Pear is a popular fruit tree in a summer cottage, second only to apple trees. Tall and slender trees not only delight the gardener’s eye, but also provide his family with fresh or processed fruits. But growing pears is not always smooth sailing and without any problems. This crop is attacked by pests and becomes infected with a variety of infections, which can not only reduce the number of marketable fruits, but also lead to the death of the plant.
When it’s time to sound the alarm: signs of pear disease
Diseases on the pear can make their presence known with a variety of symptoms. Most often, plant infections such as cytosporosis, spotting, powdery mildew and scab are present in the crown and trunks of pears. Less commonly, a tree can be affected by cancer (black or root).
Signs of the presence of these diseases may include fruit rot (wet or dry), darkening or lightening of leaf blades, deformation of fruits and young shoots, and death of individual tree organs. You can also suspect the presence of diseases on a pear based on the following symptoms:
- healthy-looking fruits crack, dry out or become moldy;
- leaf blades curl and fall off;
- the tree sheds its leaves very early, lags in growth, dries out;
- flowers and ovaries turn black and fall off;
- the tree, despite the presence of flowering, does not bear fruit.
When faced with such problems, each gardener needs to more carefully examine the pear plantings in order to find out the reasons why such metamorphoses occur to him. Missing even a small amount of time can lead to the death of the entire garden!
The ovaries of the grapes fall off
If a good grapevine begins to lose its ovaries, this does not always mean that it “did not take root” or that you missed something in the complex agricultural technology of this crop.
- "Female" structure of flowers . On the vine of the selected variety, female flowers predominate and, as a result, fertilization of flowers does not occur in full, few ovaries are formed and they often fall off. Also, the ovaries fall off due to a violation of the structure of the flowers and underdevelopment of the stamens.
- Active vine growth . The rapid growth of shoots does not allow the bush to form a large number of berries, especially if the grapes are not formed.
- The plant is weakened by pests, diseases, bad weather conditions, lack or excess of fertilizers. Most often, unformed berries fall off on the bushes of varieties (Pino, Riesling, Saperavi, Rkatsiteli, Cabernet, etc.).
For some grape varieties, the dropping of unripe berries is normal.
What to do when grape ovaries fall off
Preventive measures for caring for grapes are as follows:
- Make sure there is enough pollen left on the plant . Do not remove excess clusters while the plant is in flower to conserve pollen supplies. Then, when small berries have formed, remove all the small and weak clusters, leaving only the strongest ones. This way you will help the plant direct its energy to forming a future harvest;
- water the grape bush on hot days . One young bush needs to spend up to 15 liters of water;
- feed the grapes before flowering . For foliar feeding, dissolve 30 g of urea, 10 g of iron sulfate and 20 g of boric acid in 10 liters of water. To soften the water, add 10 g of citric acid to it;
- remove excess bunches and shoots . The bush should be well ventilated, then pollination will take place with maximum effect;
- pollinate the grapes yourself . Transfer pollen from male flowers to female flowers in the early morning or on a cloudy day when bees are not flying. This can be done with a soft brush or powder puff.
Scab: signs, treatment and prevention
Scab is one of the dangerous fungal diseases of pear, which equally affects leaves and fruits. The infection spreads better in damp, cool weather. It will not be difficult for an attentive gardener to notice its appearance, and the following are considered obvious signs of the disease:
- single leaf blades are covered with brown spots, which gradually grow;
- young shoots become covered with gray-green spots, which later turn into black wounds covered with a velvety coating, and can lead to drying out of the shoot;
- the fruits are covered with small dark dots, which later merge into a black dry spot covered with cracks.
Even with an unexpressed manifestation, scab leads to severe crushing of pear fruits and a deterioration in their taste. Such a problem can only be avoided by those gardeners who detected the infection on pears in time and took measures to limit its spread and ensure complete recovery of the tree. These (measures) include:
- pruning and burning of single shoots affected by scab;
- treatment and disinfection of wounds on tree bark;
- regular fertilizing so that the tree can independently resist infection;
- treatment of the crown and trunk with Skor and Vectra immediately after the leaves bloom;
- treatment of the crown during bud break with Bordeaux mixture (4%), the second treatment is carried out after flowering, but with a solution of lower concentration (1%);
- treatment with Topaz after flowering.
In case of severe infection of a pear orchard, Bordeaux mixture is used up to 6 times per season with an interval of 1 week. A 10% solution of ammonium nitrate also has good effectiveness against scab. They are recommended to treat the crown of the tree, its bark and even the soil under the pear after harvesting. You can prevent the occurrence of infection next year by carefully removing leaf litter and destroying it by burning.
How can you cure blackening?
It is recommended to begin treatment with the appearance of the very first symptoms of the disease. Let's talk in more detail about how to treat blackening leaves and fruits with various means.
