How can you treat plums in the spring against diseases and pests: a list of chemicals and folk remedies

Plum, like any fruit tree, needs regular treatment against pests and diseases. Most of them occur in the spring (before, during and after flowering), with control spraying in summer and autumn. The HozGround editors have prepared recommendations on what and how to process plums so that the harvest is regular.

What harmful insects and diseases become active in spring?

Trees are treated before the sap begins to move in the bark - in early spring in March. The procedure is carried out during spring work on the site: cleaning the area, loosening the soil, fertilizing and pruning plum trees. All living organisms begin to become active in the spring, so it is not advisable to delay spraying the plants.

The main pests of plum trees:

• aphid;
• sawflies: yellow, cherry slimy, black;
• mites;
• rose leaf beetle;
• codling moth;
• papilion;
• plum moth;
• hawthorn;
• goldentail

Fruit trees are affected by three types of pathogenic flora: fungal, viral, bacterial. You can protect yourself from the pox virus (sharka) and ring spot, which affects all stone fruits, by disinfecting all garden tools. The virus also develops when purchasing an infected seedling, through pollen and weeds.

Fungal diseases:

• moniliosis (gray rot);
• Clusterosporiosis;
• rust;
• coccomycosis;
• plum pockets;
• polystigmosis;
• milky shine;
• curliness;
• sooty fungus.

Bacterial diseases: bacterial spot, witch's broom. Droplets of frozen gum can often be seen on the fruits and trunk. This non-infectious disease is called gommosis or gum disease.

Pruning plum in spring

The first plum pruning is carried out immediately at the time of planting. Then this procedure is performed regularly and is carried out at least 1-2 times a year.

The first 5 years are devoted to the formation of the plum crown.

In tall fruit trees, to make them easier to care for, a sparsely tiered crown is most often created. Medium-sized ones are given a cup-shaped shape, and short-sized ones are given a “spindle” or “palmette” shape.

When the formation of the tree is completed, only sanitary and thinning pruning of the tree is performed annually. After young shoots stop appearing on the old plum, another type of pruning is carried out - rejuvenating.

In the middle zone, the most important plum pruning occurs in the spring. The timing depends on the weather: the procedure begins after the frosts have already subsided, but sap flow has not yet begun. Usually this moment occurs at the end of March - beginning of April. When pruning plum trees in spring, remove:

• frozen, dry, broken or damaged branches;
• shoots growing incorrectly (directed inside the crown) and thickening the crown;
• diseased branches - they are cut out completely, and partially affected ones - to healthy tissue;
• last year's growth is shortened by a third - it is on these shoots that the plum will bear fruit this year.

• Proper pruning of plums - tips for beginners (diagrams, photos, videos)

  We tell you how to prune plum trees in spring, summer and autumn.

Stages and timing of spring treatment and prevention depending on the region

The first treatment should be carried out before the buds swell. Future greens are food for caterpillars and other insects. Pests wake up when the soil begins to warm up, already at temperatures above 5-10 degrees. Before flowering, plants destroy the codling moth. Caterpillars eat plum buds and flowers.

After the tree has flowered, it is sprayed with biological products against weevils, caterpillars and ticks. For preventive purposes, treatment is repeated after 13-15 days.

Processing times depend on the region of residence, climatic and weather conditions. In March, spraying begins in the southern regions. In the Middle Zone and Moscow region, work is carried out from the end of March to mid-April. Siberia has harsh, long winters, so in the Siberian regions and the Urals it is necessary to process plums in the spring from late April to mid-May.

In March, missed pest nests are destroyed. They put up birdhouses and install hunting belts on the trunks. If you skip spring spraying, it will be difficult to get rid of uninvited guests in the future.

Processing agents

The agricultural industry offers many options for substances and preparations that provide protection against insects and tree diseases during the growing season.

Do you use special care when choosing products for processing plums?

Not really

The gardener is required to choose the best option that suits the budget, class, and characteristics.

It is important to remember that no substances are diluted or added by eye. A weak concentration does not give the desired effect, and an overdose causes death to the tree (burns, loss of taste of the fruit).

The correct selection of preparations depends on the processing time and the stage of development of the plum.

Preventative

Preparations offered in agricultural stores that help destroy pests on drains can be in the form of powder or liquid.

