Diseases and pests of cherries: description with photos

When the owner of the garden notices that the leaves of the cherry are turning yellow, and even at the beginning or the middle of the season, when they are supposed to turn green, he immediately wants to do something to help the tree. But there are so many reasons for yellowing and even falling of cherry leaves that it is impossible to take a glance at them all. This is inappropriate care, and various diseases, and adverse weather conditions, and pests. Therefore, before starting treatment, it is necessary to comprehensively examine the tree and identify all possible causes that could lead to such a result.

Signs of diseases in cherries

In addition to yellowing of the leaves, other signs can often be observed in sweet cherries, which can be symptoms of both diseases or pest damage, and unsuitable conditions for the growth and development of trees.

Why cherries don’t bud

If the cherry planted last year in the spring does not show signs of life, and the buds on it do not bloom in due time, then perhaps it is not a matter of diseases or pests at all, but mistakes were simply made when choosing a place for planting or the planting process itself. The most common mistakes are the following:

• close occurrence of groundwater;
• choosing a shady, cold or drafty landing site;
• deepening of the grafting site of the seedling or its root collar;
• pruning was done incorrectly or untimely;
• undernutrition or overnutrition.

The other most common cause is the banal freezing of the roots or trunk of the cherry. Moreover, the buds may not bloom not so much from significant frosts (although sweet cherries do not tolerate frosts below -30 ° C), but from sudden temperature changes during the day in the winter-spring period. It can reach 10-20 degrees.

It is quite simple to make sure that the buds could not bloom due to the freezing of the roots or trunk. On the branches, as well as on the selected piece of the root, a small incision is made and the color of the bark and cambium is assessed:

1. If the color is light brown, this means that frost damage is minor and can be treated.
2. If dark brown, then the degree of freezing is quite high, and it will be much more difficult to help the cherry.

Why do cherries dry

In sweet cherries, regardless of their age, individual branches may begin to dry out. If you do not take any measures, then soon the tree may dry out entirely. What reasons can lead to the fact that branches dry in cherries?

The first thing to remember, especially when it comes to a young cherry seedling, is whether it was planted correctly. Deepening during planting can lead to the drying of individual branches as early as the next year after planting.

Another reason may be weather conditions that are unfavorable for the development of sweet cherries, primarily prolonged heat and frost. The fact is that varieties bred by breeders for a temperate climate do not tolerate heat well. Conversely, heat-resistant varieties of cherries can be easily damaged by frost.

To protect from the heat, it is enough to provide the cherry with plentiful and regular watering.

To protect the trunk of sweet cherries from frost and sunburn in the autumn, it is sometimes necessary to whiten them with a special garden solution. Young cherry seedlings up to 3 years old should be completely covered for the winter with agrofiber or other insulating materials. With age, trees become more resistant to frost.

Branches can dry up in cherries due to diseases: verticillium and monoliosis. Details about the treatment of these diseases will be discussed below. The activity of some pests, for example, California scale insects and bark beetles, can also lead to the drying of cherry branches. Methods of dealing with them are described in detail in a separate chapter.

Why do cherry leaves turn yellow

Yellowing and falling leaves can also be the result of many causes:

1. Too hot weather and, as a result, lack of moisture in the soil.
2. The proximity of groundwater and waterlogging of the root system.
3. Damage to cherry trees as a result of a harsh winter.
4. Various fungal diseases.
5. Crown thickening.
6. Lack of nutrients in the soil.
7. Weakening of cherries as a result of pest activity.

Why do cherries shed fruit?

If the cherry has too abundant flowering, then there is nothing surprising in the fact that immediately after it ends, the tree sheds part of the ovaries. Thus, there is a natural rationing of the number of fruits that the cherry can feed.

If the ovaries begin to fall off at a later date, especially when ripening fruits begin to fall from the tree in significant quantities, then it’s time to sound the alarm.

