Curly foliage of the peach culture is considered a common ailment that entails the loss of fruits, leaves, poor growth and development of the tree. Peaches need special care and attention. Any inaccurate action, improper processing can cause irreparable harm to the condition and formation of not only a young seedling, but also a completely mature tree.
How is the disease manifested and what is the danger?
Peach leaf curl is a fungal disease that occurs in the spring. It is with the arrival of heat that the shoots grow vigorously and the fungus immediately overpowers the peaches. The disease manifests itself on young foliage and shoots. Leaves that are 5 days old will become infected faster than 2-week-old counterparts.
The manifestation of malaise is expressed in the form of blistering tumors on the leaves. Initially, they are light greenish in color, then they acquire an amber-reddish color, and then they become brown with a waxy gray bloom. This is where fungal spores mature.
Bubbles on the foliage gradually become fragile, the leaves themselves thicken, dry out, turn black and fall off. First the lower ones, then in the middle of the process. Ultimately, few leaves remain at the tip of the shoot.
Shoots at the age of 1-2 years and the branches themselves are affected. They acquire a yellow tint, thickening, curvature and soon dry out. Trees without shoots stop bearing fruit. Affected buds die off in the first year of infection without producing fruit. If, nevertheless, they are formed, then they turn out to be deformed.
Plant damage symptoms
The disease manifests itself at the very beginning of the growing season. Young, newly opened leaves are characterized by a yellowish or red-pink color and a corrugated surface.
The size of the affected leaves is much larger than healthy green ones. Over time, the lower part of the infected leaves acquires a waxy white coating - sporulation of fungi. The diseased leaves soon turn brown, crumble, exposing the base of the process. Infected shoots dry up; survivors, as a rule, freeze at the beginning of the freeze.
The absence or untimely spraying of a peach seedling from curl will ultimately lead to the exposure of the entire tree. It is weakening and is unlikely to survive the next winter frosts.
Removal of diseased leaves
Removing infected leaves of peach trees is considered a preventive and sanitizing measure. It should be carried out in the spring or autumn.
Spring pruning involves pruning infected, curly and dried shoots to swollen buds. They must be collected and burned outside the garden to prevent the spread of fungal spores.
In the fall, branches with obvious symptoms of the disease are cut off, the fallen affected foliage is collected, taken to a remote area and burned.
How to deal with curly peach leaves?
Fighting unpleasant curly foliage in peach crops includes:
- removal and incineration of contaminated wood pieces;
- loosening the soil between plants;
- autumn and spring spraying with sulfur-lime solution.
Peaches are very sensitive to curly foliage. Therefore, to identify the disease during the growing season, seedlings must be carefully examined. Prolonged wet weather increases the risk of spreading the disease.
Agrotechnical control measures
Pruning of affected branches should be carried out using the following tools: garden knife, saw;
- secateurs;
- lopper.
The instruments must be sharp and disinfected.
Peach trees are bad for any intrusion into their life. Therefore, so that the plant does not hurt, pruning must be carried out quickly, correctly, if necessary, with further processing of the sections.
Chemical control measures
For the effective cure of peach curl, fungicides are used, the composition of which includes copper ("Skor", "Raek", "Folpan"), Bordeaux 3% liquid, copper sulfate.
You need to use "Speed" in this way:
- 1 capsule (2 ml) of the product in 10 liters of water is dissolved per 1 hundred square meters of the garden;
- the therapeutic effect is achieved after 5 days, prevention is 10 days.
The use of "Abiga Peak" is as follows:
- 40-50 g of the drug is dissolved in 10 l of water;
- sprayed 4 times at intervals of 14 days.
The products are non-toxic, practically harmless to amateur gardeners and the atmosphere.
How to spray from curl?
The most optimal products for the war against disease, gardeners secrete copper-containing agents that effectively destroy fungal diseases and harmful insects that spread the disease.
Biological agents ("Guapsin", "Planriz", "Trichodermin") are widely used. They do not adversely affect green plantings and do not accumulate inside the seedlings.
These drugs fight the ailment before and after the peach tree flower bearing. At the time of fruiting, the funds do not affect the taste of the fruit. The impact of bacterial spraying appears after 2-3 days.
Experienced gardeners offer combination spraying, which is widespread and has a positive effect:
- Early in the spring before bud break - 3% emulsion of copper (iron) vitriol or Bordeaux mixture.
