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Pine diseases and their treatment is a topic that interests all lovers of beautiful and useful pine trees. Scotch pine can be affected by dozens of ailments and pests, so it is important to know the main alarming symptoms and methods of treating the plant.
Pine pests and their control
Common pine can be affected by many pests – some of them are characteristic of this coniferous species, others appear on both coniferous and deciduous trees. It is important to know the main signs of pine diseases and pests in order to save it from serious damage and death.
Pine silkworm
Pine silkworm is the most common and dangerous pest for common pine, since it most often affects this plant and is rarely found on other trees. This pine pest is a caterpillar that feeds on pine needles.
It is quite easy to recognize the silkworm, its appearance is evidenced primarily by damage to the needles, which the caterpillar simply eats. If you look closely, then on the shoots of the plant you can see the gray caterpillars themselves, about 10 cm long. The danger lies in the fact that, if left untreated, the silkworm can eat the entire pine tree. Even winter frosts will not harm the insect, because it will simply wait them out at the roots, and with the onset of spring it will return to the food base on the branches.
Pine treatment is carried out with the help of insecticidal agents. In particular, the drug Lepidocid helps a lot – coniferous plantings are sprayed with a solution at the rate of 3 liters per 1 ha.
pine cutworm
Another dangerous pest that feeds on young pine needles and buds is a caterpillar called pine cutworm. Despite the fact that the feeding period of the insect is only about 30-40 days, during this time the scoop can cause serious damage to the pine – damage the needles, fresh shoots and buds, thereby causing the plant to dry out.
The presence of the cutworm is indicated by a noticeable depletion of pine needles and damage to the shoots and buds. Pine cutworm control measures include treatment with Lepidocide and treatment with other insecticidal agents.
Pine hermes
Under the name pine hermes hides a variety of common aphids that suck juices from coniferous needles. You can recognize the pest by several symptoms. First of all, in the initial stages, pine needles are covered with white bloom, if you look at a photo of pine hermes, you can understand that this plaque is a colony of very small insect larvae. Later, due to the harmful effects of Hermes, the pine needles turn yellow and crumble.
Pine hermes control measures are reduced to insecticide treatment, for example, Decis, Karbofos, Actellik or other means. The treatment must be repeated throughout the season every 4 weeks, since the generations of Hermes change very quickly. For a complete treatment under the pine root, you can also pour Aktara’s solution.
Pine sawflies
The pest is a small green larvae about 8 mm long that live on pine shoots and feed on its needles. The work of the pine sawfly can be seen on the pine from afar, the disease manifests itself as yellow spots on the crown. If you come closer, you can find that the coniferous needles are not just dried up, but also twisted and bitten by a pest.
To combat the pine pest with the sawfly, it is necessary to spray pine trees with insecticides – Karbofos, Lepidocide and other means. Also during the treatment it is useful to dig up the ground around the pine trunks, in the ground there may be pest larvae, which are distinguished by amazing vitality and frost resistance.
Pine aphid
Pine pest aphid brown pine is a great danger, because it usually affects the tree in large colonies. At the same time, in spring, the aphid settles mainly on young shoots, but in summer it moves to thicker old branches and thus creates a threat to the entire plant. A symptom of the appearance of aphids is the darkening of the needles – the needles curl, dry out and acquire a dark brown color.
The fight against the disease and treatment are carried out by means of conventional insecticides – you can spray the tree with Engio, Karbofos, Lepidocide. Attention during treatment should be paid not only to the needles, but also to the branches and trunk, otherwise part of the colony may survive and multiply again.
Pine scale insects
The spindle-shaped pine scale insect is an insect that feeds on the vital juices of pine needles, thereby causing the needles to fall off. It is difficult to deal with the scale insect, since the body of this pest, as can be seen from the photo of the pine pest, is covered with a solid shield that provides the insect with safety. Pine is mainly affected by larvae and females of scale insects, you can find out about their presence by unexpected yellowing and shedding of needles. A particular danger for pine is that, if left untreated, even young branches can suffer and fall off.
Treatment of pine from scale insects is carried out with insecticides – Karbofos, Mospilan and others. It is necessary to spray the tree in the spring before the buds appear, at a time when pests are most vulnerable, and serious damage has not yet been caused to the pine.
Bark beetles
These insects are pests of the pine bark, they appear on the trunks and at the roots of the plant and are especially dangerous for seedlings and weakened trees. The bark beetle gnaws thin passages inside the bark, actively reproduces, remaining almost invisible, and during the season can give up to 3 generations.
It is difficult to treat pine for bark beetle in the first place because it is difficult to notice. In the initial stages of pine disease, only traces of sawdust near the roots can report the presence of a bark beetle. The owners of the plots rarely notice the moves themselves, since it is necessary to look very carefully at the bark, and for this, in turn, grounds are needed. If the moment of initial infection was missed, then most often the presence of the bark beetle becomes apparent only after the needles begin to turn yellow, and the trunk is gradually exposed.