Shedding of fruits can occur for the following reasons:

• variety is self-infertile. For fruiting, he needs a cherry tree of a different variety growing nearby;
• increased acidity of the soil;
• lack of nutrients (after flowering, cherries especially need to be fed);
• lack of light due to thickening of the crown;
• congestion with the harvest – in the harvest years, sweet cherries need additional feeding after fruiting, otherwise the next season the tree may not have enough strength to form a sufficient number of fruits;
• drought during flowering can lead to falling ovaries and unripe fruits;
• bad weather conditions during the flowering period. If during this period there is windy weather with rain and, as a result, the absence of bees and other pollinating insects, then a good cherry harvest this season may not be expected;
• invasion of pests: flower beetle, codling moth and cherry (cherry) fly.

Description of cherry diseases and their treatment

The most common are numerous fungal diseases that cause a variety of spots on the leaves of the sweet cherry and their fall, rotting of the berries and damage to the stem of the cherry. These diseases are carried by spores, wind and infected tools.

Bacterial diseases – caused by bacteria, can also be carried by insect pests.

Viral diseases are spread mainly by pests. They affect the vascular system of plants, and only preventive measures can help to combat them. Effective methods of treating virus-infected plants have not yet been found.

Noncommunicable diseases appear mainly due to improper care of cherries.

Cherry chlorosis: photo and treatment

Chlorosis is a common physiological disease of sweet cherry, which has a non-infectious nature. The main sign of chlorosis is numerous yellow leaves that fall off at the wrong time.

Those cherries that grow on highly calcareous soils with a high level of standing groundwater and when the rootstock and scion of the seedling do not coincide, fall into the greatest risk zone. Trees develop only a superficial root system, thereby not receiving the necessary nutrients. Fruiting decreases, over time they can even dry out.

To treat this disease, an integrated approach is needed, as a result of which, first of all, the conditions for the activity of the root system will improve:

• for irrigation, it is desirable to use soft water from natural reservoirs or rain;
• you can not fertilize trees with fresh manure, but nitrogen fertilizer is necessary in the first place. It is best to use humus in combination with bird droppings, diluted with water 10-12 times;
• quick help in the treatment of chlorosis can be provided by spraying the tree with a solution of iron sulfate (50-70 g per 10 liters of water). It is better to repeat the procedure at least three times at intervals of two weeks;
• in the fall, it is useful to introduce ferrous sulfate mixed with humus or compost into several pits around the circumference of the tree crown to a depth of 60 cm (10 kg of ferrous sulfate is taken per 0,15 kg of humus);
• to improve the oxygen regime in the zone of the root system, you can use a solution of potassium permanganate (30-40 g per 10 l). One tree requires about 10-15 liters of solution.

Gum cherries

This is more likely not even a disease, but an alarming sign, indicating that the tree is ill. From cracks and holes in the bark, a yellowish viscous liquid, gum, is released and solidifies in air.

Gum therapy accompanies many fungal diseases: moniliosis, clasterosporiasis and others. For the prevention of gum disease, it is important to strictly observe the agricultural technology of growing cherries. All wounds on the bark must be treated with copper sulfate, and then covered with garden pitch.

Cherry coccomycosis

A very dangerous fungal disease that actively spreads in rainy summers or areas with a humid climate. First, pinkish-brown spots appear on the leaves, a pale pink coating can be seen on the underside. If you do not take action, then the leaves begin to turn black and fall off by mid-summer.

Treatment of the disease consists in treating sweet cherries three times with a 1-3% solution of copper sulphate or Bordeaux mixture: when the buds swell, after flowering and harvesting. It is also possible to use Topaz (1 ml per 3 l of water) and Hom (4 g per 1 l of water) preparations for treatment.

Cherry verticillium wilt

It is this disease that most often causes the drying of cherries. Moreover, it affects mainly young trees. If the branch begins to dry already in early spring at the same time as the buds and buds open, then with a high probability this is verticillium. In addition, brown spots appear on the branches and trunk, from which rusty gum begins to ooze. Buds and buds can dry out within a week or two after blooming. If treatment measures are not taken, young or weakened cherries can dry out within one season. Mature trees can last up to 7-8 years, but, in the end, they will also die.

