Why do leaves curl on an apple tree and a pear - reasons and tips on what to do. Leaves curl on the apple tree what to do Rolled leaves on the apple tree

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Apple and pear trees are the most popular trees on our summer cottages, therefore, every gardener should know about the problems of these crops and the proper care of them. Leaf curl can be caused by a lot of reasons - consider them all.

Not by chance experienced gardeners recommend regularly (at least 2 times a week) inspect your garden. Moreover, this should be done not only during the period of flowering or fruiting, but continuously from spring to autumn. This is the only way to notice in a timely manner that the leaf on the tree is twisting and turning yellow, and the tree itself is clearly losing strength. You can find such a picture both in young and in adults. pome trees, because from diseases, pests and not proper care none of them are insured.

Why do apple and pear leaves curl

Fruit leaves curl not so rarely, and there are many reasons for this phenomenon. It is important to understand exactly what is happening with your tree and how to help it, because improper treatment and processing can only aggravate the situation and add problems to the plant.

Reason 1. Lack of food and water

The most common and easily eliminated cause is drying out of the soil or lack of nutrients. If you have poor soil on your site, and you haven’t spoiled the garden with top dressing, or since spring it’s been hot, dry weather, and your hands haven’t reached watering, then it’s the leaves that will be the first to “notify” this. The upper leaves usually curl first, then they begin to dry and fall off, and then the foliage dries and bends down the crown. Twisting is preceded by the state of soft "rag" leaves and wilted young growths on the branches.

If you notice a lack of water in an apple or pear tree, carefully water its near-trunk circle so that the earth in it gets wet to a depth of 40 cm.

With nutrition, everything is more difficult; it will not be possible to quickly restore the deficit. After abundant watering in the trunk circle of each tree, close 1.5 cups of ash and 30 g of ammofoska (per 1 sq.m). After 2 weeks, spray the foliage with sodium humate or potassium humate (dilute 5 g of dry powder in 10 l warm water temperature of 25-28°C, the solution of the liquid preparation should be prepared according to the instructions on the package). After this, the crown should recover, and the gardener should regularly carry out root and foliar top dressing to prevent the problem from reoccurring.

Reason 2. Red gall aphid on apple and pear

It is very easy to recognize even in the early stages the appearance of the red-gall aphid, which is also called sulfur. Although the insects themselves are small and dim, their places of residence can be calculated by the characteristic bright red swellings and twisted folds on the leaves. With a strong lesion, the leaves dry up and fall off, and then spots appear on the fruits.

The fight against red gall aphids is no different from the fight against its ordinary counterparts. This is whitewashing the trunks, and cleaning the dead bark, and the destruction of the affected leaves, and trapping belts, and the use of insecticides.

Reason 3. Common aphid on apple and pear

Common aphid colonies are not so noticeable from afar, but upon closer inspection, their settlements look like someone has crumpled a young shoot along with leaves. From the loss of juice that the aphid sucks, the leaves curl inward, deform, and then fall off. You should not assume that for a tree everything will end in the loss of part of the greenery - aphids also carry many diseases that can be fatal for young or weakened apple trees and pears.

If the tree is not blooming at the moment, and you do not plan to harvest in the near future, then it is advisable to get rid of aphid colonies with special means. Inta-Vir, Bi-58, Neoron, Accord, Imidor, Tabazol, Fatrin, Tsunami, Sharpei will come to your aid. If fruits are already hanging on the branches, then it is better to do with folk remedies.

Reason 4. Leaflet on apple and pear

Absolutely healthy young leaves curl into a tight tube, and then turn black and fall off? These are leafworm caterpillars that settled on your tree and launched their poison into the leaves, from which they deformed, becoming both food and a house. If you do not get rid of leafworms in a timely manner, you can lose up to 80% of foliage on fruit trees, which means you will be left without a crop, and probably without the tree itself.

Folk remedies in the fight against leaflet are practically useless, and insecticides cannot be used during fruit filling. Biological preparations remain (Akarin, Bitoxibacillin, Lepidocid, Fitoverm), as well as manual collection and destruction of infected leaves.

Reason 5. Powdery mildew on apple and pear

Young leaves curl up and away powdery mildew. Finding it is not easy, and by the time the gardener realizes what exactly is wrong with his tree, it may already be affected by a third. Powdery mildew, although not as destructive for the apple tree as for other crops, still reduces the yield by 30-50%, and this is very significant. It is young leaves that are the most defenseless, since it is easier for diseases to penetrate their tissues.

Prevention (but not treatment) of powdery mildew will be treated with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid, it will stop the infection. But you can completely rid the tree only with fungicides, for example, Topaz. It is important to remember that they should be used no later than a month before harvesting. After harvesting the fruits, all plant residues from under the tree and foliage from it must be removed outside the site and burned.

Reason 6. Apple and pear scab

Another fungal disease- scab - can hit both an apple tree and a pear. In wet, windy weather, scab spores are carried far and can infect an entire garden. This is especially dangerous if the plantings are thickened, the crowns of the trees have not been pruned, tall grass grows under them, and watering is carried out directly on the leaves.

