How to grow healthy cherries: cure diseases, drive pests

When growing cherries, the gardener may encounter various diseases and pests. It is often difficult to understand the essence of the problem, its causes and ways to overcome it. Our goal is to help in the correct diagnosis, prevention and elimination of unpleasant phenomena.

Disease and Pest Prevention

Timely and regular sanitary and preventive maintenance in most cases will save the gardener from problems associated with diseases and pests of cherries. These works are simple and do not require significant labor costs.

Table: preventive and sanitary measures to prevent diseases and pest attacks

The main diseases of sweet cherry: diagnosis and treatment

Cherries with proper care rarely get sick, but the list of possible diseases is quite large.

Moniliosis

This fungal disease manifests itself in two forms: a monilial burn and fruit rot. The first occurs in spring, when the fungus infects young leaves, the tips of young shoots, flowers. Then the affected parts wilt, slightly curl up, then turn yellow and blacken. From the side they look as if scorched by fire, whence the second name appeared. If such signs are found, the affected parts of the plant should be removed and destroyed, and the tree should be treated three times with fungicides (antifungal drugs) with an interval of one week. At this time, you can use Horus, Abiga Peak, Strobi, etc.

Fruit rot (another name for moniliosis) affects berries during their ripening. Such berries begin to rot, then dry, mummify and continue to hang on branches until the next season. They should also be collected and destroyed if possible, after the end of the harvest, the tree should be treated with fungicides. At this time, Skor, Quadris and others are more effective. During harvesting, only biological preparations can be used. The most popular of these is Fitosporin-M, which can be used without harm to humans, even on the day of fruit collection.

Berries affected by moniliosis begin to rot, then dry, mummify and continue to hang on branches until the next season

Video: cherries for moniliosis

Scab

The first signs of this fungal disease can usually be observed in May. At this time, brown or almost black spots with yellow bordering appear on the affected leaves. After the formation of the ovaries, green berries develop poorly, they wrinkle. On already ripened fruits, indented spots form, which become coarse, stiff and then crack. Affected berries take an ugly shape; sometimes they rot.

In May, brown or almost black spots with yellow bordering appear on the leaves affected by scab

Prevention of the disease is described above, and treatment, as in the case of moniliosis, is to remove the affected parts of the plant and treatment with fungicides.

Soot fungus

If a black soot-like coating appeared on the leaves of cherry, this indicates an infection of the plant with a sooty fungus. Usually its spores germinate on the sweet and sticky secretions of aphids that cover the leaves of the cherry when it is invaded. These secretions are the most favorable nutrient medium for the development of the fungus. Initially, plaque appears in the form of small separate spots, and as it develops, the fungus completely covers the entire surface of the leaves, blocking the access of oxygen to the tissue and stopping the photosynthesis process. And also he can move to the fruits, which as a result will become unusable.

When infected with a soot fungus, initially plaque appears in the form of small individual spots

Prevention of soot fungus is the fight against aphids and the usual sanitary measures. Treatment at the first stages can be carried out by washing off a soot coating with a stream of water from a hose, followed by treatment with fungicides. With severe damage, you will have to remove the affected parts of the plant.

Powdery mildew

White powdery coating on the leaves of sweet cherry may appear in dry, hot weather, which occurred after heavy rains. This is evidence of mildew infection. Especially young plants suffer from the disease, in which leaves and young shoots are affected, which leads to stunting and stunted growth. Adult trees more easily tolerate the disease, but with severe damage, their winter hardiness decreases. Fighting and prevention are similar to the previous ones - removal of affected parts and treatment with fungicides.

White powdery coating on the leaves indicates infection with powdery mildew

Leaf curl

This is a dangerous fungal disease in which young leaves in the spring develop unevenly, as a result of which they curl, become wavy, and become covered with vesicular swellings. Depending on the specific pathogen, the leaves may become stained, change color. The disease is often accompanied by necrosis of leaves, young shoots and fruits.

When infected with curly, young leaves in the spring develop unevenly, as a result of which they curl, become wavy, and become covered with vesicular swellings

If such signs are found, the affected parts of the plant should be immediately removed and treated with fungicides (Abiga-Peak, Strobi, Horus, etc.). Then the treatment is repeated twice more with an interval of one week.

