In the second half of summer, gardeners are faced with the fact that a thick black coating, reminiscent of soot, appears on the leaves and branches of apple trees.
Not every gardener will immediately understand that this is one of the signs of sooty mold - a disease that causes significant harm to the health of fruit crops and ripening harvest.
Causes of occurrence
1. Poor sunlight.
2. Excessive crown density.
3. Incorrect pruning, which damaged the plant’s immune system.
The first sign of the disease is a black coating on the bark, leaves, branches and apples.
How to treat a tree
1. First, remove damaged fragments, if possible. For example, cut off shoots, clean off affected areas of bark, remove and collect fruits with fungus under the tree.
2. Next, fungicides are used. There are special antifungal agents that are produced in the form of solutions with chemicals or bacterial strains.
How can you treat an apple tree against sooty mold:
- "Fitosporin";
- Bordeaux mixture;
- "Abiga-Peak";
- copper oxychloride (COCHM);
- soon.
3. If there are ants on the site and aphids are noticed on the trees, then the insects may be the cause of the spread of sooty mold. It feeds on the excrement of insects, including aphids.
Therefore, pest control is also included in the list of sooty mold control and prevention.