The scab begins with the appearance of an olive-brown coating on the leaves. Then the leaves curl up, turn brown, become stained, fall off, and the disease passes to the fruit, leading to cracks and decay.

Even fungicides do not always help to escape from scab. They must be used before and immediately after flowering, strictly according to the instructions, and if it does not help, then add additional foliar top dressing. 15 g potassium sulfate, 15 g potassium nitrate, 10 g ammonium nitrate and dilute 10 g of ammonium sulfate in a bucket of warm water and spray the solution over the leaves, repeat in a week, bring the number of dressings to 3 and wait - the result should appear soon.

Often the leaves of an apple tree and a pear tree curl for the same reason. Both trees are equally likely to suffer from a lack of moisture or nutrition, become the object of attention of aphids and leafworms, suffer from scab or powdery mildew.

Reason 7. Bacterial burn of apple and pear

Can’t understand why pear leaves turn black and curl into a tube, and on an apple tree they curl up and turn brown, as if scorched? Probably, "Anton fire" settled in your garden, or, speaking modern language, a peddler of bacterial fire. This disease is very actively spreading, affects most cultures and in a couple of years can leave only memories and an unsightly "fire" from the garden. You need to be wary even before the leaves begin to die on the trees - brown falling flowers become the first sign of the disease.

Fighting bacterial burn should start immediately after you suspect it on your trees. Antibiotics will act as the main assistant, which will require a lot, especially if you have several trees, you will have to process everything. To begin with, cut all the affected branches onto the ring, treat the cuts with 1% copper sulphate, and burn the remains. Then spray the trees with the antibiotics Rifampicin (50 µg/mL), Gentamicin (50 µg/mL), Streptomycin (50 µg/mL), Chloramphenicol (50 µg/mL), Kanamycin (20 µg/mL) or Nalidixic Acid (20 µg/mL). ml). Dosage: 1-2 tablets/ampoules per 5 liters of water. This amount is enough for 8-10 young trees. If the measures do not help, the tree will have to be destroyed before it infects everyone else in the garden.

The apple tree is considered the most popular among fruit-bearing trees among gardeners and gardeners. In autumn, the tree gives a rich harvest, and in spring, flowers bloom on the tree. beautiful flowers which always attracts the attention of others. But, like most plants, the apple tree can be subject to various diseases, which will affect appearance. When the leaves of an apple tree are curled, various measures must be taken immediately and the tree restored.

There are a large number of different diseases that can affect an apple tree and affect its appearance, destroy the fruits and even destroy the tree itself. It is very important to recognize the presence of a disease on a tree at an early stage, which will allow you to quickly and effectively begin treatment. Since each of the diseases has its own characteristics and symptoms, it is very important to be able to recognize a particular disease.

And if the leaves of the apple tree curl what to do, it is very important to have a quick reaction to the disease. It is necessary not to postpone the treatment of the tree and immediately begin to fight the disease.

There are certain diseases that are more common in apple trees. Diseases have their own symptoms and signs. It is necessary to deal with everyone in detail, because for each disease you need to choose an effective treatment.

Causes that can cause deformation of the leaves of an apple tree

Improper care and the harmful effects of the environment. Gardeners can observe the change in the leaves of the apple tree, which are heavily curled, but there are no pests and diseases. The state of the tree can be affected poor quality care and bad weather.

Deformation can occur due to sudden frosts, which happens very often in early spring. In most cases, the vegetative system is restored during the season, and the tree is restored and produces a crop.

Micronutrient deficiency:

• lack of phosphorus. If there is not enough phosphorus in the soil, the leaves may lose saturation, acquire a bronze hue. Near the petioles may appear reddish or purple hue. If this happens, gardeners may observe untimely flowering and fruit ripening. The apple tree does not tolerate wintering;
• magnesium. If the apple tree lacks magnesium, the leaves a short time may become more red, sometimes magenta. Leaves, especially the lower ones, may fall off ahead of time, and the tree itself rarely survives wintering;
• lack of manganese. If the apple tree does not have enough manganese, this manifests itself in the form of white, light green or red spots on the leaves. In such cases, the appearance becomes unattractive, and the yield is significantly reduced. And even if there are fruits, they taste quite fresh, and in appearance they are much smaller.

Pests. Often among the pests of the apple tree there is a red-gall aphid. In this case, the leaves curl, turn red, the appearance is completely unattractive. Such a pest feeds on the sap of a tree, which greatly depletes it. In a very short time, the leaves completely curl, darken and fall off. Aphids are very easy to recognize, because they make the leaves more blistered, reddish and embossed. The leaves are almost curled up into a tube.

If a long time do not treat the plant and do not get rid of pests, the leaves become covered with galls and gradually fall off.

The aphid itself has a gray color and it is very noticeable on the leaves. The pest can constantly live on a tree and lay larvae under the scales of the bark. What is important is that the pest negatively affects not only the leaves and bark of the tree, but also the fruits themselves. If the tree has been exposed to a pest, red spots may appear on the fruits.