Chlorosis

Chlorosis is a disease in which the activity of photosynthesis and the formation of chlorophyll in leaves is reduced. It can be recognized by the premature yellowing of the leaves, their falling, crushing, and also drying out the tops of the shoots. The nature of chlorosis can be infectious and non-infectious. In the first case, the disease is caused by viruses or fungi introduced into the plant by pests. This form is incurable and the affected plants must be destroyed. But fortunately, it is extremely rare, so we will not consider it in detail.

But the second, non-infectious, form of chlorosis is quite common. It is caused by a deficiency of certain elements, increased acidity of the soil and waterlogging of the roots. Most often, chlorosis is caused by a lack of iron. In this case, it is enough to feed the cherries with preparations containing iron in chelated form, for example, Ferrovit, Ferrilen, Micro-Fe, Mikom-Reakom, Iron Chelate.

It is possible to determine the deficiency of which element is caused by chlorosis by the color of the leaves

Some cherry pests: representatives and control

From time to time, various harmful insects attack the cherry. Consider the most likely uninvited guests.

Cherry aphid

These are small (2-2.4 mm) pear-shaped insects of black color. They hibernate in the form of eggs laid at the ends of shoots near the buds. In spring, larvae appear that feed on the juice of young leaves and shoots. In this case, the leaves are folded into a tube, and later dry up and turn black. And also these harmful insects are brought to the crown by ants and planted on the leaves. Aphids in the process of life emit a sweet, sticky liquid called honey dew, which is loved by ants and other insects, as well as a sooty fungus.

Aphids settle on the inside of leaves

In the fight against aphids, the following methods are used:

• Removal of affected parts of the plant.
• Treatments with insecticides, for example, Nitrafen, Confidor, Decis, Spark, etc. During the ripening period of the berries, biological preparations are used - Fitoverm, Fitolavin, Iskra-Bio, etc.
• Of the many folk remedies, they are more often used:
  • Tobacco infusion. To prepare it, 500 grams of tobacco dust is dissolved in a bucket of water and insisted for 3-4 days, after which 50 g of laundry soap, grated on a coarse grater, is added to improve the adhesion of the solution to the leaves.
  • Infusion of 500 g of onion peel in hot water. Cooking time is one day.
  • Garlic infusion, which is prepared by infusing 500 g of finely chopped garlic in 5 liters of water for a day.
  • A solution of 1 tablespoon of soda ash in a bucket of water with the addition of one glass of chopped onions.
• Removing ants from the site.

Video: processing aphids from cherries

Cherry fly

This is the most common pest of sweet cherry. This is especially true for middle and late varieties. The cherry fly is small - 3-5 mm in length and has a shiny black body. Wings are transparent with four transverse dark stripes. When the warm spring weather comes, the fly flies out and for the first time (10-15 days) feeds on honeydew of cherry aphids, which by that time had already settled on the leaves. After that, the fly lays one egg each in unripe fruits, from which after a while a small (3-6 mm) legless larva of white color appears. Such berries can not be saved, the larvae eat them from the inside.

Cherry fly lays its eggs in the fruits of cherries and cherries, from which larvae emerge

The preventative measures described above significantly reduce the likelihood of being hit by a cherry fly. In addition, during the flight of the flies, it is advisable to carry out additional treatments with insecticides (Decis, Fufanon, Spark, Actellik). Two such treatments with an interval of 7-10 days will be required. For cherries of early varieties, only biological preparations can be used, for example, Iskra-Bio, Fitoverm, Fitolavin, etc. Alternative methods of control can also be used:

• Processing the crown with strong-smelling infusions - tobacco, needles, wormwood, garlic, etc. This causes a deterrent effect.
• Hanging traps with baits in the form of sticky sweet liquids - fermented jam, molasses, syrup, etc.
  

  The fly trap is easy to make from a plastic bottle

• Before flowering, you can cover the trunks with agrofibre. A fly cannot fly out from under it and die from hunger.
• Prevention of the appearance of aphids on cherries. After awakening, the flies, not finding the usual food, will fly away to another place in search of it.