Of the most popular liquid solutions, Profilaktin is distinguished. The manufacturer guarantees protection of trees from ticks, larvae, leaf rollers, aphids, but only with proper dilution of the product.

Prophylactic is ready for use, but requires additional dilution in water at room temperature. The product is available in half-liter plastic bottles.

Tanrek

The drug is an insecticide. Action: enteric contact. Release: in liquid form. Container: bottles and ampoules, which is convenient for treating a small number of trees in the garden.

The duration of the protective effect reaches 28-30 days from the moment of spraying. Guarantees protection and elimination of pests:

• flea beetles, codling moth;
• whiteflies;
• aphids.

In the absence of this drug, you can use analogue substances: Tabu, Biotlin, Corado or Bison.

Analogues act on insects, like Tanrek: they paralyze the nervous system, which leads to the death of the pest.

Bordeaux liquid

The crystalline substance is classified as rapidly soluble. Bordeaux mixture provides protection not only from pests, but also fungal diseases.

After application, a thin film is formed. To better retain the substance on the green part of the plum and branches, it is recommended to add a soap solution to the working mixture.

Bordeaux mixture is effective against:

• curliness and spotting;
• scab, rubella;
• late blight, powdery mildew;
• brown/gray rot.

Fitoverm

The drug is suitable not only for treating plums and other trees, but is also good for indoor and garden flowers. The universal remedy helps eliminate and protect against:

• aphids and mites;
• thrips and sawflies;
• whiteflies and leaf rollers;
• codling moth.

Fitoverm is a liquid concentrate. Sold in ampoules (for indoor plants) and bottles. Breeding instructions included, easy to read.

It affects pests in the same way as Tanrek (intestinal-contact action). Protection time is 5-7 days. Can be used to process plums in spring according to the diagram.

Lepidocide

The substance is used to improve the appearance of the fruit and the absence of worms/caterpillars in them. Sprays in early spring. The drug must be diluted. Release form:

• powder;
• concentrated suspension;
• suspension modified concentrate.

Before diluting the selected Lepidocide, carefully study the instructions. It is not dangerous to human life (hazard class 4).

It should not be used during the flowering period, as the drug has a strong pungent odor, which repels honey plants and pollinators.

Copper sulfate

The product is universal. It is on par in popularity with Bordeaux mixture. 90% of farmers and gardeners cannot imagine the beginning of the gardening season without this substance.

Copper sulfate actively affects the spread of fungal diseases and pests. Used for treatment and prevention.

Application is recommended exclusively before flowering or after harvest. Also used as a fertilizer (if there is a lack of copper in the soil).

Boric acid

Another universal substance. Boric acid is useful in the garden, vegetable garden and for home use. Helps kill ants, aphids and other chewing insects. In this case, it can be diluted in the required concentration as a top dressing.

You can spray the plum during budding, after pollination and at the time of fruit ripening.

Need to know! It is advisable to spray boric acid on the plum tree regularly. Reason: lack of boron in stone fruit plants. Treatment solution: dilute 15 g of boric acid in powder form per 10 liters of warm water (at least 30 degrees). The product does not dissolve in cold water.

Traditional methods and recipes

Traditional recipes are used as additional means of protection. The effectiveness of self-made drugs is no less than chemical ones. Allows you to treat against flying, gnawing pests and diseases:

Traditional methods of dealing with harmful “neighbors” on the drain are more preventive than therapeutic.

Do you often use folk remedies to process plums?

Not really

When to spray a plum

Processing time is set depending on the weather. To do this, you need a sunny, dry day so that the temperature at night is always above zero. The work is carried out in 4 stages.

Spring treatments:

1. Before the buds swell in March - at this time the movement of fungal spores occurs. More often, plants get sick with moniliosis. It can be recognized by the brown withered ends of the shoots.
2. The second time - during the swelling of the buds in early April, but before the leaves appear.
3. The third treatment occurs at the end of April - before the buds open. The codling moth, flying from one tree to another, lays larvae, they penetrate the fruit, resulting in wormy plums.
4. To avoid a new outbreak of moniliosis and the establishment of codling moths, you need to treat the plum after flowering, when a pea-sized fruit is formed.

Mineral preparations for processing plums

These products do not kill insects and pathogenic fungi. But they increase the immunity of plants and help them fight infection or pests:

• in early spring - treatment with magnesium nitrate, it improves the quality of fruits, and with iron chelate - increases resistance to chlorosis;
• at the beginning of summer - potassium magnesium and potassium nitrate, it stimulates protective properties during the growing season;
• During the entire growing season, in addition to flowering, you can use the Kemira-Lux complex, which includes nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.