Mechanical damage. If a wire, rope, film cuts into the bark of a tree or into several large branches, the branches of the tree suffer greatly, and the leaves begin to slowly change color to red and may curl and dry a little. In this case, the leaves may fall even in season, even if there are fruits on the branches.

Powdery mildew. A large number of gardeners have long known about such a dangerous enemy for the apple tree. The disease affects not only the leaves, but also the bark, branches, buds. Formed on the tree white coating which later turns brown. Leaves dry out and fall off very quickly. If the disease has overtaken young tree, it most often stops growing and dies. What is characteristic of powdery mildew is that it can stop its influence on a tree for a while, and then resume destruction.

Scab. The most dangerous pest for apple trees is scab. A disease that can completely affect a tree. First, the leaves are damaged, which change their shade and shape, after which the shoots of the apple tree are damaged. Spots and a certain grayish coating are possible on the fruits.

Insufficient amount of moisture. If the leaves have begun to fade prematurely, and the bark looks healthy, as it is frequent watering, perhaps a period of change in natural water exchange has begun. This can happen if after frosty winter spring came abruptly. It is impossible to fix such a problem on your own, but this does not mean that the tree needs to be cut, you can squeeze out 1-2 seasons until the plant recovers on its own.

Actions to get rid of pests and diseases

If you find various diseases or pests on an apple tree, you must act immediately, as serious damage is caused to the tree. Such problems can seriously affect the appearance, worsen the yield, and lead the tree to death. Pests very often affect the fact that the tree does not tolerate winter well, which significantly reduces the yield. You need to fight pests correctly and every experienced gardener uses various methods and funds. But what is better and what can really help, you need to figure it out.

The use of insecticides against pests. Fruit trees must be treated with insecticides, preferably in early spring, before buds appear. The air temperature at the time of processing should be about 5 degrees Celsius. You need to spray the entire tree, as well as the tree trunks around it. This will destroy all the larvae that could be near or on the tree. There are some of the most common remedies that will kill insects and prevent the leaves of the apple tree from curling and blushing:

• Karbofos. A drug that allows you to destroy pests such as mites, leafworms, codling moths. Use the drug carefully, using a special sprayer. This is necessary so that the leaves are evenly treated with the agent;
• Fufanon. It is used in the fight against cherry fly and sawflies. One tree will need from 2 to 5 liters of chemicals. It is recommended to spray either in the early morning or in the evening;
• Pyrimix. An excellent tool in the fight against aphids and moths. It is necessary to apply the product with a spray;
• Nitrafen. A remedy that is often used against scab and sucker. Only wood can be processed, the soil does not need to be processed separately.

Fertilizers. Top dressing is very important for any tree and plant. This allows the plant to be resistant to pests, so experienced gardeners recommend using only high-quality and good feeding. In the first year of the shoot's life, top dressing is not needed. But from the second year, mineral and organic fertilizers very important. It is necessary to apply fertilizers during digging of near-stem circles. Fertilizers need to be laid at a depth of 15-20 cm.
Often use fertilizers such as: ammonium nitrate, urea, humus. Each of the fertilizers must be applied according to a specific scheme, which can be found on the Internet or read in a gardening magazine.

Powdery mildew spraying. Fighting powdery mildew can sometimes be extremely difficult. You need to start the process even when the first leaves appeared. For spraying, you can use Bordeaux mixture (1%). Very often, gardeners use ash, which must be buried under an apple tree. Of the most common drugs, Topaz and Skor are used.
After flowering has been completed, the apple tree can be treated with chlorine or Hom. The third treatment can be carried out with a solution blue vitriol mixed with liquid or laundry soap.

All of these methods can completely eliminate powdery mildew, but gardeners say that sometimes these methods do not help eliminate the disease. In this case, if all methods are used, and the tree is still in bad condition, it must be cut off, as the disease can pass to other trees.

The apple tree, like a large number of plants, is often exposed to pests, from which red leaves may appear, which gradually curl and fall off. You need to fight pests immediately after they appear, delaying the process can completely lose the tree. But, there are other reasons why a tree can lose its beautiful appearance, among them: an insufficient amount of trace elements, loss of moisture or freezing in winter. Any of these factors can cause redness and curling of the leaves of the apple tree, but everything is fixable if you give the tree good care and feed.

For more information on caring for apple trees, see:

Fruit trees can suffer from both improper care, and from the attack of pests and diseases. It is often possible to understand that something is wrong with a plant by its leaves. Today we will talk about why the leaves of the apple tree curl and how to return the tree to a healthy state.

The apple tree is a very common fruit tree. She is loved for beautiful bloom and delicious fruits. Caring for the plant is simple, even a beginner can handle it. However, the apple tree also has difficult times - like any other plant, it is sometimes attacked by diseases and pests. Today we will talk about why the leaves on the apple tree curl and what to do to restore health to the tree.

