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Barberry is a garden plant that is used for fruits and for decorative purposes. The shrub is unpretentious, easy to care for, but it is susceptible to pests of fruit and berry plants. Diseases of barberry and the fight against them, photos of the lesions are presented below, begins from the moment the shrub is planted.
Reasons why barberry dries
If everything is in order with watering in the garden, pests or diseases can cause the barberry to dry out. Most often, the leaves dry and crumble when the aphid bush is affected. This pest literally sucks all the juices from the branches of the plant.
Another reason for the drying of the shrub can be a fungal infection. There are several types of them. Each one manifests itself in its own way. If the leaves of the plant are affected, tracheomycosis wilt can be suspected. This is a fungus that destroys the root system. The shrub loses its natural recharge and begins to dry out. Leaf diseases in barberry are a common occurrence.
Why does the barberry not bloom
The reason for the lack of flowers on the barberry in the spring may be the freezing of the kidneys in winter. Over watering can also cause this condition. With excessive soil moisture, a fungal disease is suspected. It develops in soils where there is stagnant water. Therefore, before planting, it is important to make drainage in the hole from crushed stone. After watering, it is important to loosen the soil well.
Young plants that have not adapted to a new place may not bloom. A good rooting of a seedling does not mean that the shrub has taken root. He needs time.
To exclude diseases and pest attacks, the bush is carefully examined, if there is no damage, another reason should be sought.
Aphids and caterpillars can damage the peduncle even in the bud. Aphids are an aggressive pest that sucks all the juices out of the bush, and it does not have the strength to fight and bloom.
Diseases of barberry bushes and their treatment
Often, barberry is used as an ornamental plant that grows well and blooms luxuriantly. But it is prone to fungal diseases, which greatly reduces its decorative qualities.
With the slightest damage to the shoots or buds by pests, flowering will not occur. Basically, diseases affect the leaves and branches of a tree, less often – the root. At the same time, the foliage turns yellow and crumbles, the branches dry and wither. Such a plant does not carry any decorative function.
Powdery mildew on barberry
The common barberry is more susceptible to this disease than all other species. In the middle of summer, a white, powdery coating appears on both sides of the barberry leaves – this is how the mycelium is formed. Developing, it becomes denser and covers the entire surface of the leaf and shoots. If you do not apply the known methods of combating fungal diseases, the mycelium will cover the entire shrub.
Folk methods of dealing with barberry fungal disease are simple. In early spring, before the buds swell, the bush is evenly poured with boiling water. Water the plant carefully so that the liquid gets on each shoot and twig.
Another effective method of combating fungal diseases is spraying with a soda-soap solution. It is prepared as follows: 10% soda ash and 0,5 g of soap are diluted in 40 liters of water. These shrubs are sprayed with this solution 3 times per season.
The next effective method of controlling powdery mildew is spraying with modern insecticides. The most famous and affordable drug is Bordeaux liquid. The plant is treated in early spring and late autumn.
Rust on barberry
Barberry disease – rust appears as bright orange spots on the leaf surface. On the reverse side, you can see a convex yellow-hot formation – fungal spores. The fight against this disease begins as early as possible.
Effective control methods: cutting off and burning the affected leaves, spraying the bush with fungicides and Bordeaux mixture. The plant is treated with it immediately after the leaves appear, then 2 more times at intervals of 1,5 weeks.
Spotting
The barberry suffers from all types of spotting: gray, white, brown and others. This disease manifests itself on the leaves in the form of rusty or brown spots resembling burns. Sometimes spotting on barberry looks like a white coating. When the disease affects the entire plant completely, it looks like a withered bush. It is not immediately possible to determine the cause.
Fungicides are considered an effective method of dealing with all types of spotting. Modern drugs quickly and easily destroy the disease.
Fruit bushes are sprayed with substances containing copper, or folk methods are used to combat spotting.
Drying of the bark and crown
The disease is manifested by cracking and falling off of the bark. The crown turns yellow and dries up. At the site of cracking of the bark, fungal spores appear. These areas must be urgently removed so that the plant does not die. Leave only the lower part of the bush with shoots and buds.
Methods of struggle: the affected branches are cut off, the places of the cuts are treated with garden pitch. The whole bush is treated with copper sulphate. It is sprayed, carefully and thickly sprinkling each shoot and leaf.