Attention!

For all varieties of plums, urea and superphosphate can be used.

How to spray plums in spring against harmful insects

The entire plum tree is sprayed against pests, including the trunk on all sides and the crown. The drugs are used at temperatures above 12-13 degrees, otherwise there will be no effect. It is better to buy drugs in specialized stores. In spontaneous markets you can buy a fake, the trees will suffer.

Preparations:

• Spark;
• Decis Profi;
• Karbofos;
• Fufanon;
• Chlorophos;
• Kinmiks;
• Nitrophen;
• Inta-Vir;
• Tanrek.

Attention!
The drugs are diluted in accordance with the instructions; exceeding the dose is detrimental to plants. Rain, high humidity, fog and temperature changes reduce the effect of the drugs. In March, the fight against leaf rollers, aphids and silkworms begins. In the spring, plums are sprayed against pests with the following preparations: Karbofos, Inta-Vir, Chlorophos, Benzophosphate. Effective against aphids: Fitoferm - 1.5 ml per 1 liter of liquid, Hostaquik - 1 ml per 5 liters of water. To combat ticks: Neoron 10 ml per 5 liters of water, colloidal sulfur - 70 g per bucket of liquid.

Some substances can be mixed. At the beginning of budding, any of the fungicides (Strobi, Horus, Skor) and one insecticide (Aktara, Konfidor) are mixed into a bucket of liquid. A biostimulator is added to the mixture. Change the product after flowering. If you used Chorus, then use Strobe.

At the first stage of treatment, the following is used against fungal diseases:

• Home;
• Inkstone;
• Pharma Iodine;
• Bordeaux mixture 1%;
• Oksikhom;
• Chorus (not higher than +5C*);
• Speed

Copper sulfate 3% or carbamide is sprayed over dormant buds. They arrange a shower, begin to spray small branches, then moving to the bark of the trunk. The procedure prevents gumosis and other fungi from developing. The substance burns out egg clutches and prevents fruit from falling off.

Bordeaux mixture is used for marsupial disease and monoliosis. Treat twice with a break of 12-14 days. Copper solution is sprayed after flowering against clasterosporiasis and other fungi.

Important!

When working with chemicals in the spring, you need protective equipment - a respirator, goggles, a raincoat, gloves.

Pest and disease control in spring

Some gardeners refuse to treat fruit trees with chemicals for reasons of environmental safety, but with this approach you may not expect a harvest at all. The correct use of modern means for protection against diseases and pests does not harm humans, greatly increasing the yield and quality of fruits.

General rules for spring processing of plums:

• before starting work, it is necessary to trim and sanitize the tree and the tree trunk;
• spraying is carried out from top to bottom, from the outer branches to the skeletal ones;
• for spring treatment you need to use sprayers with a fine nozzle;

When to spray a plum

In order for the control of pests and diseases to be effective, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of their life activity and development cycle, because A drug administered at the wrong time will have no effect. To reduce the number of treatments, some drugs can be combined, but you need to remember:

1. Copper-containing preparations should not be mixed with anything.
2. Insecticides and fungicides usually go well together, but you need to look at the instructions for use - the manufacturer usually notes on the packaging if the drug cannot be used in combination with other products.

The optimal time to begin spring plum processing varies from region to region. It would be correct to divide it into three stages:

• before the start of sap flow, with dormant buds;
• during flowering, if there are signs of damage;
• after flowering ends.

Work before flowering in the dormant bud phase

The first spring treatment is of greatest importance. If pathogens begin to multiply in damp and warm spring weather, and pests have time to lay eggs, summer spraying will be ineffective.

In March, when the air temperature remains above zero day and night, it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning of the trees, whitewash the trunk and lower parts of the skeletal branches with lime, and then spray with copper-containing preparations.

In the phase of dormant buds, treatment is carried out with a 3% Bordeaux mixture, and also, while the air temperature remains at +5 + 6 ° C, you can use the complex fungicide Horus. These drugs will help not only protect the plum from clasterosporiosis and monilial burn, but also kill some of the larvae dormant in the bark.

From leaf-eating insects, aphids and sawflies, before bud break, you can additionally use the systemic insecticide Confidor Maxi at a concentration of 70%.