The reasons

Exists great amount reasons why apple leaves curl. Usually these are diseases and pests. Some of them are so dangerous that they can spoil not only the leaves, but also leave you without a crop, or even lead to the death of the tree. It is especially insulting if trouble happens to a young apple tree.

Therefore, having discovered an alarming sign, you should immediately take up the treatment of the apple tree. It is important to correctly determine what kind of disease is in front of you and take appropriate measures.

red gall aphid

If you find that the leaves on the apple tree are curling up and gradually changing their color to red, you are probably faced with a red gall aphid. This pest lives off the juices of the plant, thereby depleting the apple tree. At the same time, the leaves take the form of a boat or twist into a tube and fall off. The tree is "bald".

AT advanced cases the entire leaf is covered with neoplasms. If you carefully examine the plant, you can see the insects themselves. The adult aphid has a body gray color. Pests settle in colonies and lay eggs up to four times in one season, as a result of which their numbers increase exponentially.

Insects lay their eggs in the bark, and in spring, larvae appear that occupy the underside of the leaves of the apple tree.

When aphids appear, red spots can also be seen on the fruits of the tree.

Nutrient deficiency

The reason the leaves are curling may not be related to pests. A tree suffering from a lack of trace elements in the soil shows similar symptoms.

With a lack of potassium, the leaves turn brown, and sometimes even turn black. Often this happens with trees growing on sandy soils. In such cases, the apple tree sheds leaves earlier, which begin to dry actively from the top.

To help the apple tree, you need to apply potash fertilizer

If the plant lacks phosphorus, the formation of buds and the growth of young shoots are delayed. The leaves also quickly turn yellow, dry, curl, and the fruits, not having time to ripen, fall off.

powdery mildew

Powdery mildew is a disease known to all gardeners. Signs of the disease can be seen on the bark, leaves, buds. This is a white coating that becomes brown over time. The leaves dry up, and the tree ceases to bear fruit. The disease can lead to the death of the apple tree.

Scab

Scab is considered by many gardeners to be the most dangerous disease of the apple tree. It completely hits the tree. At first, the leaves are covered with gray spots with a greenish bloom. Then the spots increase in size and turn black, and the leaves crumble. Then on the shoots the bark begins to crack and exfoliate. The fruits are deformed and also stained, and the flesh hardens and coarsens.

lack of moisture

Sometimes the cause of leaf curl is much simpler than it seems. After a long period of hot and dry weather, the apple tree may look unhealthy. Often this means that she simply does not have enough water.

But if the leaves are curled up, and all other parts of the tree look as they should, water exchange is disturbed. This may be due to a sharp change in frost in a warm spring or to the activity of moles. There is no way to help the tree here, but in most cases the plant recovers on its own.

Insecticides and drugs for diseases

What to do if the apple tree is attacked by pests? It is necessary to choose the right insecticide and treat the tree!

The procedure should be carried out at a temperature not lower than five degrees Celsius.

A universal remedy is copper sulfate. They need to process the tree completely, as well as the tree trunks. This is done in order to get rid of insects wintering in the soil.

When the buds begin to bloom, it is also necessary to carry out the treatment with special preparations.

Well suited Karbofos. It is used during the growing season, mainly for the destruction of leaf-eating pests. It is important to remember that it is impossible to use the drug during pollination, as it is toxic to bees.

Karbofos is usually sold in small bags. One such is bred in 6-8 liters of water. The freshly diluted mixture is sprayed so that it evenly covers the leaves.

It is necessary to process in dry calm weather.

Pyrimix is ​​another remedy for leaf-eating. 10-15 ml of the drug is diluted in 10 liters of water and the tree is sprayed.

Nitrafen is also worth mentioning. It is used against aphids, sucker, scab, spotting. One apple tree consumes from 1 to 3 liters of solution. But the soil does not need to be treated with Nitrafen; when processing the trunk, a sufficient amount of the product will fall on it.

Bordeaux mixture is good for most diseases. She is treated with a tree in early spring, while the buds have not yet blossomed. The second treatment is carried out after flowering. Take a liquid concentration of 1%.

To obtain a mixture in non-metallic dishes, combine 100 g of copper sulfate, diluted hot water in a volume of 5 liters, and 100g of lime, diluted according to the same principle.

The components are combined very carefully, and then the resulting liquid is filtered.

For the second treatment, alternatively, colloidal sulfur (80 g of preparation per 10 l of water) or Hom agent (40 g per 10 l of water) can be used.

We hope this information helped you understand why the leaves of the apple tree curl and how to help the tree.

When the apple tree on your site develops well and pleases with elegant foliage, then the soul becomes somehow calm. You understand that you made the right choice in favor of the seedling and variety, properly fed and watered, and, apparently, the apple tree likes the soil. It is quite different when our tree suddenly begins to twist its leaves. It is clear that she does not do this easily, there are certain reasons for this. So, let's look at the most common reasons why an apple tree suddenly twists its leaves on the site, and learn how to take preventive measures so that this phenomenon will not be observed in the future, and also get acquainted with the measures related to eliminating a particular problem using the safest sparing measures.

