Cherry "besseya": how to deal with the diseases and pests of the sand cherry

Among the many varieties and types of trees that can easily be found at any dacha plot, it is easy to see sand cherries or, as it is often called, "Bessey" cherries. Unlike most other varieties, this plant is presented in the form of a multi-trunk shrub up to 1.5 meters high. Depending on the age, the shape of the crown varies, although the compact, erect branches of the young plant, which are colored red, as well as leathery, hard leaves, always distinguish it from the rest of the vegetation of the garden. The lower part of the leaves is covered with a silvery-white bloom, and on top of the sheet plate has a green tint. With the arrival of autumn, the sand cherry leaves acquire spectacular shades of an orange-red palette, which gives the shrub an even greater decorative effect.

Whatever it was, but the state of the plant and its fruiting depends largely on the resistance to various diseases and pests, but unfortunately the Bessey cherry often falls under their influence and will simply die without the help of man. Let's see what should be ready when growing this variety of cherries.

Sand Cherry Diseases: What Affects a Plant

Cherry "Bessey" is sufficiently resistant to diseases, however, it is also subject to some characteristic diseases. Thus, the plant is often affected by moniliosis, coccomycosis, anthracnose, and also often suffers from nodules, which is why it is very important to have sufficient information about these diseases of sand cherry, which will help in combating them.

Moniliasis (monilial burn)

Monilioz - a characteristic fungal disease for many varieties of cherries. This dangerous disease affects not only the fruits and leaves of the shrub, but also adversely affects the condition of the wood of the branches. Moniliosis occurs immediately after the flowering of the plant and is characterized by wilting, darkening and drying of the affected parts.

It is likely that with the presence of the disease you will notice a large number of brown dry twigs among the green.To those gardeners who have not previously encountered a similar problem, it may seem that the branches of the shrub just froze in the winter, but without removing them and processing the shrubs very quickly, it becomes clear that the situation is much more serious.

It is important to note that even in this state, the leaves do not fall off, but simply turn brown, continuing to hang on the twigs. It is through them that the spores of the fungus penetrate the fruit (through mechanical damage to the skin), causing a new wave of the disease.

Monilioz cherries leads to the rapid rotting of the berries and their mummification, so if the harvest is important for you, then it is worth deciding how you will treat this unpleasant ailment. First of all, all affected branches should be removed and burned, and the plant itself should be treated with a copper-containing compound (for example, copper sulphate). It is good that in the modern market there are many drugs that can help in solving this problem.

Coccomycosis

Coccomycosis is another fungal disease characteristic of different varieties of cherry.. In general, the parasitic fungus affects only the leaf apparatus of stone fruit cultures, although it often affects the fruits that are formed, making them tasteless and watery at first, and then causing them to dry.

The ideal conditions for the spread of this fungal disease is a warm and humid summer.during which the plant weakens, and in the presence of cold and frosty winters may die.

You can determine the presence of the disease simply by looking at the leaves of the sand cherry: they are covered with small brown dots, which eventually grow to spots of impressive size. The lower part of the leaf plate is covered with a pink-white bloom, under which are the spores of the fungus. Very soon, all the affected leaves fall.

In some cases, the disease spreads to the fruit of the Bessey cherries, which are covered with small dark spots and begin to deform. Of course, such berries are no longer usable.

When figuring out how to deal with coccomycosis, we should recall the case of moniliasis, which was mentioned above.That is, having found the signs of the disease, it is necessary to collect all the affected parts of the shrub and burn them, and fallen leaves are also subject to such radical measures, as mushroom spores like to use them for a comfortable wintering. If you ignore this recommendation, then the next spring (assuming that the weakened shrub survives the winter) the disputes will move to the young leaves and everything will be repeated.

Treatment of cherries from this disease, as well as from many other pests, is based on spraying the shrub with copper-containing compounds: with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture, copper chlorine or Oxyhom, which is more preferable, since these preparations leave almost no burns . The first spraying is carried out with the appearance of the first leaves, and the second - 15-20 days after flowering. The third treatment is preferably carried out after harvest.

Anthracnose

Increasingly, cherry blossoms, including sand cherries, contain such an unpleasant disease as anthracnose, which mainly affects the fruits. Thus, on the berries, small dim specks first appear, hillocks form, and then a pink patina forms. If summer turns out to be dry, the berries quickly begin to dry out and mummify in the sun, but in the case when the summer period is rainy and wet, anthracnose can ruin up to 80% of the crop.

A three-time spraying of Bessei shrub with chemical preparations (for example, Poliram) will help to cope with the disease. The first treatment is performed before the appearance of flowers, the second is carried out immediately after they wither, and the third - two weeks after the second. All damaged fruit should be immediately harvested and destroyed.

Klesterosporiosis

As in the previous cases, the cause of klesterosporiosis is a fungus that infects all parts of the plant: buds, flowers, leaves, shoots and fruits.. On the leaves of a diseased shrub, brown spots with a dark border are formed, which after some time turn into small holes. This leads to drying and dropping of the affected leaves. If you do not take any measures and do not cure the disease, then the spores of the fungus will remain in the bark of the branches and will appear again next season.

In the fight against infestation, affected shoots and leaves are harvested and burned, although some gardeners claim that burrowing also helps. In any case, this is not enough, and when the indicated ailment appears, one should again ask the question: “What to sprinkle on the seedless cherries?”. The first and constant helper is the same Bordeaux liquid, although the treatment of 2-3% solution of iron sulphate is considered to be no less effective. Treatment of wounds is carried out with the beginning of gum therapy.

Sand cherries, affected by klyasterosporioz, lose a lot of leaves over the summer, which leads to a weakening of the shrub and its poor wintering.