Spraying a plum tree during flowering

During flowering, the tree is most vulnerable. The moist, sweet environment of the pistil, intended for the germination of pollen grains, is a direct gateway for infection. Blooming flowers attract the attention of the plum sawfly, codling moth and fat moth.

However, by treating a flowering tree with chemicals, pollinating insects can be destroyed along with the pests. Additionally, if the pollen gets wet, the tree will temporarily lose its ability to pollinate.

In view of this, in a normal situation, it is better to refuse to treat plums during flowering. If signs of the disease appear during this period, it is recommended:

• for fungal infections, use 1% Bordeaux mixture - spray the flowering tree five times, starting from the budding phase every five days;
• for bacterial infections, they are treated with antibiotics - once during flowering, and again during the formation of ovaries. There won't be a big harvest this year, but the tree will be saved.

Of the foliar fertilizers, boric acid has proven itself well during flowering - a 0.5% fertilizer solution improves the quality of pollen, reduces the number of barren flowers, and prevents the shedding of ovaries due to a lack of boron.

Processing plums after flowering in May

Immediately after the end of flowering, the plum garden is treated against leaf spot, aphids, plum sawflies and thick stems. It is advisable to change the means to avoid the emergence of resistance in diseases and pests. One of the best combinations will be the combination of fungicide Kuproksat 34.5% and insecticide Aktara 25%.

Three weeks after the end of flowering, the treatment against moniliosis and fatty stems is repeated using the complex preparation Calypso 480. After a few days, you can spray the plum with Bordeaux mixture at a concentration of 1%.

Hunting belts are a fairly effective remedy against aphids, codling moths, and ants. They are placed at a height of 100-150 cm from the ground and changed once every 10 days, destroying pests.

Folk remedies also help against worms in fruits. Chamomile infusion contains a large amount of permethrin, a substance that is safe for humans, but extremely toxic to insects. To obtain chamomile infusion, pour a glass of dried flowers with a bucket of hot water and leave for 20-24 hours. The finished solution is filtered and 50 grams of soap crumbs are added. The treatment must be repeated after two weeks.

In the fight against codling moth caterpillars, American white butterflies and aphids, an infusion of ground red pepper is very effective from folk remedies - 100 g of powder is poured into a liter of boiling water and left overnight. In the morning, dilute the infusion in 10 liters of water and spray the plum leaves.

How to treat plums for worms in fruits

Worms spoil and eat unripe plum fruits, thereby reducing the yield. To prevent codling moths and sawflies from settling on the tree, it is worth taking some measures.

Effective remedies against worms:

Before the buds open, the plum is treated with saltpeter and karbofos. For a bucket of water, 75 g of karbofos or 65 g of benzophosphate. There are 10 liters of solution per plant. The tree trunk circles are also sprayed. Saltpeter is diluted in accordance with the instructions.

After flowering, the drugs Inta-Vir, Phosfamide, Khomus, Zolon, Metathion, Durspan, Oxychom are used. They act even on those insects and their larvae that have already penetrated the fruit and begun to develop. Be sure to spray in the forks of branches, where there is a large concentration of pests and fungi. After 3 weeks, the treatment must be repeated. Work is carried out in the evening without rain.

How to process plums

When choosing preparations for treating plums against diseases and pests, you must carefully study the instructions for use attached to them and strictly adhere to them.

Folk remedies against worms

Plums are treated with folk remedies against diseases and pests and trapping belts are installed. In March, a trap made of burlap, cardboard or sponge material is attached to the trunk. It is impregnated with insecticide. If you wrap a tree with tape, with the adhesive part facing up, then all the caterpillars and worms will not reach the intended target, but will settle on the hunting belts.

All cracks, damage, and scratches on the bark should be repaired with lime or clay. This will prevent awakened parasites from crawling out and leaking cadmium from the tree.

Birdhouses in a tree will attract birds, which will eat insects and caterpillars.

Dried wormwood is hung on plum branches or planted in the garden. Only wormwood flowers need to be cut off prematurely, not allowing them to bloom.

Important!

All tree litter, traps, leaves, and grass must be removed and burned, otherwise the insects will move to neighboring plants.

Garlic infusion recipe:

• peel 100 cloves of garlic and 20 arrows;
• pour 5 liters of water, stir;
• leave for 2 days;
• strain, add another 5 liters of water;
• Spray the plum with tincture.