About the reasons for twisting the foliage of an apple tree briefly

There are a lot of reasons why the leaves, both young and those that have already lived for several years on the plot of apple trees, suddenly begin to curl a lot. These can be the tricks of aphids, like the usual or slightly rarer red gall, more familiar to all of us, as well as powdery mildew (a harmful fungal disease that manifests itself precisely in cool and wet years) or scab. Finally, the leaves on the apple tree can also curl up with a negligent owner who has introduced insufficient nutrients into the soil, and the apple tree is simply starving, or has poured too little water into the near-trunk strip, hoping that since he has moistened the soil surface, this will be quite enough. See how many reasons?

So, let's try to deal with each problem of leaf curl on the apple tree separately and start with the red gall aphid.

Reason one. aphid red gall

The red-gall aphid most actively attacks such varieties of apple trees as Antonovka, Cinnamon striped, Bellefleur-Chinese and Renet golden Kursky. It is not known for certain what this is connected with, perhaps our readers will write in the comments why the red-gall aphid favors precisely leaf blades of these varieties, but rather it is some biological feature thickness of leaf blades of these cultivars.

In the case of red gall aphids and the timing of its detection, it is far from always advisable to use chemicals(insecticides). For example, when a large number of entomophages are observed in the garden, that is beneficial insects, and with chemistry we will kill them too. Considering this, it is possible to spend in the garden or on small area mass installation of adhesive belts (especially at the end of April at a height of a meter or one and a half), these adhesive belts will be able to eliminate part of the aphids and a large number of ants that are its carriers, when irritated by the antennae of which the aphid releases a sticky and sweet liquid - a span, which the ants feed on.

Often, instead of slightly more expensive trap belts, resourceful gardeners use ordinary adhesive tapes for flies, necessarily lubricated with an adhesive composition on both sides - female aphids are glued (usually by accident) to such tapes, which makes it possible to drastically reduce the number of pests. In addition, using adhesive tapes, you can kill not even two, but a dozen "hares" at the same time: partially get rid of earwigs, cap moths, leafworm caterpillars (which also twist the leaves of an apple tree, settling in them and pupating) and even an apple flower beetle, which falls into the sticky tape, too, by accident, because he is slow.

In order to exclude or minimize the appearance of aphids on the site, it is necessary to monitor the apple trees, remove the bark that begins to peel off, because in such places the red-gall aphid settler and lays eggs, from which young, voracious individuals hatch very quickly.

You should not think that, having hung the belts only once or hung out like garlands, sticky tapes you can breathe a sigh of relief. This is not true. Both trapping belts and sticky tapes must be replaced with new ones every five or six days and at least, otherwise they will be of little use. For example, when leaving the dacha, hang trapping belts or sticky tapes, and upon arrival, replace them with new ones. But not everything is so bad: given that the larvae are not born all the time, but only three times per season, it means that the trapping belts also need to be changed only three times.

There are also rules for installing trapping belts from the red-gall aphid. Trapping belts should fit as closely as possible to the tree trunk, because aphids are very small insect and can completely crawl under the gap between the belt and the wood. In order for the belt to lie flat, first clean the bark well, removing the old and dead parts of it, and then the belt can be applied quite calmly and tightly.

I would like to say a few words about ants, we have already touched on them a little earlier and talked about the addiction of ants to the sweet secretions of aphids. So, in order for aphids to become many times smaller on the site, it is necessary to reduce the number of these inhabitants on the site too. Alas, chemistry is usually indispensable here, anthills are heavily poisoned using insecticides such as Nitrafen or Kemifos. Of course, you can always take the advice of our grandparents and treat the anthills with soap or even cow urine, but, as a rule, if it helps, then not for long.

The second reason. common aphid

If the red-gall aphid lives much more often on the berries, not disdaining our apple trees, and you can notice it by red swellings on the leaves, then the common aphid, gathering in huge colonies, which are often spread by the same ants, literally attacks young growths.

Outwardly, it looks as if someone took and crumpled the young growth along with the leaves with force. This happens because the aphid sucks the juice from the young growth and leaf blades, their deformation occurs, the leaves stop growing, the shoots are bent, photosynthesis is disturbed.

There are many ways to deal with aphids. These are a variety of insecticides, which can be treated strictly according to the instructions a month before harvesting the fruits, and simple removal by cutting off the affected areas of plants, and fighting ants, which we have already talked about above, and of course, compliance with planting patterns. Do not allow strong thickening of plantings and always remove weeds or at least mow them, because it is often from them that aphids get on the shoots.

Important! Aphids are no joke to you: let’s say she twisted a couple of leaves and shoots - it doesn’t seem to matter, in fact, in this way she can bring the most various diseases, even viral ones, and from the proboscis of the proboscis aphid is strong and healthy plant may die. Therefore, decide how to deal with aphids: laundry soap, pepper or reliable insecticides, with which there will be no trace of aphids.