Bacteriosis
The disease on the Thunberg barberry and its other species is manifested by dark spots that form on young shoots and leaves of the shrub. Later they die off, and swelling appears at the site of the lesion. To combat bacteriosis, cutting off the affected areas and burning them is used. Buying a healthy seedling in a nursery is a good prevention of dysbacteriosis disease.
Treatment is carried out by spraying. To do this, copper oxychloride (40 g) is diluted in 10 liters of water. The shrub is treated with this solution twice per season.
Barberry pests and how to deal with them
Decorative and fruity barberry is a real delicacy for insects. The juice of its shoots attracts pests to the garden. Yellow leaves covered with holes and spots, damaged plant shoots are a sign not only of illness, but also of insect damage. When the first signs appear, pest control begins. Only in this way can the plant be saved.
Methods of dealing with caterpillars on barberry
Yellow, twisted, falling leaves – a sign of damage by caterpillars, scale insects, sawfly. Pest control is carried out using folk and chemical methods.
To prevent the appearance of caterpillars, shrubs are pruned in a timely manner. Affected leaves are burned.
It is important to carry out autumn pruning and spraying. Caterpillars often leave their larvae under the bark and in the leaves of the barberry for the winter. Summer spraying is carried out a month before the fruits of the shrub ripen. An effective means of dealing with caterpillars is Chlorophos.
From the folk methods of pest control of this crop, spraying of tincture of wormwood can be distinguished. You can also get rid of insects by fumigation. To do this, wet straw is laid out next to the shrub, collecting it in a pile. 5 kg of tobacco is poured on top and set on fire. The duration of the procedure is 1 hour or a little more. Plants are fumigated in calm weather. They try to get the smoke on the infected bush.
Aphid control methods
Dried and twisted leaves, deformed shoots are a sign of aphids infestation of barberry. The insect settles on the lower part of the leaf near the cutting. In a short time gives numerous offspring. The aphid sucks the juices out of the plant, and it dies. Already in early spring, these insects can be seen on the buds of the shrub. Below is a photo of a barberry pest and signs of the disease it causes.
Folk recipes for fighting aphids on barberry:
- spring treatment with a solution of laundry soap;
- spraying with infusion of garlic;
- treatment of the plant with tincture of tobacco or horse sorrel.
Spraying shrubs with sulfur-containing preparations is considered a modern effective method of pest control: Fitoverm, Aliot, Kinmiks.
Preventive measures to prevent diseases and pests of barberry
Most varieties of this crop are resistant to disease and insect damage. Improper care, irregular watering and pruning make the plant vulnerable to various kinds of diseases. The fight against them begins with proper prevention.
Mushrooms appear on moist, acidic soils. Good drainage and fertilizing the shrub with ash will prevent the growth of mycelium.
For planting barberry, only proven seedlings from nurseries are used. So you can avoid buying a diseased plant infected with a fungus.
Rules for the prevention of diseases of yellow barberry and other species:
- You can not plant shrubs close to each other. When planting, follow the recommendations of agrotechnicians on the location of plants.
- In humid climates, the garden should be well ventilated. Fogging of the root system and the near-stem circle should be avoided.
- To prevent the fight against fungal diseases, the drying of the barberry root is avoided. So he becomes vulnerable to fungal diseases.
- Periodic feeding of the crop with mineral and organic fertilizers increases the plant’s resistance to diseases and pests.
- Spring and autumn sanitary pruning does not allow insect larvae to multiply in the bark of dead shoots.
- Regular inspection of the shrub will help to identify the disease at an early stage and start fighting it in time.
Autumn cleaning in the garden is one of the methods for preventing bush plant diseases. Fallen leaves and cut branches of shrubs are raked into heaps, and then burned. Harmful insects lay their larvae in plant debris, and in spring the young destroy garden plants. Thus, they will have nowhere to winter.
Conclusion
Garden diseases of barberry and the fight against them, a photo of a healthy shrub is presented below, should begin in the fall.
After harvesting, wilted plants in the garden are destroyed, the shrub is prepared for winter. How the plant overwinter depends on its health in the new season. Insects are destroyed even before flowering begins, so as not to interrupt the fruiting of the crop. Pest and insect control should begin immediately at the first sign of damage to the plant.