Agrotechnical methods
Digging soil around a tree trunk
The main agricultural methods that can be used to treat blackening of leaves and fruits:
- periodic digging of the earth around the tree;
- applying organic fertilizers to increase plant immunity;
- selection of resistant varieties of fruit trees.
Use of drugs
| Cause of the disease | Chemicals | Biological drugs |
| Bacterial and fungal | Toxic, must be used with caution. Copper-based preparations are effective for treating fungal infections:
| Safer preparations that, after processing, make it possible to obtain environmentally friendly products. They have a wide spectrum of action. For example:
|
| Pests |
|
|
| Lack of microelements | Urea, saltpeter, superphosphate, potassium chloride, ammophos and others. | Manure, humus, wood ash, and bird droppings are suitable. |
Folk remedies
Traditional recipes can be very effective in combating pear diseases. How to treat blackening:
- spraying with a urea solution will help against wintering insects;
- dark-colored lutrasil - from wintering copperheads. They cover the tree trunk circle for the winter;
- fumigation of young leaves with smoke;
- planting calendula and tobacco next to the pear to prevent pests.
Preventive measures
Preventive treatment of pears
Prevention is sometimes much easier than curing blackening. To prevent diseases:
- timely feed the plant with complex formulations;
- carry out timely weeding;
- treat the pear from ants in the spring;
- Hang fly strips among fruit trees. They will help identify and destroy some pests;
- carry out sanitary pruning of branches;
- burn fallen damaged leaves;
- carry out preventive treatment with fungicides - for example, Horace, Topaz and others.
Powdery mildew: signs and treatment methods
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that very often affects pear trees. Signs of infection are deformed leaf blades covered with a whitish coating and the fall of the ovary. When affected by this disease, the pear does not bear fruit, and the tree itself becomes greatly weakened and has difficulty withstanding winters.
It is recommended to combat this disease with fungicidal drugs, which include Sulfite and Fundazol. Solutions prepared in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions are used to treat tree crowns after fruiting has ended. At high humidity, several treatments may be required. In spring, you also need to treat the entire garden with these products, including absolutely healthy pears.
An important preventative measure is to thoroughly clean the garden of fallen leaves. It is recommended to cut branches severely affected by powdery mildew from trees during the growing season. The cuts must be covered with garden varnish so as not to open the gate to other infections.
Fruit rot: how to identify and how to treat the disease
If the fruits on a pear are rotting, the tree is most likely affected by fruit rot. The cause of this infection is moniliosis, a microscopic fungus that lives on the surface of an already grown and almost ripe fetus.
A distinctive feature of this disease is the absence of shedding of damaged pears. Even if the fruit has completely rotted, it remains hanging on the branches until the next growing season. At the same time, it is a dangerous source of fungus, which spreads to other branches of the tree and even to neighboring trees.
The only way to get rid of fruit rot is to timely remove rotten fruits from plants. It is important to remove them along with the stalk before they mummify. It is important to prevent pears infected with fruit rot from entering storage, as they can become a source of contamination of healthy fruits.
There are currently no specific chemical means to combat fruit rot, but experienced gardeners note that an outbreak of this disease occurs with prolonged use of products that help cope with scab.
Useful tips for gardeners
Gardeners who have repeatedly encountered blackening of leaves and fruits identify additional ways to help maintain the health of the garden:
- selection of seedlings in trusted nurseries;
- mandatory disinfection of tools after removing infected branches and leaves;
- thoroughly clean under trees for the winter;
- do not allow the crown to thicken;
- carry out regular whitewashing of the trunk.
Blackening of leaves and fruits is an alarming sign that must be dealt with. Otherwise, you may lose a fruit-bearing tree. Preventative measures, chemical treatment and selection of resistant pear varieties will help.
Black cancer and cytosporosis: signs and treatment
Black cancer, as well as cytosporosis, affects only the bark of pear trees. These two diseases differ in external signs, but are treated with the same methods. It is still not known for certain why these infections affect certain trees, since according to statistics, even very strong and developed specimens can be sick. Most likely, the causes of infection are injury to the bark during gardening.
Black cancer manifests itself as small wounds on the bark, which increase in size over time, and their borders are covered with brown spots blurred in shape. Next, black cancer begins to spread to leaf blades, fruits and even flowers, leading to their gradual death.
Cytosporosis differs from black cancer in the shape of the wounds, which look like small bulges on the bark of a pear, as well as in the redness of the areas of the bark around them. Over time, the disease spreads to the leaves and ovaries, which causes their blackening and death.
Cancer and cytosporosis on pear trees can be completely cured only by removing the affected branches, shoots and fruits. If this requires removing the bark from the trunk, you should not hesitate, since the pear can restore it when certain conditions are created. To rid a tree of the disease, it is recommended to clean the outer shells of the trunk and leaves on which the infection is found, treat these places with a solution of copper sulfate, and then cover them with mullein mixed with clay.