To prevent the disease, plants of the nightshade family (tomatoes, eggplants, tobacco, potatoes), as well as gourds, garden strawberries and sunflowers, should not be planted near cherries. Also, for preventive purposes, root dressing is carried out with urea or an aqueous solution of potassium sulfate (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water).

Spores of the disease often enter the trees from the soil when the roots or trunk are injured, so you should be especially careful when planting and loosening the soil around the seedling.

At the first signs of the disease, the tree must be treated with a powerful antifungal agent, for example, Topsin-M (70%), using a 0,1% solution to save the cherry from drying out.

When gum appears, the wounds are lightly cleaned and treated with garden pitch. And for the winter, the trunk of the cherry is coated with a mixture of copper sulphate and lime.

Cherry moniliosis

This disease is also called gray mold or monilial burn due to specific symptoms. The branches, and even the trunk of the cherry, turn black and dry as if they were damaged by a fire, and the berries are covered with gray tubercles and begin to rot quickly.

Due to the strong spread of the disease in recent years, it is recommended to grow cherry varieties resistant to moniliosis:

• Homestead;
• Valery Chkalov;
• Tenderness;
• Sylvia;
• Van Compact.

Infection with spores of the disease occurs through the pistils of flowers, and it is the flowers and ovaries that are the first to suffer – they turn brown and dry. The development of the disease is very rapid, especially in cool and humid weather, so it is necessary to take immediate measures for treatment:

• cut off all damaged branches with the capture of healthy tissue and immediately burn. They also destroy the entire club and plant remains on the ground;
• if there are cracks in the bark, then they are the main site of infection. They must be cleaned, treated with 1-3% copper sulphate and covered with garden pitch;
• treat cherries after flowering and a month later with Bordeaux mixture or copper sulphate;

  

• to prevent the disease in autumn, the trunks are painted with garden whitewash with the addition of copper sulfate;
• for treatment, you can also use the drugs Strobi, Skor, Topaz and Horus.

Sweet cherry fruit rot: control and prevention measures

Signs of disease damage appear primarily on the berries and slightly resemble moniliosis. These are brownish spots, which then actively grow moldy. Spots with fruit rot, unlike moniliosis, are not arranged randomly, but in the form of concentric circles. In addition, the cherry leaves remain intact and not affected.

Prevention of the disease is the treatment of sweet cherries in the spring from diseases and pests with the help of fungicides (Abiga-peak, copper oxychloride, Bordeaux mixture) and sufficient fertilizing with mineral fertilizers. For the treatment of a tree, the same preparations are used, only processing is carried out after flowering and harvesting.

Perforated spotting or clasterosporiasis

Among the diseases of sweet cherry leaves, clasterosporiasis is the most common. The disease can be diagnosed by the appearance of reddish spots with a dark border on the leaves. After a couple of weeks, holes form in their place – hence the name of the disease. After some time, the leaves completely dry out and fall off. The fruits are able to dry right on the branches.

As a preventive measure, spraying sweet cherries after flowering with a 1% solution of copper sulphate is used.

Treatment of the disease consists in cutting branches with diseased leaves and treating the cuts with sorrel juice three times every 10 minutes. To prepare it, 1 kg of sorrel leaves is poured into 10 liters of water, insisted for 2-3 hours, rubbed and squeezed out the resulting juice. After that, all sections are covered with garden pitch.

Brown spotting, or phyllosticosis

The disease appears as round brown spots with black dots on both sides of the leaf. With severe damage, the leaves may also fall off. Prevention and treatment of the disease are the same as for perforated spotting.

Powdery mildew on cherry

With this disease, the shoots and leaves are covered with a white felt coating. Later, black dots appear on it. If a young cherry seedling dries up, then, apparently, this is the result of powdery mildew. The disease most of all annoys young trees, especially when, after rainy weather, heat and dryness sets in. For adult cherries, powdery mildew is not so dangerous, but still reduces their winter hardiness and reduces yield.