The tobacco is cut and filled with water (1:3). Leave for 24 hours. Spray the crown and trunk with the product.

Yarrow decoction helps fight worms:

• 2 kg of fresh grass pour 8 liters of water;
• boil for 25 minutes;
• strain, add 20 g of laundry soap;
• mix and spray the plants.

Features of treating plums from diseases and pests

Plums are treated in the spring for preventive purposes. Features of the work:

1. Trees are pruned. They are cleared of dried bark, and the soil in the tree trunk circles is loosened.
2. Initially, the outermost branches are sprayed with the prepared solutions, then they move on to the skeletal branches and to the trunk.
3. The water pressure when spraying trees should not be too strong. Otherwise, the prepared composition will not linger on the branches and trunks.

To achieve the maximum effect from the solutions used, laundry soap should be added to each of them (if you are using folk remedies rather than a ready-made chemical). So, the liquid, once it gets on the leaves, will stay on them better and be absorbed faster.

Treatment for codling moths and aphids

Adults fly at night in calm weather. Eggs are laid a week after flowering. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the plum tree against pests before the flowers begin to bloom. One caterpillar spoils 3-4 fruits; it overwinters under the bark or in the ground.

To combat the codling moth, use:

1. Insecticides: Decis Profi, Calypso, Match 050 EU. Calypso is safe for bees.
2. Traps are made at a height of 30 cm from the ground. They are made from fabric and paper. The “skirt” is installed around the trunk. Insects gather in the folds of the material. Traps are changed every week. Various baits are placed around the trunk and on the tree. They cook compote and hang it in buckets on branches. The winged insect flies to the smell, and it will not be able to get out of the bucket. Adults can be collected in this way.
3. Traditional methods: garlic infusions, dry mustard, wormwood infusion, pine needle extract, salt solution.
4. Prevention: burn damaged bark, whiten it with lime, trim branches, dig up soil around the plum tree. They clean up weeds and debris in the garden.

Reviews

Alyona

“My husband and I bought our particular plot of land when we saw how luxurious the plum trees were growing on it. Former owners advised us to use Aktara to care for them; it helps eliminate many pests and diseases. I recommend using it only with a special sprayer, so it will “work” more efficiently.”

Yana

“I always thought that fruit plants grow on their own and require absolutely no care. As it turned out, I was very deeply mistaken about this. The first problem for me was the attack of aphids, because of which I was practically left without a harvest. I recommend treating the plum tree against aphids with chemicals immediately after the snow has melted. To avoid pest problems in the future.”

Plum is one of the most delicious and healthy berries; adults and children love it. To get a good harvest in the summer, starting in early spring, spray the tree against pests and garden diseases, follow proper care and preventive measures. Then nothing will prevent the plant from producing a lot of juicy fruits.

How to treat plums against aphids in spring

Plums are treated against aphids in the spring with the following preparations: Entobacterin, Fitoferm, Strela, Tanrek, Karate, Iskra, Kinmiks, Biotlin.

Traditional methods: a solution of laundry soap and vegetable oil (300 g of soap per bucket of water, add 100 g of oil). Tincture of tomato leaves, decoction of onion peels and garlic. An ash decoction helps: boil a glass of ash in 9 liters of water for 20 minutes. Tar oil and birch tar are effective.

Important!

Do not overfeed plants with nitrogen, as this promotes the appearance of aphids.

It is necessary to block the ants' access to the trees; they carry aphids. The following drugs will protect the plum from ants: Diazinon, Chlorpyrifos, Absolute, Antiant, Great Warrior. They use boric acid against ant infestations. Pour 5 g of the substance into a glass of hot water, add 2 tablespoons of sugar, add a glass of cold water, and mix. In the evening, the solution is poured into small containers and placed around the anthill.

Sawfly protection

If you shake the crown on a cloudy day, sawflies will fall down from the branches. Before the procedure, you need to lay a light cloth on the ground to then collect the worms and destroy them. In this way, you can also see other insects overwintering on the plum tree. For preventative purposes, in the fall they dig up all the soil in the garden to destroy the pupae of caterpillars and worms, and remove all dry trees on the site.

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Chemical substances:

• Benzophosphate;
• Metaphos;
• Phosfamide;
• Arrivo;
• Aktara;
• Karbofos;
• Chlorophos;
• Kinmiks.

