs in them, from which subsequently larvae emerge that gnaw the flower from the inside. Damaged flowers, of course, do not form ovaries and crumble. Large populations of weevils are capable of causing significant damage to the peach crop, so they need to be waged a systematic struggle.
Weevil is a small bug, but large damage can cause
At a time when the beetles just climbed the crown, you can use the feature of them to enter a state of stupor at low temperatures (+ 5-8 ° C). Such temperatures are not uncommon in the early spring morning. At this time, you just need to shake off the bugs on a film or fabric previously spread out under the tree and then collect them and destroy them.
In late autumn, deep digging of the soil is effective, as a result of which wintering pests will be raised to the surface and die from frost. And of course, insecticide treatments cannot be dispensed with, as described in the previous section.
Eastern Codling Moth
This pest begins its genus from East Asia, which gave its name. Mostly rosaceous shrubs are affected, but the most preference is given to peach, for which it has a second name - peach moth. In Russia, the eastern codling moth is common in the central, western and southern regions, as well as in the Crimea. The butterfly has a wingspan of up to 10-15 mm, the color of the front pair is brownish-gray, and the back is light brown. Lifestyle - Twilight. Flight, mating, egg laying take place in the evening and in the morning. Winters in a transparent oval-shaped cocoon. Cocoons are found in fallen leaves, fruits, cracks in the bark and soil.
When in spring the temperature reaches +15 ° C, the butterflies fly out of the cocoons and after 3 days they begin to lay eggs on the shoots, the underside of the leaves and sepals. During the season, the pest gives from 4 to 6 offspring. After 6-12 days, cream-colored larvae with a dark head crawl out of the eggs. Caterpillars of the first generation damage young shoots, gnawing them from the top to the bottom. The next generation of the pest affects the ovaries and fruits. Damaged shoots dry out, the fruits become unfit for food. The presence of larvae inside the fruit can be determined by droplets of gum and excrement of the pest. If measures are not taken in a timely manner, then you can remain completely without a crop.
Droplets of gum and excrement on the fruits indicate the presence of an eastern codling moth
To combat pest, apply comprehensive measures:
- Traditional late autumn digging of tree trunks.
- Whitewashing trunks and branches with special garden paints or a solution of hydrated lime.
Whitewashing peach trunks and branches will save him many troubles, including from the eastern codling moth
- Collection and burning of fallen leaves and fruits.
- Cleaning dried bark.
- Installation of hunting belts (they are usually made from improvised means).
- Insecticide treatments.
- Before kidney swelling, DNOC, Nitrafen, a 3% solution of copper sulfate are used.
- Before flowering and 10-15 days after it, the plant is treated with Karbofos, Rovikurt, Chlorophos, Benzophosphate.
- During the ripening period - Fitoverm, Iskra-Bio.
Ticks
These arthropod arachnids have microscopic dimensions (0.25-2 mm) and, since they are not insects, it makes no sense to use insecticides against them. To combat them, there is a group of special drugs called acaricides. Of the many different ticks on peach, kidney and spider webs are usually observed. The kidney is one of the smallest of its kind (0.25-0.35 mm) and cannot be detected with the naked eye. This pest affects peach flower buds, as a result of which they increase in size and acquire a barrel-shaped form. On this basis and identify the pest.
You can distinguish mite-affected kidneys by increasing their size and barrel-shaped
The spider mite first affects the leaves of the plant, on which yellow dots form, and then they turn yellow. Later, if measures are not taken, spider mite nests appear on the branches.
Most often, colloidal sulfur is used for control. Moreover, the first two treatments (with swelling of the kidneys and two weeks after flowering) are carried out with a 0.8% solution of the drug, and the next two - with a 0.6% solution with an interval of two weeks. Such treatment at the same time prevents peach from powdery mildew. When the fruits begin to ripen, then you can use acaricides such as Fitoverm and Akarin, with a waiting period of two days.
A few years ago, having acquired a summer cottage, along with it I received a “bouquet” of diseases and pests of fruit plants. In the very first year, peach trees showed curly leaves that left me without a crop. I had to urgently get down to business. In the fall I had a strong anti-aging pruning, and in early spring I treated the entire garden with DNOC. Before flowering, he carried out the treatment with a tank mixture of Decis and Horus, which he repeated two more times after flowering. Such a mixture has been tested by me for a long time and always gives good results, preventing the attack of various pests and the defeat of diseases. I now carry out such treatments annually, only instead of DNOC I use a 3% solution of copper sulfate. In the summer I try to regularly spray all plants with Fitosporin, which is a biological fungicide and is absolutely harmless to humans. And it also contains humic fertilizers, which provides simultaneous foliar feeding. Since then, in my garden there are practically no diseases and pests.
Peach is a fairly popular crop in Russian gardens. But growing it is not so simple, as it is susceptible to many fungal diseases, pest attacks and frostbite. The gardener has to make tangible efforts to combat these problems, but with due diligence, they bring the expected success.