Pine seedling pest control is carried out using conventional insecticides or preparations based on bifenthrin. It is necessary to carry out treatment from April to August.
spider mites
The red spider mite is another dangerous pest that can completely destroy pine trees. The insect not only feeds on the vital juices of coniferous needles, but also entangles pine shoots with a thin dense web, which prevents access to sunlight and interferes with the process of photosynthesis. Under the influence of a spider mite, pine needles dry out quickly, change color first to red, and then to brown, and eventually crumble.
Despite the danger of the spider mite, this pest is good because the traces of its vital activity are very easy to notice with the naked eye. Accordingly, this makes it possible to take timely measures to eliminate the tick and preserve the health of the pine tree. To eliminate the insect, it is necessary to treat the crown of the plant with preparations containing colloidal sulfur and insecticides, and pruning seriously damaged shoots will also help.
Spider mite most often appears on pine branches in hot and dry weather. Therefore, one of the methods of treatment is the ordinary spraying of pine with cold water, if you maintain a normal level of moisture, the risk of damage will noticeably decrease.
Scotch pine diseases and their treatment
In addition to pests, characteristic tree diseases are dangerous for pine, most often they are caused by fungal pathogens. If left untreated, any of the diseases can lead to the death of the entire tree, so you need to know what alarming symptoms the ailments manifest.
Pine spinner
The causative agent of this disease is a rust fungus called Melampsorapinttorgua, most often the disease affects young branches of seedlings and pines that have not yet reached 10 years. The most striking symptom of a fungal disease is the curvature of the shoots, which should normally be straight and even. If left untreated, the disease can lead to the death of an individual pine tree or an entire planting, as fungal spores quickly spread to neighboring plants.
Measures to combat the pine spinner are to remove all infected shoots and spray the pines with antifungal agents – Bordeaux mixture 1%, polycarbacin 1% and cinebom 0,8%.
Necrosis
The causative agents of the disease are fungi Sphaeriapithyophila Fr. and others, which appear most often in the second half of summer and affect the lower branches of pines. Necrosis leads to local death of areas of the bark on young branches and drying out of shoots; with an advanced disease, the fungus is also able to infect buds and needles and move, including to the middle and upper branches. If left untreated, eventually necrosis will lead to the death of the entire pine tree.
You can notice the disease at the initial stage by carefully examining the branches – the harmful fungus looks like microscopic black growths on the bark, single or grouped. Most often, the disease develops in conditions of excessive humidity and with a lack of light, which is why, first of all, the lower branches suffer from necrosis.
Treatment measures consist in the complete removal of the affected branches and the treatment of pine with a solution of 1% Bordeaux mixture. The same tool is recommended to be used to prevent the disease if the pine grows in a poorly lit area and in conditions of high humidity.
Biotorella cancer of pine
The disease is caused by the fungus Biatorelladifformis and usually affects the trunk in the middle and lower parts or at the roots. Under the influence of a harmful fungus, the pine bark changes color to brown and dries out; over time, ulcers characteristic of tree cancer form. Soon after the bark dies, the needles begin to turn yellow and crumble, which can lead to the complete death of the plant.
To stop the spread of cancer, it is necessary to carry out treatment – cut off the affected branches and sections of the bark with a sharp and sterile instrument. Sections and exposed places on the trunk for the purpose of treatment must be treated with a solution of copper sulfate.
Scleroderma
The cause of this disease is the infection of pine with the fungus Scleroderrislagerbergii, which most often chooses young seedlings no older than 2-3 years. It is quite simple to recognize scleroderriosis – with this disease, the needles at the ends of young shoots, near the bud at the top, hang like an umbrella and crumble from a light touch. In the initial stages of the disease, the needles remain green, but then turn brown. The spread of the disease begins most often from the upper branches to the lower ones; in the last stages of the disease, not only young shoots are captured, but also the deep tissues of the branches and trunk.
The disease poses a great danger to seedlings, as it often leads to their rapid and complete death. In adult trees, scleroderriosis can develop for years without treatment, but the appearance of the pine tree continuously deteriorates, and eventually the tree dies anyway.
Treatment of scleroderriosis is recommended to be carried out with fungicidal agents, the most famous of which are Bordeaux mixture and blue vitriol. Infected parts of the plant must be removed so that the spores of the disease do not spread from them to healthy shoots.
Rotten
A dangerous and insidious disease are numerous rots – pine diseases on the trunk, which also affect the roots. Their action is manifested in the fact that over time the needles begin to turn yellow and crumble, and the wood of the trunk loses its density and acquires many voids. The roots of the plant also lose their vitality, the pine tree becomes brittle and can fall even from moderately strong winds.
Recognizing rot in the early stages is very difficult, since diseases of this type develop over the years, capturing only 1 cm of the tree annually. Usually, rot is noticed already in the later stages, when a characteristic fruiting body of the fungus is formed on the pine trunk.
