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Preventing Diseases in Fruit Trees |
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Written by Rays
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Saturday, 30 September 2006 |
If you maintain any pitted fruit trees such as plums, peaches, or cherries, I’m sure you know that those types of trees are much more susceptible to diseases than any other type. While the fruits are delicious, it can be rather hard to live with all of the maladies that can plague the life of everyone who has ever grown one of those types of fruit trees. Growers of fruit trees are constantly faced with diseases and pests to worry about. However, if you take the proper precautions then you can avoid most of them. Those planting plum trees might deal with something called Black Knot. The symptoms of black not are rough tumors or growths that can be seen on the tree’s branches.
A cytospora canker is a disgusting dark, soft area on tree branches. Gum protrudes through the bark, along with a large callus. The pathogen which causes these cankers usually enters the tree through older wounds. If you prune all of the sprouts that occur in late summer, cankers will have a harder time making themselves known within your tree. Almost everyone who has ever maintained a cherry tree has dealt with the “Cherry Leaf Spot”. It usually shows itself when there are old dead leaves accumulated on the ground. Preventing this disease is fairly easy. All you have to do is be fairly diligent in raking up all of the leaves that fall from your tree.
The main disease that you will hear about the most is known as “Brown Rot”. This is a fungus that attaches to many of the leftover fruits after the picking season is over. Not only does it look disgusting on the leftover fruits, but it also can come back on the newer fruits, rendering them inedible. You should also look for any diseases that have been affecting your local area, and try to take steps to prevent those as well. When you prune, always allow the wounds to heal naturally rather than use the wound dressings that you can buy at gardening stores. I’ve found that these usually do very little to help any situation, and only serve to make the tree look unnatural.
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