Characteristic signs of the disease are dark spots of various shades on plants. Irregular rusty-brown spots of dead tissue develop on the veins of the leaves. Diseased plants can look like they have been burned in the sun.
Sunken ulcers, which contain fungal spores, develop on infected twigs, can also be on stems and fruits, spots on the leaf merge, the leaf changes color – it turns brown and then dries. Premature November begins. Fruits affected by anthracnose rot.
Anthracnose is a group of related fungal diseases of leaves and stems caused by ascomycete fungi that affect shade trees. For example: Apiognomonia errabunda (Roberge ex Desm.) Höhn. (1918) causes anthracnose in oak and various deciduous trees. Colletotrichum acutatum J.H. Simmonds (1968) causes anthracnose of strawberries.
Maple anthracnose is not the same disease as oak anthracnose, although the symptoms of these diseases can be very similar. Anthracnose diseases usually affect the veins of the leaves, causing the death of the vein and surrounding tissues.
The fight against anthracnose is carried out according to the same procedure for all shade trees.
Anthracnose is transmitted with infected plant residues, seeds, soil. Mushrooms overwinter on fallen leaves and branches that were infected last summer. Wet spring contributes to infection, it can occur on young leaves, vulnerable when there is a film of water on the leaf surface. More serious infection of the tree occurs in the lower third of the tree, where humidity is higher.
The disease does not lead to the death of the host tree, but can slow the growth of subsequent seasons and affect the decorative plant.
Tips for disease prevention:
- Ensure good air circulation in the crown of the tree by thinning and pruning overgrown shoots and new growth.
- Be sure to use clean garden tools when pruning. You can use alcohol or solution: bleach 1 part to 9 parts water. It is necessary to disinfect the tool by immersing it in the solution after each cut.
- Be sure to prune all dried branches.
- Infected fallen leaves must be collected and destroyed. Fallen twigs and leaves are a source of infection in the spring.
- It is important to restrain the annual growth, if you limit watering and provide moisture only in dry periods, and fertilize only in early spring or late autumn.
- Perhaps as a prevention of the disease, at the beginning of the growing season, when only the kidney begins to open, the use of fungicides two or three times with an interval of 7-10 days. The choice of fungicides is quite wide, but expert advice can help you choose the right tool and rate for spraying trees. It may be necessary to carry out preventive work with special equipment to perform quality treatment.
Using a prevention strategy, it is possible to improve your garden.
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