For prevention, it is necessary to cut off the affected shoots, burn them and carefully plant the fallen leaves into the soil.

For treatment with obvious signs of infection, spraying with any fungicides is used 4-6 times per season with an interval of 10 days.

Rust on cherry

The disease is also called cylindrosporosis, or white rust. If in the middle of summer there are no leaves on the sweet cherry, it means that white rust has taken over here. The disease causes complete fall of leaves on cherries as early as July, due to which the trees can weaken and freeze in winter. The treatment consists in burning the fallen leaves, cutting out diseased and dry branches, and warming the tree especially carefully for the winter.

Parsha na chereshne

Among the diseases of the fruits of sweet cherries, scab is far from the most dangerous. As a result of the disease, the leaves become stained and rolled into a tube, green fruits do not ripen, and the skin cracks on mature ones. For treatment, cuprozan powder is used, which is scattered around the roots of the cherry. Its solution can be sprayed on fruits and leaves. After harvesting, Horus can also be used for treatment.

Curl of cherry leaves

Another fungal disease of sweet cherries, in which the leaves become wrinkled and twisted with noticeable swelling. And on their underside, a white sticky coating is well recognized.

Prevention and treatment measures are the same as for most fungal diseases – spraying trees and the soil under them in early spring with a solution of ferrous sulfate (20 g per 5 l of water) or 1% Bordeaux mixture.

Rasp of cherry leaves

The leaves in this disease are noticeably deformed, they seem to swell between the veins, and their shape is slightly pointed. The disease is viral in origin and cannot be treated.

Mosaic

Another viral disease for the treatment of which no effective drugs have yet been invented. Light yellow stripes appear on the leaves along the veins or in the form of circles on the leaf surface. To combat the disease, first of all, it is necessary to control the appearance of pests that spread it.

false tinder fungus

Diseases of the cherry trunk are very dangerous, as they often lead to the inevitable death of the tree. False tinder fungus affects the wood so that it begins to resemble a sponge and the tree is able to break from a strong gust of wind. The fungus grows most often from cracks in the lower part of the trunk.

For prevention purposes, autumn whitewashing of the trunks and spraying the tree in early spring with a solution of iron sulfate (2 cups per 10 liters) helps. For treatment, it is necessary to use stronger means, for example, treatment with Nitrofen (1 cup per 10 liters).

Sulfur yellow tinder fungus

The disease is very similar to the previous one. The fruit bodies of the resulting fungus have a predominantly yellow tint. Methods of treatment and prevention are the same as in the case of false tinder fungus.

Sweet cherry bacteriosis

This disease, which manifests itself on cherries no earlier than 4 years of age, is of bacterial origin. In the people, it is also often called bacterial cancer of the cherry, or ulcer. For the treatment of this disease, there are still no drugs that would guarantee 100% success.

The disease manifests itself in the form of dark watery spots on the fruits and leaves. Later they appear on the stalks and buds, as well as on the bark of the tree. The disease actively develops in cold and damp weather, and in dry conditions it may not manifest itself at all.

Despite the absence of visible methods of treatment, it is still not worth giving up before the disease. Throughout the summer, it is necessary to cut off wilted shoots, browned inflorescences, ovaries and spoiled fruits. All this should be burned immediately. Thus, the development of the disease can be stopped, but not completely destroyed.

Cherry bacterial burn: treatment and photo

The first sign of this disease is the blackening of the cherry leaves around the edges. Then the cherry leaves wither, and whole branches dry up. There is no official cure for this disease, but many enthusiasts try to spray and inject common antibiotics, such as Streptomycin, into the trunk of the tree. The disease can recede if you act systematically and regularly. As an additional treatment, spraying the tree with fungicides, in particular, copper sulfate, is used.

Cherry pests and their control, photo

Not only do pests directly harm the leaves, fruits and bark of cherries, they also carry dangerous and incurable viral diseases.