Reason three. powdery mildew

Powdery mildew leads to leaf curl not only on vegetable crops, but also on the apple tree. To detect the presence of powdery mildew on an apple tree, it is necessary to examine its leaves as carefully as possible, especially young leaves, because it is there that powdery mildew often settles: it is apparently easier for it to penetrate through young leaf tissues, and there is more life-giving juice.

Powdery mildew usually appears on an apple tree in early spring. It is during this period that the plants need to be examined more closely, and if you notice a white coating on the leaves that resembles flour, then you need to immediately sound the alarm and begin to eliminate the disease, the end result of which is the drying of the leaf, its twisting and falling off.

Powdery growth develops especially actively in seasons when it is warm and humid, of course, it spreads much more strongly in dense plantations, where apple trees and berry bushes located too close and shade each other, actively watered, not cut off, and the soil under them is not loosened. Powdery mildew of an apple tree, outwardly not being some kind of terrible disease, can lead to completely serious crop losses, reducing the yield of marketable fruits from 30 to 50 percent, which is already quite serious.

In no case should you delay treatment after powdery mildew on an apple tree. If the leaves are heavily infected and there are a lot of affected leaf blades, then it is best to use only approved fungicides (drugs to combat fungal infection), strictly following the instructions on the package and at least a month before harvesting. An example is Topaz.

From folk remedies, which, as practice has shown, rather than exterminate powdery mildew, but inhibit its further spread, it can be recommended to treat the plants as a whole with the help of a rod manual sprayer preparations based on copper, say, a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture (HOM, Oksikhom and others). You can treat an apple tree with this preparation 20 days before harvesting and immediately after removing all the fruits from the tree. However, one should not place high hopes on the Bordeaux liquid, this auxiliary drug, but not the main one.

In the future, in order to next year to minimize the appearance of this infection on the site, it is necessary in the fall and, having repeated all these procedures, in the spring, remove absolutely all plant debris from the tree, including fruits and leaf blades, and be sure to burn them outside the site.

Reason four. Scab

This is a fungal infection that most often affects the apple tree and, to a lesser extent, the pear, and also leads to curling of the leaf blades. The disease is spread by spores, so if it's wet and windy, scab can very quickly infect most of the apple plants in your area. The very first sign that scab has appeared on the leaves of your apple tree is the presence of an olive-brown coating on the leaf blades. In addition to the leaf blades, which gradually curl, the scab also switches to the fruits, forming cracks on them and leading to their decay.

Before proceeding to the story of how to overcome scab, I would like to say a few words about how to prevent its occurrence. Prevention of the appearance of scab on the site must necessarily be reduced to the removal of all fallen leaves from the bite zone, because it is there that the infection can persist, then it is necessary to cut and burn the dried shoots and affected fruits remaining on the shoots.

Even before the use of harmful chemicals, in particular fungicides, try to treat your precious apple trees in early spring with a fairly safe biofungicidal preparation Fitosporin-M or Bordeaux liquid, and if you couldn’t cope with the disease, then you can use heavy artillery - fungicides, but always allowed and strictly following the instructions, for example, such as Fitolavin.

For maximum effect when using fungicides, it is necessary to carry out treatments before flowering and immediately after it ends. Naturally, when using fungicides, acaricides and the like, you need to use products personal protection: At a minimum, wear rubber gloves.

The most surprising thing is that even fungicides are not always effective against scab, that is, after treatments, the disease continues to progress. In this case, additional top dressing of the apple tree can save the situation.

Gardeners note that a mixture of potassium sulfate, potassium nitrate, ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate is a very good solution to fight infection. All this is bred in a bucket of water. room temperature. A bucket of water needs 15 g of potassium sulfate, 15 g of potassium nitrate, 10 g of ammonium nitrate and 10 g of ammonium sulfate. Plants can be treated with this solution directly from the spray gun every 5-6 days, sometimes this saves trees from scab.

Reason five. Lack of top dressing

Twisting the leaves of an apple tree can also tell us about the lack of elements in the soil. For example, if there is little nitrogen in the soil where an apple tree grows, then its leaves will begin to curl and at the same time acquire a light green color. If the problem is not corrected, then the leaves will turn yellow and begin to fall off much earlier. The fastest way to restore the nitrogen deficiency in the soil is by adding ammonium nitrate (18-20 g under a tree, dissolved in water) to the soil or treating the plants with the same amount in the evening. For treatments, in addition to ammonium nitrate, you can also use a solution of urea (0.5%), they also need to process the tree in the evening, especially carefully - its leaf blades.