The herb aconite helps in the fight against sawflies. For 9 liters of water, 1 kg of grass and 25 g of alkali. Leave for 48 hours, then add 50 g of liquid soap and treat the trees.

Chamomile infusion is suitable; it kills insect larvae. Pharmaceutical chamomile 500 g is poured into 5 liters of water heated to 80 degrees. Leave for 10 hours, filter, add 6 liters of water, add 50 g of soap.

How to treat plum blossoms against pests

When the buds have blossomed, a biological product can be used against leaf rollers during flowering. For a bucket of water: Lepidocid – 25 g, Biotoxibacillin – 50-70 g, Fitoferm – 20 ml. The following products are used against plum worm: Karbofos – 70 g or Decis – 2 ml. For codling moths use: Inta-Vir, Iskra, Decis Profi, Fufanon. But it is better to use the biological product Fitoferm so that harmful substances do not accumulate in the fruits.

Immediately after flowering, use Karbofos against insects - 40 g per 5 liters of water, and also spray the plum with Aktar.

Whitewashing plum

A necessary preventative measure for spring care is whitewashing the bark and branches. The procedure is mandatory for all fruit trees.

Is it necessary to bleach plums?

The end of March - beginning of April is a good time to whitewash trees. They are whitened at a temperature not lower than 5-7 degrees. Cover the trunks with the solution only during dry times of the day; the substance must dry.

Spring whitewashing protects trees from the sun and temperature fluctuations. The bark may get burned, which will slow down bud break. Whitewash reflects the sun's rays well, the barrel does not heat up and does not crack.

Lime destroys egg laying under the bark. It prevents overwintered pests and their cocoons from emerging. Whitewashing also prevents pathogens, fungi and parasites from penetrating under the tree bark.

Attention!

For young trees, the amount of lime for the solution is halved.

How to whiten trees

Mountain limestone perfectly cements all cracks and tree wounds. Slaked limestone is used for whitewashing.

The following substances are used to prepare the mixture:

• lime;
• chalk;
• boostilate;
• kaolin;
• clay;
• copper sulfate;
• caselin glue.

Place limestone in a bowl and add water 1:1. The result is a fluff that hisses and generates heat. The process lasts approximately 1 hour. After this, the solution is stirred with a wooden spoon. For young animals, lime is diluted 1:3.

Important!

When working with limestone, work carefully, wearing gloves and goggles.

Mixture with added glue:

• for 5 liters of water 1.2 kg of slaked lime;
• 5 spoons of flour glue;
• stir thoroughly;
• instead of glue, add 0.5 kg clay, household items. soap - 5 tablespoons of shavings, fresh manure - 0.6 kg.

Recipe with copper sulfate:

• 1 kg of lime (fluff);
• 150 g vitriol;
• 5 liters of liquid.
• Stir the mixture until the consistency of sour cream, without lumps.

How to whiten a plum in spring

Before processing the bark, preparatory work is carried out. Using a special scraper or brush, clean the trunk from dry bark, rot, moss, and lichen. For disinfection, lubricate the bark with copper sulfate or ash solution. All wounds and cracks on the tree are sealed with a clay mixture.

The lime composition is applied with a wide brush, spray or roller. They begin to whitewash from the bottom, taking a little soil around the tree. The height of the whitened trunk is 1.5 m from the ground.

If it is not possible to prepare the composition yourself, stores sell ready-made whitewash, which contains fungicides. Dilute it according to the instructions.

Precautionary measures

In order for the treatment to be effective without harming the tree or person, it is carried out wearing a hat, waterproof clothing, gloves, a respirator, and safety glasses.

It is important to follow safety precautions when working with toxic drugs to kill lacewings. They are poisonous, secrete a caustic liquid, which, if it comes into contact with human skin, can cause itching, burning, fever, and headaches. Pest poison enters the respiratory tract along with the wind.

The event is planned for a day when no rain is expected, in calm weather. If precipitation occurs after spraying, the plum will have to be treated again. In early spring, the cutting sites are lubricated with a solution of copper sulfate.

Before processing, solutions must be filtered. This is done to prevent clogging of the spray bottle. Ready-made store-bought preparations are dissolved in hot water (40-50 degrees) in advance. The plum is sprayed in the morning, when the leaves are already damp, without dew. Otherwise, the processing efficiency is reduced. In the evening, the tree is sprayed after sunset. To avoid the appearance of pests, the soil under the plum must be clean and loosened.