Ants on cherries: how to get rid of them

Ants are not dangerous in themselves, but as carriers of aphids. Therefore, while the latter are not observed on sweet cherries, it is most effective to use the Grom-2 preparation against ants, which crumbles in places of their accumulation.

Aphids on cherries: how to get rid of

Aphids are the most common pest not only on sweet cherries, but also on most fruit and berry crops. It appears already in early spring and especially likes to gnaw on the youngest leaves weakened after a strong spring pruning of trees.

Aphids are often fought with folk remedies: solutions and infusions of ash, celandine, dandelion and garlic.

Before flowering, effective chemicals can also be used: Commander, Aktara, Confidor.

How to get rid of black aphids on cherries

Black aphids are quite common on sweet cherries and differ from their green relative only in black. The pests are so small that they are practically indistinguishable. But their presence can be detected by the following signs:

• leaves curl inward and fall off;
• black dots can be seen on their inner side;
• Ants live in large numbers nearby.

The fight against this pest does not cause any particular difficulties, because if you do not wait for its abundant reproduction, then in the spring it is easily destroyed with the help of any insecticide, for example, Fitoverma.

Cherry Weevil

The pest is a bronze beetle up to 1 cm long. The beetles and their larvae hibernate in the soil. They crawl out to the surface during the flowering period of the cherry and feed first on buds and flowers, and then on ovaries and fruits. Pests are quite capable of gnawing holes of various sizes in the leaves. Therefore, if the cherry leaves are in holes, then the weevil most likely worked here. They lay larvae in fruits.

To control pests, they are shaken from trees and destroyed. To treat trees, they are sprayed before and after flowering with Inta-Vir, Fufanon or Kinmiks.

cherry fly

It is thanks to the activity of the cherry fly that fruits can fall off in cherries for no apparent reason. The caterpillars of this pest are tiny, almost invisible to the eye, white worms. The pest is especially dangerous for medium and late varieties of sweet cherries.

To combat the cherry fly, the tree is sprayed twice a season with Spark or Lightning preparations. The first time is at the end of April, when the average air temperature exceeds +15°С. The second time is about 20 days later. In order not to leave the pest any chance, the same preparations spray the earth around the sweet cherry once a week until the end of summer.

San Jose scale

The pest has a very small size (1-2 mm) and a protective color, so it is difficult to notice. But if you look closely, you can see subtle growths on the bark of branches. The scale insect sucks the juice from the plants, so the leaves and branches, if severely damaged, can dry and fall off.

To treat a tree and fight a pest, you must first cut and burn all damaged branches, then wash the branches with a strong stream of water, freeing them from adhering insects. Only after this, the branches are abundantly sprayed with a solution of Aktara or Confidor.

Bark beetles

The main sign of a bark beetle lesion is the presence of passages in withered branches or trunks. In order for the pest to become uninteresting in cherries, it needs full care. In the spring, before bud break, a tree affected by a pest is treated with special preparations for bark beetles.

All dried and damaged branches must be cut and burned.

cherry sawfly

This pest is able to build whole nests of cobwebs on cherries. Caterpillars eat the pulp of berries and leaves to the veins. For the fight, drugs Iskra-M, Piriton are used. For an adult tree, the consumption of the drug is 3-4 liters.

cherry shoot moth

This pest can destroy the buds, flowers and leaves of cherries. They fight it during the swelling of the kidneys with the help of drugs Karbofos, Holon.

Control and prevention measures

To prevent the invasion of pests and diseases, it is necessary to treat cherries with urea in early spring, before the start of sap flow. It is necessary to spray not only the trees themselves, but also the ground around them. After a couple of weeks, you can spray the plants with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture.

And in the fall, it is necessary to completely cut out all damaged and dry branches. And whiten the cherry trunk with a garden solution with the addition of any copper-containing preparation.

Conclusion

Thus, if the leaves of the sweet cherry turn yellow, then all is not lost. With careful attention to the tree, you can not only save it from all sorts of misfortunes, but also give it a long life with abundant annual fruiting.