The leaves of the apple tree also curl with a lack of phosphorus, while they seem to discolor, become, as it were, bronze, reddish or even purple. Ultimately, the leaves dry out completely and their color becomes repulsive black. Remember that apple trees usually experience a lack of phosphorus on acidic soil, if the owner saved on adding organic matter or never applied it at all. The first aid to an apple tree, in which the leaf blades began to curl from a lack of phosphorus, is to add superphosphate. On acidic soils, superphosphate may not help, it is better to use phosphate rock here, and no matter how difficult it may be, fertilizers will have to be dissolved in water as thoroughly as possible, loosen the soil in the near-trunk zone before applying, moisten it and mulch it with humus after application, so that the active substance of the fertilizer did not evaporate under the rays of the sun. If the soils are very acidic (pH below 5.0), then potassium monophosphate can be pre-applied, and after five days - already the main top dressing.

The leaves of an apple tree can also curl from a deficiency of potassium in the soil, usually such twisting occurs simultaneously with their blanching. The leaves of an apple tree with a potassium deficiency become dull and acquire a repulsive, bluish-green color, and the edges curl down, from which it can be understood that they lack potassium. A little later, a rim forms around the leaves, which begins to dry out, the leaf blade becomes clumsy, develops at the same time, and if the potassium deficiency is not eliminated, the leaves will wrinkle completely. Interestingly, most often potassium deficiency manifests itself precisely on acidic soil, and also if for some reason there is a lot of calcium and manganese in the soil. It is possible to make up for the deficiency of potassium in the soil by adding potassium sulfate or wood ash to the pre-loosened soil of the bite zone. In the case of wood ash, know that this fertilizer is good, it also contains trace elements, but it contains only 5% potassium, so you can’t count wood ash the main source of potassium, but take it as an auxiliary element.

If the leaf blades of an apple tree begin to twist up quite intensively and at the same time the growth point begins to die, then this sure sign the lack of calcium in the soil. Those leaves that haven't curled up can start falling off quite effectively. The first remedy for calcium deficiency in the soil is the immediate liming of the soil. trunk circle you need to loosen 2-3 cm deep, pour out two or three buckets of water and pour out 70-100 g of lime, and after a couple of days add potassium sulfate under each apple tree, mulching the soil with humus after it has been applied with a layer of a couple of centimeters.

Reason six. lack of moisture

Naturally, the leaves on an apple tree can also curl from a lack of moisture in the soil, and if there is very little moisture, then, among other things, the leaves will also begin to dry out.

Remember, in order for an apple tree to grow and develop normally, it is necessary to maintain the moisture content of the soil on which it grows at a level of 70 - 75%, preferably no less and no more. The fact is that plants for the most part absorb substances dissolved in it from the soil, and if there is no moisture, then, even having a large amount of substances in the soil, their absorption, alas, does not occur. If there is too much moisture, then the tips of the roots may begin to rot, and the absorption of nutrients from the soil will also be disrupted.

Ideally, apple trees should be watered by drip irrigation: the simplest option is a barrel located under the drain, on a hill (yes, at least half a meter), into which water will drain from the roof and protected from above mosquito net, the barrel will not miss the garbage. Holes should be made in the bottom of the barrel and tubes with garden droppers inserted into them and placed so that a dropper fits into each trunk strip. As a result, the garden will be provided with plenty of moisture.

When watering by hand, for which it is better to use thawed or rain water, given the natural moisture, that is, rains (namely, their presence or absence), the trees need to be watered at the beginning of their growth (May), during the flowering period, during the setting of buds and the formation of the ovary, as well as during the period of fruit growth. Do not forget to combine watering and loosening the soil so that the soil is air and moisture permeable.

Conclusion

Take care of your plants like children, and then there will be no whims on their part, in particular, in the form of twisted leaves, and the apple tree will literally overwhelm you high yields, which, in addition to everything else, will also be stable.

Abundant spring bloom and the ovary of apple fruit pleases every gardener. But often, the closer it comes to harvesting, the less beautiful bulk fruits remain on the branches, and the tree itself takes on a sick look. A large number of diseases and pests interfere with normal fruiting and fruit ripening. You can get a healthy harvest only with proper care and timely protection of plants.

Photos of pests of apple trees and their control

A huge number of insects love to feast on the flowers, fruits and leaves of this tree. If you detect and correctly determine the type of pest in time, then the fight against it will not be as terrible as it is painted. Among the most dangerous pests for the garden, several types of aphids, mites, moths and codling moths can be distinguished. The struggle with each of them occurs from the beginning of budding to the ripening of fruits.

How to defeat the codling moth

This type of pest is considered the most dangerous for the crop. The codling moth lives in almost all regions of the country. A small butterfly with dark transverse wavy lines begins its years from the flowering period of the apple tree. The females lay their eggs on smooth surface young leaves or just formed ligature. Through the petiole fossa, the caterpillars penetrate the fruits and begin to develop in them (reach up to 20 mm). Crawling from one fruit to another, each individual is capable of causing serious damage to the crop. And when an unripe, spoiled apple falls, the caterpillar leaves it and makes a long way along the trunk to a new fruit. The pest hibernates in warm cocoons under the bark of damaged areas.

