Growing an apple tree is a science. The young tree bears fruit in beautiful and even fruits, but with the age of the apple tree, the crop begins to deteriorate. First, the fruits rot, sometimes the apples completely rot on the tree, and the gardener gets only part of the crop.
If these phenomena are not combated, then in a few years the apples will rot even unripe, the yield will drop sharply.
Why do apples rot right on a tree? How to deal with this?
The cause of crop loss is tree diseases that require proper treatment.
Apples darken and rot on a tree: causes of disease and treatment methods
Fruit rot or moniliosis
Moniliosis - This is a fungal disease that affects not only the apple tree, but also other stone or pome crops. The development of the disease is caused by spores of the fungus that enter the fetus. As a result, rotting of the flesh develops from a small point. At risk are weakened trees, as well as spoiled fruits whose skin has mechanical damage (cracks, scratches, wormholes).
The spores of the harmful fungus are spread by gusts of wind.
Once on an apple, the disease begins to grow. At the initial stage, a small gray spot forms, which gradually increases and rotes the entire fetus. Healthy apples become infected from neighboring, already affected fruits.
Why does the disease develop?
The spores of the fungus winter in fallen leaves, on weeds, under the bark of a tree, on branches and in the soil. In the spring they are carried around the garden. Therefore, in the fall, you need to carefully remove garbage under fruit trees and shrubs. The gardener is not able to influence the development of the disease, he can only use preventive methods of control.
The development of moniliosis contributes to rainy and cold summers, when the temperature does not rise above +20 degrees. At higher temperatures, the disease stops, but returns again with the arrival of rains. It is pointless to deal with the weather, so only preventative spraying remains.
Methods for controlling moniliosis
If apples have already begun to rot right on the tree, then stopping the process is no longer possible. The main task of the gardener is the prevention of the disease. It includes three treatments with modern fungicides. The first treatment is carried out when the ovary has already appeared, and the second after 2-3 weeks. The last spraying is done a month before the harvest. Spraying must be done carefully so that the working solution gets on each fruit. Good results were shown with preparations of Skor, Fundazol. You can spray the tree with Bordeaux fluid.
It is important to remember that you need to process the entire garden, because other fruit crops are also at risk. Of course, spraying does not give a 100% result, but most of the crop will be saved.
Important! Two weeks after collecting all the fruits, the treatment must be repeated. This will help destroy the wintering forms of the fungus.
Useful tips in the fight against moniliosis
1. During the ripening of the fruits, the gardener must carefully inspect the garden, take pictures of the fruits that have already begun to rot, and take them out of the territory. Regular weeding of weeds and harvesting rotten fruits under the trees will reduce the likelihood of developing the disease for next year.
2. Only comprehensive measures help in the fight against the disease. In addition to preventive spraying, whitewashing of the trunk and skeletal branches of a tree helps well. It is also useful to treat the soil near the near-stem circle with quicklime.
3. In the spring, you need to clean the garden, cut out all damaged and dry branches, cultivate the soil and make phosphorus-potash fertilizers.
4. If once in the garden appeared moniliosis, then the fight against it should be carried out continuously. Otherwise, it will flare up again with a vengeance.
Important! Most often, moniliosis is not a cause of a decrease in productivity, but a consequence! After all, the disease begins to develop on fruits spoiled by pests. To protect apples from rotting on a tree, you need to conduct regular pest control.
Chlorosis apple trees
Apples can rot on a tree not only because of moniliosis. There are a number of other diseases that damage the crop. One of them is apple tree chlorosis.
Chlorosis begins with the appearance of black dots on the leaves of an apple tree. Oddly enough, apples are a source of iron, but sometimes they themselves suffer from its lack. With the development of the disease, the spots increase in size and the shoots die off. The leaves of the apple tree first change their color, and then fall off. The disease passes to the fruits, where it starts with a few black dots, after which the apples rot right on the tree.
Chlorosis Control Methods
Chlorosis can occur at any time. For example, a disease can subside in the spring, but manifest in summer and autumn. Therefore, the fight against him must go on constantly.
Treatment for chlorosis begins with spraying the tree to replenish iron stores in the tissues of the plant.
For this, preparations based on iron chelates are used: Agricola, Brexil-Fe, Fevorit. You can also use the means at hand and prepare the preparation for spraying yourself.
• 40 grams of citric acid;
• 25 g of iron sulfate.
Mix all components in 10 liters of water. It is good to spray a tree with a working solution. Such a solution can be stored for about 14 days.
The following recipe will help enrich the soil with iron, the use of which has shown good results.
• humus - 60 kg;
• iron sulfate - 1.5 kg;
• water - 10 buckets.
The finished solution needs to be poured under the trees, having done with a chopper the recesses.
If the disease progresses, it is advisable to use iron injections into the trunk and branches of the tree. For this, iron sulfate is used in an amount of 150 cm3. Holes are drilled in the tree, where a funnel is inserted and the preparation is poured.
You can also use a dry injection in the form of tablets, which must be laid in the holes made on the tree and sealed with a cement-sand mixture.