- Time of the pink ovary phase - if the temperature is less than 20 ° C - "Chorus", if more than 20 ° C - "Strobe".
- Immediately after blossoming - "Skor", "Tilt".
- 14 days after the last treatment (with obvious places of infection) - "Skor", "Baylon".
- After the leaves fall - 3% solution of vitriol, Bordeaux liquid.
Clay processing
Treat diseases of peach trees using folk methods. One of the most effective methods is considered to be a clay solution with limestone, which has fungicidal characteristics and increases the self-protection of peach plantations from fungus.
To prepare a miracle cure, take:
- 10 liters of water;
- 350 g soft clay;
- 90 g of limestone (pre-extinguish).
Then:
- combine water with added clay;
- stir well;
- pour out the white milk in a gentle stream.
The mixture must be uniform, without any precipitation. Make the emulsion solution strictly at the time of spraying.
Processing with Bordeaux mixture
Bordeaux mixture for foliage healing has different effectiveness, depending on how it is made. The most effective in attempts to get rid of fungal infections is considered to be a 3% Bordeaux mixture, made by pouring a diluted solution of copper sulfate into white milk.
To process a peach seedling, prepare Bordeaux 3% liquid as follows:
- per 10 liters of water, take 300 g of ferrous sulfate, 300 g of slaked lime;
- dissolve vitriol in 5 liters of warm water;
- separately in a container (non-metallic) dissolve milk of lime in 5 liters of water;
- pour the vitriol mixture in a small stream into the lime milk, remembering to stir constantly.
Please note that the quality of the Bordeaux mixture will be poor if you mix strong solutions of copper sulfate and lime milk and if you pour a strong solution of copper sulfate into a weak solution of milk of lime.
How to speed up the recovery of a damaged peach?
Rehabilitation of trees after illness is possible with the following measures:
- Ensure the supply of the right amount of nutrients: systematically feed the soil with minerals and organic matter.
- In autumn, take care of protecting weak seedlings from freezing in winter.
- If the trees are affected by freezing weather, do proper pruning to rehabilitate the foliage. In severely damaged ones, remove all ovaries.
- Carry out treatments with various immunostimulating drugs, growth stimulants, phytoactivators of resistance to disease: ("Stimmunol", "Novosil", "Zircon").
You need to cut peach shoots depending on the level of damage to the wood:
- if the share of the buds is frozen, and the wood is not damaged, cut out the branches without flowers;
- in case of damage to all ovaries or frostbite of shoots, cut out longitudinal branches up to 4-5 years old wood, transfer them to lateral branching;
- if skeletal shoots are affected, pruning should be done in the summer (in June), when new branches will grow from the awakened buds and it will be possible to assess the picture of wood infection.
Correctly performed actions to restore a peach after an illness will increase the chances of healing the tree and getting good yields.
The gardener in his video talks about how he saved a peach from "curly leaves":
Disease prevention
Timely measures will protect peach trees from a parasitic disease that is easier to prevent than to cure.
Protective actions are carried out before the opening of the ovaries early in the spring. In different territories of Russia, the prevention time is adjusted to the atmospheric environment: in the south, actions are carried out in early March, in northern areas - in April. Finishing takes place in autumn.
Start the prevention of foliar damage in the fall. As soon as the air temperature drops to 5 degrees, carry out the following procedures:
- prune infected trees and spray with vitriol or a gray-lime solution;
- free the area around the trunk from residues, burn foliage and branches, loosen the soil;
- at the beginning of March, treat the tree by spraying with a 1% mixture of copper sulfate;
- repeat the procedure after 7 days;
- it is possible to use a 3% solution of Bordeaux liquid.
In order to reduce the risk of ailment, for planting peach seedlings, choose dry, not darkened garden areas.
Disease Resistant Peach Varieties
According to gardeners, species of peach trees, which have fruits with yellow fleshy flesh, are less likely to get sick with curly foliage. The greatest disease resistance to fungal diseases was recorded in the following varieties:
- Golden Moscow;
- Kiev early;
- Golden Jubilee;
- Early Simferopol;
- Early Kuban.
Regardless of which type of peach has been chosen, prevention is the best protection of the plant from curliness. Peach stands are pampered, heat-loving areas. The tree will quickly die if you do not follow agricultural techniques and preventive options for protection against fungal and pest damage.