Leaflet

The butterfly of this pest has a nondescript appearance and small size. Its wingspan is about 2.5 cm. The caterpillars are even smaller - 1-2 cm, their color is yellow or light green. They settle more often on the leaves of the plant individually, eating their pulp and juice. Damage to the sweet cherry with a leaf grater is easy to identify by twisted and web-tightened leaves, inside of which, as a rule, the larvae themselves are located. Prevention and control of them is the same as with other similar insects, for example, with a cherry fly.

Damage to the sweet cherry with a leaf grater is easy to identify by twisted and web-tightened leaves, inside of which, as a rule, the larvae themselves are located

Chafer beetle (chafer)

The widely known May beetle is a rather large (17-32 mm) flying insect with an elongated body, protected by a strong chitinous cover of black or red-brown color. The beetles themselves feed on the leaves of plants, but their larvae, which are often called khrushchev, do more harm. They gnaw young plant roots, which causes inhibition in their development, and in some cases even death.

Larvae of grubs live in the soil and feed on plant roots, humus, plant debris

Khrushchev actively develop and feed in early summer, and then pupate and go on wintering. To detect and destroy grubs, bait is often made in the form of small heaps of compost or humus. They are well moistened and covered with roofing material, slate, etc. After some time, the gourmet will gather there in large numbers, attracted by conditions that are comfortable for them. The gardener will only have to collect them and destroy them. In addition, you can use drugs based on diazinon, for example, Medvetox. Their protective effect lasts for three weeks, diazinon in the soil does not accumulate.

Ants on a cherry: how to get rid

There is no consensus on the benefits and harms of ants. On the one hand, they themselves actively destroy some harmful insects, and on the other, they plant aphids, fungal spores, and various infections on plants. Therefore, they often come to a compromise option - they do not destroy the ants, but expel them from the site or arrange insurmountable obstacles for them. A lot of ways have been invented for this, here are the most famous:

• Installation of hunting belts. They can be made from:
  • roofing material, cardboard, thick foil or other similar materials and have a conical shape, creating an obstacle to movement;
    

    The simplest fishing belt can be made from a piece of film and rope

  • burlap or other fabric and impregnated with a thick layer of solid oil, or other grease or glue;
  • porous material soaked with insecticides and serve not only as an obstacle, but also to kill insects.
• The device around the tree grooves with water.
• Repelling odors unpleasant for ants by spraying the crown with appropriate infusions. Ants do not tolerate the smell of plants such as:
  • garlic;
  • sagebrush;
  • tansy;
  • anise;
  • peppermint;
  • calendula;
  • cloves and others
• If an anthill is found on a plot, it can be simply after sunset, when the ants prepare for bed and close the entrances, shovel it in a wheelbarrow or in a bag and take it out of the plot to the forest.

For supporters of the extermination of ants, there are many poisonous drugs, for example, Anteater, Ant, Thunder, Provotox, Phenaxin, etc.

Video: how to overcome garden ants

How to get rid of starlings on a cherry

Cherries during berry ripening may be attacked by starlings and other birds. Most often, plants of early varieties suffer from them. A flock of birds that suddenly appears can destroy the entire cherry crop in a matter of minutes. The most reliable option to save the crop is to cover the tree with a net.

The most reliable option to protect the crop from birds is to cover the tree with a net

Of course, if the tree is tall and has a wide crown, then this will be difficult to do. In this case, various repelling objects are used.Various shiny and (or) rustling, clinking in the wind objects — computer discs, clumps of foil, New Year’s tinsel, etc. hang up on a tree. Some say that starling is scared away by loud music and during the whole ripening period of sweet cherries they broadcast various musical works on the site for days on end. . There are also special ultrasonic repellers, the sound of which the human ear does not perceive, but the birds try to stay away from it. Such devices can be purchased at the store, they have different ranges depending on the power.

There are special ultrasonic repellers, the sound of which the human ear does not perceive, but the birds try to stay away from it

Video: how to protect cherries from birds

Problems growing sweet cherries

Often, a gardener, faced with some incomprehensible (but clearly unpleasant) symptom of a disease when growing cherries (and not only), can not always establish an accurate diagnosis. Sometimes it is immediately difficult to determine whether it is a disease or the consequences of a pest attack. We will analyze the most common cases.