Prevention of chlorosis on the apple tree
A lack of iron in the soil occurs in rainy and cold summers when soil aeration is disturbed. The presence of heavy metals in the soil, an excess of phosphorus and potassium also affects the tree badly.
To correct the situation, organic fertilizers and iron preparations are introduced into the soil. As a rule, iron sulfate replenishes iron reserves in the apple tree well. Working solution is watered near the trunk after the leaves fall, and in the spring, preventive spraying is carried out.
Scab on the apple tree
If the scab develops on the apple tree, then this is an unpleasant phenomenon for the gardener.
Scab is a fungal disease that begins to develop in a humid climate. Most often, the scab progresses in cold and rainy summers. This disease spoils not only the presentation of the fruit, but also their taste.
As in the case of moniliosis, the amount of the crop suffers from the scab. As the disease progresses, apples begin to rot on the tree. But before that, the flesh of the fetus becomes hard, the skin breaks, an infection gets into it, and rot begins.
How to beat the scab on the apple tree?
Often, folk methods of dealing with scab are not enough, the disease progresses, and it can only be stopped with the help of chemicals. How to apply fungicides? There are several rules that will help defeat the scab.
1. The fungus quickly develops resistance to the substance, so drugs need to be changed more often. Some companies produce different drugs, which contain the same substance. Before choosing a drug, you need to familiarize yourself with its composition. Otherwise, the processing will be pointless.
2. The treatment is carried out with a spray with a fine spray so that the drug gets on all parts of the plant, but there is no overdose of the substance.
3. Spraying should be carried out in the evening in calm weather, while using personal protective equipment.
4. The most effective treatment before and after rain. After all, the fungus develops only in conditions of high humidity. Such spraying will destroy the spores at the beginning of their growth.
5. Treatment of scab includes not only spraying, but also a number of other measures, such as garbage collection, burning damaged fruits and shoots.
6. Different varieties of apple trees need a certain number of treatments. The most resistant varieties are sprayed only during an outbreak.
Chemicals against scab
In the initial stages of the disease, biological preparations that contain bacteria are used. It has a detrimental effect on the fungus. You can use drugs "Fitosporin" or "Gamair." In 10 liters of water you need to dilute 10 tablets of the drug, the resulting solution is carried out three treatments per season. The first spraying is done during the budding period, then immediately after flowering and at the time of fruit formation. The consumption rate of the drug is up to 5 liters per tree, depending on its age.
An old and proven remedy for scab is Bordeaux mixture. Up to 7 sprays are allowed per season. The first time the tree is processed before buds open, during the period of bud formation, at the time of flowering and fruit formation, after harvesting. With an outbreak of the disease, the multiplicity of treatments is increased. The effect of the drug persists for 15 days. Bordeaux mixture can be replaced with copper-containing preparations.
In cases where biological preparations are powerless, the use of chemicals is indispensable. The most commonly used chemicals are:
• Rayeck. Spend up to 4 sprays per season, the effect of the drug persists for 20 days. The first spraying is carried out before the buds open, then at the time of opening the buds, after flowering twice with an interval of 14 days.
• Coming soon Only two treatments are allowed per season, the period before and after flowering. The effect of the drug lasts up to 20 days.
• Gates. A systemic drug that fights various diseases. Up to three treatments are performed in one season. The effect of the drug lasts up to 1.5 months.
• Horus. The drug is used at low temperatures up to +10 degrees. The substance is not washed off by rain, the effect of the drug lasts up to 25 days.
Treatment of scab with mineral fertilizers
Good results in the fight against scab shows the use of mineral fertilizers. Among experienced gardeners, there is an opinion that this method is not inferior to the use of chemicals.
As a prophylaxis, scabs are sprayed with a fertilizer solution: ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, potassium sulfate, potassium salt.
If apples rot right on a tree, then in the fall they treat with a solution of mineral fertilizers. In this case, spraying is done until the average daily temperature drops below +4 degrees. This procedure increases the yield of apple trees, destroys pests and diseases. Along with the tree, soil is cultivated under it, which increases the yield by 1.5 times, and reduces the likelihood of diseases.
In spring, the tree is treated with Bordeaux liquid, which reduces the number of wintering pests that are carriers of various diseases.
After flowering, it is advisable to use systemic drugs that will save the tree from several problems at once.
What to do with rotten apples on a tree?
First, every gardener should remember that it is impossible to leave apples to rot on a tree. They must be removed and taken away from the site where they should be disposed of by digging the fruit to a depth of 50 cm. It is impossible to leave them just under a strange tree, even a few meters from the garden, diseased fruits serve as a source of infection. After all, spores of the fungus are easily tolerated by the wind, as a result, next year moniliosis will again fall on the site.
Secondly, diseases such as moniliosis, chlorosis, scab are very unpleasant, but it is possible to cope with them. The health of his garden will depend on how quickly the gardener reacts. It is important to remember that the less signs of infection, the easier it will be to defeat the disease and prevent the apple tree from drying completely!