If you carry out preventive treatment of wood, the risk of pests is reduced to a minimum. However, plums need to be monitored after spring events. If insects appear before flowering and during fruiting, the pests are destroyed with chemicals, otherwise - only with solutions made from natural products and herbs.

Prevention against tinder fungus

Polypore is a parasitic fungus that causes wood to rot. The spores form a mycelium that grows into the tree trunk. Mushrooms suck the juices out of the plant, and it dies after 5-10 years. During the first 2 years, you can help the tree and save it from the tinder fungus.

Preventive measures in the fight against tinder fungus:

• the fruiting body of the mushroom is cut off and burned;
• the wound after the cut on the trunk is covered with copper sulfate 3%;
• disinfect the bark with a solution of nitrophen (100 g per 5 liters of water);
• for preventive purposes, trees are sprayed with a 5% solution of copper sulfate before foliage appears;
• if foliage is present, treat with Bordeaux mixture.

When purchasing plum seedlings, the trees are carefully inspected; they must be free of signs of disease and not infected with parasites. The soil between the rows of plums is dug up, all last year's leaves and fruits are removed. Plants are checked for the presence of insect larvae and cocoons. They are collected and burned. Spring pruning of shoots is carried out in a timely manner. For prevention, the trunk and branches are disinfected with iron or copper sulfate. Don't forget to whiten and feed the trees.

Second and third spring treatments

The second spraying coincides with the beginning of bud setting. During this period, many winged and wingless plum lovers come out of their hiding places to change their habitat. Therefore, fungicides (Skor, Horus) in solutions are combined with insecticides and acaricides. The second spraying is designed to destroy the following pests:

• red fruit mite is small (up to 0.4 mm), but very prolific and dangerous. During a season in the northern regions it can produce up to 3–4, and in the southern regions up to 6–7 generations. Under favorable conditions, females lay so many eggs that they cover the tree in 2-3 layers, causing it to turn pinkish or red. The massive emergence of larvae from eggs coincides with the beginning of plum blossoms, so treatment cannot be skipped. The fruit mite can significantly weaken the tree and reduce the yield;

Red fruit mites are unusually prolific and voracious

• common plum moth - chooses the most delicious - fruits. The adult is a dark gray or brown butterfly; the beginning of its mass flight coincides with the end of flowering and can last up to 50 days. One butterfly can lay from 50 to 80 eggs; they are usually located on fruits, less often on leaves. The development of the larva inside the egg is rapid: 4–10 days. After this, the larva emerges, which coincides in time with the beginning of the ripening of the plum, weaves a shelter from a web and under it gnaws a passage inside the fruit, prudently leaving the chewed off “lid” to block the entrance to the new home. The appearance of gum droplets is noticeable at the damaged “entrance”. The caterpillar will live inside the fruit for less than a month, feeding on its pulp and gradually moving towards the stalk. The fruit withers and falls, and the caterpillar emerges from it and pupates in the top layer of soil or on the bark of the trunks and in plant debris (this is why it is so important to clear the garden of them);

The plum moth is afraid of night or evening smoke from straw with the addition of tomato and potato tops

• The roseate leaf roller is a small butterfly with a wingspan of about 20 mm, laying from 15 to 100 eggs on the bark of branches and trunks. The larvae appear in the spring, at the end of April, and attack buds, buds, and leaves. It causes enormous harm, it can even feed on bark, and can destroy the crop even before the fruits appear, in the ovary stage;

Rose leaf roller can cause irreparable harm to a plum tree if measures are not taken to combat it.

• plum gall mite - these small arachnids settle in numerous colonies and literally suck all the juice from young shoots. It is not so easy to fight the mite, because it lives and overwinters in galls - growths at the base of shoots that are formed as a result of the plant’s reaction to damage. More than a hundred mites accumulate there, and they are reliably protected by a gall membrane. Only in mid-May, when the plum blossoms end, do mites emerge from their hiding places and spread throughout the tree, burrowing into the bases of young shoots. Ticks live openly for two weeks until new galls form, and during this time (until the end of May - beginning of June) they are vulnerable.

The habitat of the gall mite is growths on tree shoots

The following medications will help kill ticks:

• Apollo;
• Neoron;
• Nissan;
• Sunmite;
• Fitoverm.