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A regular and plentiful harvest of apples is a very pleasant gift for a gardener. But in order to get it, it’s not enough just to plant trees once, you need to take care of them, protect them from diseases, and fight pests. Apple trees often suffer from a variety of pests and diseases: garden aphids, scab. To consistently get a good harvest of apples, you need to take care of the garden, in particular, regularly cultivate it. Today we will talk about those manipulations that need to be done in the fall.
Why treat in the fall
As you know, the main processing of apple trees occurs in the spring, before the vegetation begins. The main purpose of this treatment is to protect the trees from fungal diseases or pests that managed to survive the winter. While autumn processing has slightly different goals, it is rather a preventive measure designed to minimize the risk of disease development and pest reproduction by the time spring arrives. Another positive effect of spraying apple trees in the fall is the destruction of those insects that have settled in the bark of a tree or its crown for the purpose of wintering. Even if the autumn treatment does not destroy all pests, the situation will be corrected by spring spraying.
Such a simple procedure allows you to prevent many problems, ranging from the usual aphids and scab, and ending with mites and insects that affect the root system of the apple tree. After all, two sparing procedures carried out with a break for the winter months will be much easier to tolerate by a tree than one, but very aggressive. Weakened after a long winter, apple trees can suffer greatly from intensive spraying, get burned, and sometimes even die.
Video “Protection of apple trees from pests and diseases”
From the video you will learn how to protect your garden from pests and diseases.
Preparations for treatment
The choice of a suitable drug that is supposed to process an apple tree will depend on the goals that you are pursuing:
- you can spray fruit trees with urea – this helps to destroy even those pests that are in the larval state. In addition, spraying with urea also benefits the plant itself – the substance saturates the tree with nitrogen, therefore it is used as a top dressing. In autumn, apple trees are sprayed when they shed half of their foliage;
- to protect the apple tree from insect pests, you can treat the trees with copper sulphate. To prevent the development of scab, you can also spray the garden with copper sulfate;
- Another option is iron sulfate. Its action is in many ways similar to copper, but this composition, in addition to protecting fruit trees from pests, also saturates them with iron. It is widely known that iron deficiency leads to poor yields and slower plant growth, so spraying has not only a protective, but also a stimulating effect;
- you can use the drug 30. It is effective against a variety of pests – tree moths, aphids, mites and whiteflies;
- many daredevils decide to use even diesel fuel. But this must be done very carefully so as not to injure the apple tree. Processing can be carried out only after all the leaves from the tree have flown around. In no case is it allowed to use pure diesel fuel – it must be diluted with plenty of water;
- in addition, ready-made mixtures are sold in specialized stores, designed to destroy certain pests or prevent diseases.
Spray Features
Do not repeat the mistakes of some inexperienced gardeners and do not spray apple trees in early autumn when the trees are still in foliage, this strategy leads to premature leaf fall, and can also cause burns, instead of protecting the garden from scab or insects. The most suitable period for carrying out protective manipulations is late autumn in November.
It is necessary to spray the garden in dry weather, choosing a calm day, if it rains, it will wash off the preparation without residue, respectively, there will be no effect.
Before starting work, be sure to remove the fallen leaves and branches around the tree – the chemical composition settles on such debris, gradually penetrating into the soil. Do not get carried away and use an extra remedy – an excess of a chemical will not only not help protect the garden from scab, but will certainly harm it.
Proper Processing Technology
Autumn processing of each type of tree has its own specifics: it is easy to spray low specimens, just walk around them, evenly spraying the liquid over the entire surface. It is somewhat more difficult to work with adult apple trees, it may be necessary to use ladders or stepladders, because the composition must fall on the entire surface of the tree so that the protective effect against diseases, scab and pests is maximum.
Even more difficulties arise when working with young seedlings, for them the chemical composition of the product can be dangerous. Therefore, before spraying the whole tree from scab, you need to conduct a special test for sensitivity – apply the substance to one small branch and evaluate its condition after a few days. If no damage has occurred on the surface, everything is in order, you can start spraying.
Before spraying the scab remedy on those trees that are already 6 years old, be sure to free them from old bark and lichens: they themselves are not dangerous, but insidious insects can hide here for the winter, and it is with them that we are going fight.
In addition, one should not forget about the rules of personal safety, when spraying an orchard from scab and insects in autumn, be sure to use protective rubber gloves, special goggles and a mask to protect your body from harmful substances. While spraying, try to keep the tip of the machine at a distance of about 70 cm from the treated wood – this will help to apply the composition as evenly as possible. Do not forget to shake the liquid in the tank regularly as well. When all the manipulations are over, thoroughly wash your hand and face, preferably with soap.
Autumn processing of the apple orchard will not only help protect your fruit trees from scab, other diseases or insects, but will also ensure a consistently high fruit yield. Do not underestimate the importance of such autumn events, they significantly facilitate gardening in the spring, and besides, it is easier for trees to cope with a small number of insects that managed to overwinter, because they cause much less damage.
Video “Spraying”
From the video you will learn how to spray an apple tree in the fall.