The main pests of the cherry "bessey"

In addition to such unpleasant fungal diseases, Bessey cherries often suffer from insect pests, the most well-known among which are the following.

Cherry aphid

Sand cherry pests are often represented by a cherry aphid, a small fly with a red-yellow head, a yellow breast shield and three dark stripes arranged on transparent wings. Usually the insect appears on the plant at the beginning of the coloring of the fruit and flies over them for about a month, laying its eggs in the berries.

As soon as the fruits ripen, white legless larvae emerge from the eggs, which feed on the pulp of ripe fruits. After 8-10 days, they leave the fruit and fall to the ground, where they go deeper into the soil by 1-3 cm and begin to pupate. The affected fruits become darker, rot, but do not fall to the ground. The shoots are deformed and stop growing, young seedlings lose frost resistance and are not able to endure the winter.

This pest of sand cherry is also dangerous by rapid reproduction, and therefore, the fight against it must begin immediately. The most effective preparations for treating shrubs are Karbofos, Ambush, Rovikurt and Aktellik. You can also dip shoots and branches in the indicated formulations (for example, in a 50% solution of Karbofos).

This video describes the method of dealing with aphids using celandine.

Cherry weevil

Cherry weevil is another common sandstone cherry pest.. It is presented in the form of a small beetle of green color with a raspberry-bronze shimmer, which reaches 9 mm in length.

In most cases, the insect strikes just this type of cherry, the diseased berries of which are simply showered on the ground. Cherry weevil attacks the plant during its flowering, feeding on sap of flowers. A little later, he bites into the pulp of the ovary and lays eggs there.

After a week of them appear caterpillars, which begin to feed the contents of the bones. As soon as they mature, they immediately fall to the ground, pupate and prepare for wintering in the larva or adult beetle phase. Damaged by the weevil, the berries cease to grow and do not ripen, and with a massive invasion of insects, the entire crop of sand cherry may completely disappear.

The fight with the beetle begins immediately after the flowering of the shrub, treating the plant with Karbofos, Ambush, Rovikurt or Aktellik. With the re-detection of damaged areas carry out another treatment.

The regular gathering of beetles contributes to a decrease in the amount of cherry weevil, and autumn digging will help to destroy the larvae. It is also possible to cope with the invasion of pests by installing trapping belts at the beginning of bud break. They are checked every other day, destroying the beetles gathered there.

To shake off insects from occupied bushes under a cherry, plastic wrap is spread out on which they fall. After that, all the collected beetles are destroyed.

Of the popular methods of dealing with a cherry weevil, immediately after flowering, spraying a decoction of tomato tops often prepared in the calculation of 1.4 kg of tops of stepsons per 10 liters of water is often used.

The resulting mixture is boiled for 30 minutes, after which 40 grams of laundry soap are added to the composition and after filtering the sprayed bushes are sprayed. As an alternative, a decoction of bitter wormwood can be used: the dried plant is ground, infused for 24 hours in water, and then boiled for half an hour and 40 grams of soap are added. After straining, a standard spraying procedure is carried out.

Plum moth

Plum moth - a butterfly that prefers more plums and apples, although it does not hesitate to cherries. This pest appears after the flowering of plums, and the average calendar period of its invasion falls on the second half of May - the beginning of June.

Females begin to lay eggs 3-5 days after leaving the pupa, continuing their life cycle from 4 to 15 days (average life expectancy). For a sand cherry, a butterfly is not as dangerous as its caterpillars, which, when devouring the flesh, do not change the appearance of the fruit and it is very difficult to visually detect them.

They appear 5–7 days after laying eggs on the leaves of cherries by females, and 15–20 days later they leave for wintering grounds. The caterpillars of the plum moth overwinter in the cracks of the bark of trees and shrubs, as well as under fallen leaves.

It is important to timely identify the life of the butterfly and the caterpillars, which will help to cope with the pest at the initial stage of its life cycle.. The fight against caterpillars usually begins when they are embedded in the fruit. The plant is sprayed with special preparations, which include Ambush, Anometrin, Rovikurt at a concentration of 0.1%, and Tsimbush, Tsitkor, Shepra at a concentration of 0.02%. If the caterpillars and larvae on the fruit do not disappear, then after 10-15 days the spraying is repeated.

How to save sand cherry from pests and diseases, prevention

Diseases of the cherry "Bessey", as well as their treatment, have their own characteristics - this is a fact. Therefore, it is not surprising that the preventive measures taken are also some characteristic differences. So, for example, the prevention of coccomycosis, moniliosis and klyasterosporioz is primarily based on the timely harvesting of the fallen leaves and the removal of all diseased parts of the plant and their subsequent destruction.

However, in the case of moniliosis, it is imperative to dig the soil in pristvolny circles. Of the most effective drugs that are used both for the treatment of the plants themselves and for spraying the soil, copper oxychloride, Mancozeb, Zineb, Horus, Skor, Rubigan and Bordeaux liquid should be distinguished. In addition, before cherry blossom, it is treated with a solution of ferrous sulfate (300 grams per 10 liters of water).

In addition to spraying fungicides, the prevention of diseases of the sand cherry is:

• regular seasonal pruning at the end of March (old and dried branches are removed, which thicken the crown);
• rejuvenation of old trees by cutting them at a height of three to four years old wood;
• timely cleaning and burning of fallen leaves;
• removal from the branches and destruction of dry, mummified and fungus-affected fruits;
• normalized fertilizer and watering shrubs.

When the first symptoms of any of the diseases appear, do not delay the treatment. However, it is important to use only one proven agent, not combining drugs. For example, a combination of copper sulphate and Bordeaux liquid will increase the toxicity of the compounds twice.

The same rules apply to the prevention and control of sand cherry pests.