The methods of dealing with the codling moth on an apple tree are quite diverse, and this whole process continues throughout the year:

• When a thaw occurs, it is necessary to clean the damaged bark in order to remove the cocoons hiding under it, after which the plant stem should be whitened or treated with garden pitch. The same procedure must be carried out in late autumn.
• In May, special pheromone traps can be placed throughout the site that attract butterflies, which significantly reduces their population. To prepare an alluring syrup, boil 100 g of dried apples (20-30 minutes) in 2 liters of water, and after the liquid has cooled to a temperature of 60-70 °, add sugar and yeast to it. Distribute jars of syrup evenly throughout the garden.
• Daily scavenging will keep the caterpillars from leaving the fruit and continuing their destructive activities.
• During the period of insects emerging from eggs before they are introduced into apples (8-12 days after the peak summer of butterflies), it is recommended to carry out chemical treatment with special insecticides.

If you miss the timing of spraying and allow the penetration of caterpillars into the fruit, then any further chemical or biological treatment will be meaningless. She will do more harm than good.

How to deal with aphids on an apple tree?

This pest sucks juices from young leaves and shoots, as a result of which they bend, slow down in growth and completely dry out. Small yellowish-green insects, 1-3 mm in size, climb to the tops of the buds in spring, and after they bloom, they penetrate inside, which greatly complicates the destruction of aphids.

Some predators (" ladybug”, fly larvae or goosebumps) eat apple green aphid. Therefore, sometimes beneficial insects present on the site are enough to control the pest. Otherwise, you will need to spray the trees with a variety of preparations. spring processing A 2% emulsion of nitrafen (200 g of concentrate per 10 liters of water) or phosphamide (10-15 g / 10 liters of water) will help exterminate wintering aphid eggs.

The greatest accumulation and activity of insects is usually observed in early summer. The following recommendations will tell you how to deal with aphids on an apple tree in June. When a large number pests, only spraying the crown will be effective. A good insecticidal property is a 12% hexachloran dust or a 2% aqueous suspension of this drug, as well as soap solution(200-300 g / 10 l of water), which are washed with damaged areas.

Why do the leaves of the apple tree dry?

Even the complete extermination of all pests does not guarantee a good healthy crop. Trees are also subject to many diseases, which cause their leaves to become covered with bloom or spots, and then curl, dry out and fall off. Of the most common diseases of the apple family are scab, powdery mildew and moniliosis (fruit rot).

Apple scab and methods of its treatment

This type of disease is one of the most dangerous for many fruit trees and shrubs. Scab is a spore-bearing fungus that is activated and multiplies when interacting with moisture. Initially arise brown spots on the leaves of the apple tree, and over time, the fungus infects young shoots, flowers and unripe fruits.

The main reason for the appearance of scab on an apple tree is excess moisture in the absence of ventilation in the crown. Therefore, the first preventive action is spring pruning extra branches and shoots. To combat scab, you should also treat with certain drugs:

• The disinfectant effect is provided by a solution based on (500-600 g / 10 l of water). Spraying trees is carried out in early spring and autumn.
• Has an antifungal effect Bordeaux liquid(300 g of lime and copper sulfate per 10 liters of water)
• Twice a year (before flowering and after fruit set), treatment with copper oxychloride should be carried out at the rate of 40 g per 10 liters of water.

Topaz and Hom received good reviews from many gardeners today. The first spraying is carried out before bud break, the second - immediately after flowering.

powdery mildew

Why the leaves on the apple tree curl, not everyone knows. Many gardeners mistakenly attribute this to caterpillar activity. In fact, the main cause of deformation is powdery mildew. And the caterpillars only populate ready-made "dwellings". The first signs of the disease are expressed by the appearance of an off-white or gray coating on the leaves. On the initial stage it is easily erased, but over time becomes more dense. The leaves on the apple tree curl, stop developing, turn yellow and die.

Spraying with colloidal sulfur will help get rid of. The causative agent of powdery mildew "waits out" the winter in the buds of the tree, so the first treatment is recommended to be carried out simultaneously with their advancement. Immediately after flowering, it is necessary to perform the second spraying, and after another two weeks - the third.

Moniliosis or fruit rot

High humidity at high temperatures air contribute to the development of infection, in which rotting of fruits directly on the branches is observed. The causative agent of monoliosis is introduced into the fetus through the places of damage by other diseases or pests. In such places, a small brown spot initially appears, and over time, rot covers the entire fruit. The development of infection will prevent spraying or 3% suspension of copper chloride.

Regardless of the type of tree damage, there are a number of recommendations that will help prevent insect populations and the development of any infections:

1. Any infected parts of the crown should be cut off and disposed of immediately.
2. Damaged leaves, young shoots and fruits must be burned. Throwing them on the compost heap is highly undesirable.
3. Wind, rain and insects contribute to the rapid spread of infections. Therefore, if signs of any lesions appear on one of the trees, a series of preventive actions should be taken throughout the garden.
4. Spraying of trees should be carried out in calm weather, observing a set of safety measures.

Usage chemicals fight during the ripening period of the fruit is unsafe!

Treatment of tree diseases - video