Berries rot on a tree

The most common cause is widespread moniliosis.. With scab and some other diseases, the berries also eventually begin to rot, but before that, the disease is usually diagnosed by primary signs.

Cherry leaves turn yellow

Premature yellowing of sweet cherry leaves is caused by disturbances in agricultural technology. Most likely causes:

• Incorrect landing location. With a close occurrence of groundwater and in flooded, marshy places near the plant, the roots begin to heat up, resulting in yellowing of the leaves. In this case, to solve the problem, a tree will need to be transplanted to a suitable place or drainage should be carried out.
• Excessive watering, creating swamps.
• Moisture deficiency. Cherry is a hygrophilous plant and, under conditions of drought on sandy and sandy loamy soils, young trees whose root system has not yet been formed suffer from this. Therefore, you should regularly water the cherries, maintaining soil moisture at a depth of 40-50 cm, but also not allowing swampiness.
• Damage to the roots by soil pests - moles, rags. Young trees with poorly developed roots are sensitive to this.
• Chemical burn of leaves. It is caused by accidental contact with the crown of herbicides or as a result of their incorrect dosage during planned treatments. For example, for treatments against fungi and pests, Bordeaux liquid or copper sulfate is often used. With early spring rooting treatments, their concentration in solution is 5%. If you treat the leaves with such a solution, they will get severe burns. During the growing season, these solutions are used in a concentration of 0.5-1%.
• Deficiency of nutrients arising from unbalanced or malnutrition (chlorosis). If the plant lacks nitrogen or calcium, then the leaves begin to discolor. With iron deficiency, they dry out and crumble. In such cases, it is necessary as soon as possible to apply under the root or by foliar top dressing appropriate fertilizers with a dosage according to the instructions.

Why do the leaves turn white on the cherry in summer

Clarification of leaf plates, as a rule, is caused by chlorosis in its initial stage, as well as with a deficiency of the main elements - nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. The plant should be fed with urea or nitrate (20-30 g / m²) and potassium monophosphate (20 g / m²) After watering, mulch thoroughly with organic matter (humus, compost) with the addition of wood ash.

If powdery mildew gives leaves a white color, then this is a sign of powdery mildew disease.

Black spots on the leaves

Blurry black spots in the form of a powdery coating are a sign of damage by soot fungus. Small brown or black spots - scab.

Cherry leaves twist

Leaf-wrapped leaves most often indicate that aphids have settled inside them. It is easy to verify this - you just need to expand the leaf. Another leaf-folding pest is the leaf moth, which is also easy to detect by unfolding the leaf.

If the leaves are not just twisted, but also tuberous, then most likely the plant is infected with curly leaves.

Sticky Cherry Leaves

Typically, the stickiness of the leaves is caused by honey dew when aphids are affected.

Why cherry does not bloom and what to do

Among the possible causes of this problem are the following:

• Just did not come the fruiting period of the young tree. Some varieties of cherries bloom for the first time 5-7 years after planting. When purchasing seedlings, one should study their varietal features.
• Wrong landing place. If the cherry is planted in a dense shade or in a flooded place, then it will most likely not bloom.
• Not enough food. With its deficiency, the plant will primarily spend nutrients on the vegetation, and what remains will be on fruiting. Therefore, fertilizers should be regularly and in the required volumes.
• Freezing of flower buds in winter. To avoid this problem, only zoned varieties should be planted.

Cherry after the winter did not blossom, what to do

The most likely cause is freezing of the roots and (or) the stem. This may not even occur in the coldest winter, as freezing occurs more often as a result of significant temperature fluctuations during winter thaws. To diagnose freezing, longitudinal cuts should be made on the stem and roots with a sharp knife and the color of the bark and cambium should be examined. If they are light brown in color, then frostbite is negligible and the plant can be helped. To do this, you need to do a strong pruning, as the weakened root system is not able to provide nutrition to the vast crown. And you should also feed the cherries with humus, as to restore strength, she will need enhanced nutrition.