The treatment of the disease boils down to the fact that the growths of fungi that have appeared are cut off without fail and the places are treated with a cut of copper sulphate. Fruiting bodies are dangerous not only for diseased pines, but also for other plants, since spores from them spread around the area. In order to prevent the appearance of elusive rot in principle, it is necessary to annually carry out preventive spraying of trees with fungicidal solutions and carefully monitor the quality and moisture of the soil.
Rust
Rust, caused by the harmful fungus Coleosporium, is one of the most common diseases of coniferous trees. It is very easy to recognize rust; at the beginning of spring, small “pads” of orange color appear on pine needles, and after that, yellowing of the needles themselves occurs. As a result, the pine tree loses its attractive appearance, and with a neglected disease and without treatment, it can die.
Treatment of the disease is carried out with drugs with a high content of copper, these include solutions of Kuproksat, Oksikhom and others. In the process of treatment, it is necessary to process not only the affected tree, but also neighboring plantings, including herbaceous perennials – fungal spores very easily spread to nearby plants.
Mučnistaâ rosa
The development of the disease is provoked by spores of the fungus Erysiphales – plants infected with powdery mildew are covered with a whitish coating with small transparent droplets on the surface. These dew-like droplets are the spores of the fungus and are a great danger to trees. Infected parts of the pine tree cease to develop and receive sufficient sunlight, which leads to darkening and falling off of the needles. Under the influence of powdery mildew, the tree as a whole weakens and not only loses its decorative effect, but also becomes less resistant to changes in weather and temperature.
To treat planting diseases, it is necessary to treat the planting with a solution of foundationazole or colloidal sulfur, and the trees should be sprayed not once, but at least 3-5 times.
Schutte
The disease, caused by a fungus called Colletotrichumgloeosporiordes, manifests itself in a change in the color of pine needles. In the first stages of the disease, microscopic black spots and transverse stripes appear on the needles, and subsequently the needles become gray or brown. The disease leads to shedding of needles and weakening of the tree, so the pine tree needs timely treatment.
To eliminate the disease, pine must be treated with fungicides and colloidal sulfur. And since shutte infection occurs in the fall, treatment and prevention are best done shortly before the snow cover is established, so that the fungicidal solutions remain on the needles until winter.
Disease of drying of needles and shoots
The disease is provoked by the fungus Acanthostigmaparasitica and develops most often in conditions of high humidity and high air temperature. Under the influence of fungal spores, the needles, top buds and pine shoots dry out, turn pale and yellow, and then die. The disease affects young trees up to 15 years old, often develops in a focal type, and can affect wood under the bark.
The treatment of the disease is carried out by spraying with fungicidal preparations in April or May – during the period of growth of young needles on the shoots. For the best effect, it is better to spray 2-3 times in order to completely eliminate the spores of the fungus.
Verticillary wilting
The disease is caused by spores of the fungus Verticilliumalbo-atrum and is expressed in the gradual death of the roots of the tree, which inevitably leads to the death of the pine tree if left untreated. You can suspect the presence of verticillium wilt by discoloration and softening of the needles at the tops.
The treatment of the disease is carried out not only with fungicidal agents, but also by neutralizing the soil, the lower the alkalinity of the soil, the weaker the manifestations of the disease. To prevent the development of the disease, it is necessary to monitor the degree of soil moisture and carry out regular loosening.
sclerotinia snow mold
This disease develops under the influence of the fungus Sclerotinia borealis and is expressed in the fact that in the spring, immediately after the snow melts, the pine needles turn yellow, and then acquire a red-brown color and fall off. Especially often the disease affects pine trees after warm and snowy winters, since the development of the disease occurs precisely under the snow.
For the treatment of pine, it is necessary to use chemicals – copper sulfate and fungicidal solutions, it is also useful from time to time to plow the ground at the roots of the tree.
Preventive measures
Any disease of Scotch pine caused by fungal spores or pests is much easier to prevent than to treat. To maintain the health of pine seedlings and mature trees, the following rules must be observed:
- pay attention to the quality and level of soil moisture, regularly apply mineral top dressing;
- plant pine in well-lit areas with good ventilation – many ailments develop precisely in conditions of shading and stagnation of moisture in the soil;
- choose only high-quality seedlings and seed for planting;
- annually carry out preventive treatment of pines with Bordeaux mixture and fungicidal substances, the products do not harm the plant, but they prevent the appearance of pests and carry out treatment in the early stages;
- regularly weed and loosen the soil at the pine roots and prevent the growth of weeds, many of which are intermediate carriers of fungal spores and pest larvae.
Conclusion
Pine diseases and their treatment is a question that all summer residents who decide to take up the cultivation of ordinary pine need to familiarize themselves with. Despite the external strength and strength, the tree is susceptible to the harmful effects of many fungi and pests and needs constant protection and periodic treatment.