If the color of cambium and bark is dark brown or brown, then frostbite was severe. In this case, there is no guarantee for its restoration. You can try to grow a new shoot from a sleeping kidney near the root neck, but the chances are small.

To prevent problems for the winter, the root system should be insulated by mulching, and the trunk and thick branches should be insulated with spanbond or other suitable materials. If the winters are snowy, then you need to rake more snow to the trunk, but in spring it should be removed to prevent warming.

The second option is frostbite - the branches of the crown were damaged, and the stump and roots are whole. In this case, you can almost certainly grow new shoots from sleeping buds on the stem.

In all cases of frostbite, if there is a shoot in the root zone, then in the first year it should not be removed. It will contribute to the nutrition of the roots of damaged cherries.

Why does the ovary fall on the cherry

This unpleasant phenomenon is caused by various reasons:

• Excessive acidity of the soil (sweet cherry soil with normal acidity in the range of pH 6.5-7.5). The problem is solved by deoxidation with lime or dolomite flour (400-500 g / m²), which are made in the autumn for digging.
• Lack of nutrition.
• Lack of pollinators with self-fertility varieties.
• Bad weather conditions that prevent the bees from flying during the flowering period.
• Thickness of the crown - the ovaries in shaded areas develop poorly and fall off.
• Harvest overload - the plant itself carries out its normalization.
• Moisture deficiency.

Cracking fruit

It is caused by excess moisture in the berries. Water enters the fruits in two ways. The first is from the soil through the root and vascular systems. In heavy clay soils and chernozems, a constant pressure of juices is usually maintained, and in light sandy and sandy loamy soil with irregular watering, the amount of moisture periodically fluctuates, which can cause cracking of the fruit.

The second way moisture gets into the berries is through the cuticles (the so-called outer wax layer covering parts of the plant, including the fruits) during rains. In this case, moisture penetrates abundantly through microscopic cracks and scratches, nourishing the fruits more strongly than through the vascular system. A large number of cracks occur during drought due to drying out of the cuticle.

Cracking berries are caused by excess moisture

Conclusion: to avoid cracking, the plant should be provided with a constant level of humidity by regular watering in the absence of precipitation. Not to allow both drying out of the soil, and its overmoistening. And also two weeks before harvesting, irrigation sharply restricts or stops them altogether.

Cherry Worms: How to Get Rid

To do this, you need to deal with their source - the cherry fly.

Cherry does not grow, what to do

If the sweet cherry seedlings are healthy, planted in the right place and in compliance with the rules of planting, then the sweet cherry will grow and develop normally. If this does not happen, then somewhere a mistake was made. Possible options:

• An un-zoned variety is planted that does not suit local conditions.
• Close occurrence of groundwater, stagnation of moisture in the basal zone.
• High acidity of the soil. In this case, deoxidation is required.
• The tree is planted in the shade.
• Nutritional deficiency.
• Soil pests that damage the roots.

Why does the trunk crack in a cherry

The causes of cracking of the bark and wood of the cherry stem are as follows:

• Excess moisture. In order to prevent waterlogging and the formation of stagnation of water in the root zone should be avoided.
• Sunburn bark.
• Frost chills that occur in winter due to a large temperature difference on the sun warmed up and the shady sides of the trunk.
  

  Frost chills occur in winter due to a large temperature difference on the sun warmed up and the shadow sides of the trunk

Prevention of the last two causes will be lime whitewashing of trunks and thick branches for the winter, as well as their insulation. Treatment of cracks, regardless of the cause of the occurrence, consists in their cutting and cleaning to healthy wood / bark, disinfection with a 3% solution of copper sulfate and coating the wound with a layer of garden varnish. If, however, the crack after this heals poorly, then it is cleaned again and a therapeutic ointment is applied according to an old folk recipe:

• manure - 16 parts;
• chalk or dry lime - 8 parts;
• wood ash - 8 parts;
• river sand - 1 part.

So that the ointment does not wash off too quickly with rains, you can bandage the wound with breathing material (thin cotton cloth, a bandage, etc.).

Cherry can be exposed to a large number of diseases and pest attacks. Of course, they do not appear at the same time. Most likely, the gardener will not see many of the problems described here at his site. Especially if he regularly performs preventive and sanitary measures.