Why do strawberry ovaries dry out?
Strawberries (garden strawberries) dry and wither for a number of reasons. Gardeners are unable to influence some of them, but most of the causes of wilting of ovaries can and should be fought.
- Thermal burn . Improper watering in hot and dry weather causes temperature changes, causing the plant to dry out and die.
- Invasion of "uninvited guests" . Mole crickets, moles, ants, chafers – all the pests of the root system of garden strawberries cannot be counted. When arranging their home or migrating from site to site, they damage the strawberry roots, disrupt the plant’s nutritional regime, and it dies.
- Potassium-phosphorus fasting . Most often, bushes suffer due to a lack of fertilizers, usually potassium and phosphorus.
- Fungal diseases . Powdery mildew, rust, spotting, anthracnose and verticillium wilt - all this can “undermine” the health of strawberries and “relieve” them of excess ovaries.
- Watering errors . This includes both over- and under-watering. Accordingly, the roots rot or dry out, and this causes the “extra” ovaries to fall off.
Degeneration of garden strawberries occurs in the fifth year
What to do when strawberry ovaries fall off
To get a bountiful harvest of garden strawberries, you should follow a few simple rules:
- water the plants at the rate of 10-12 liters of water per 1 sq.m. This can be done either from a bucket along the grooves, or by irrigating the bushes from a watering can. True, in the second case, watering should be organized early in the morning or in the evening after sunset;
- mulch the strawberries with spunbond or film . This way you will protect the soil from drying out and the plants from pests;
- Plant plants next to strawberries that repel pests and promote their growth. For example, irises, tulips, clematis, marigolds, mint, jasmine, parsley, onions and garlic;
- replant strawberries to a new place every 3-4 years . Pick the berries in a timely manner immediately after ripening, and mulch the soil with pine needles or straw. Remove old leaves and burn them.
By following these simple recommendations and applying them to the most popular garden crops, you can easily preserve and increase your harvest.
Bacterial burn of pear: treatment and prevention
A bacterial burn fully corresponds to its name, since its appearance resembles an invisible fire sweeping through a pear orchard. Symptoms of the disease are the sudden appearance of brown edges on young leaves. The tips of the ovaries also darken. In some cases, when trees are infected too early, the flowers also turn black.
A bacterial burn is almost impossible to stop, since the infection is hidden inside the tree, or rather, in its vessels. It gets there from the soil. With mild damage, trees can be repeatedly treated with boric acid or other solutions with antimicrobial activity. However, most often gardeners have to completely destroy the tree by cutting it down and uprooting the roots. It is not recommended to grow fruit trees in this place for at least 4 years.
The occurrence of bacterial burn can be prevented only by observing hygiene standards during the spring or autumn formation of pears. It is important to disinfect your tools after trimming each tree.
Symptoms of periodontal disease
Periodontal disease is characterized by a long course, so it is almost impossible to identify symptoms in the early stages.
Laser treatment effectively destroys infection in periodontal pockets, as well as regenerates tissue and relieves inflammation and swelling. Laser is not used as an independent therapy for periodontal disease.
First, atrophic processes characteristic of periodontal disease gradually reduce the size of the interdental septa. Then sometimes there is a burning sensation, pain in the gums, itching, slight bleeding, and bad breath. The gums become pale, the necks of the teeth become exposed, and the teeth themselves begin to loosen.
Stages of periodontal disease
The symptoms of periodontal disease can be more accurately described by dividing them into stages of the disease.
- First stage. Almost complete absence of symptoms. Changes in the periodontium are already occurring, but there is no pain or itching of the gums
- Second stage. The interdental septa become smaller, and pieces of food begin to regularly get stuck between the teeth. Gums sometimes bleed during brushing. There is a slight itching, sometimes pain
- Third stage. The periodontal tissues are completely and irreversibly destroyed. Bleeding and pain intensify, and ulcers sometimes appear on the gums. Teeth become loose and begin to fall out
Stages of periodontal disease
What to do if the pear does not bear fruit, does not bloom or does not grow
Sometimes it happens that a tree is not sick, but does not bloom and, as a result, does not bear fruit. The reasons for this situation may be the following:
- planting self-sterile varieties that are not “planted” with pollinators;
- death of inflorescences by return frosts during very early flowering;
- repeated transplantation of seedlings or incorrect choice of location for them;
- growing pears on depleted soil.
It is very easy to fix these problems. In the first case, it is necessary to plant several more varietal pears on the site. In case of early flowering and freezing of inflorescences, it is recommended to slow down the awakening of the tree in the spring. To do this, it is enough to throw more snow into its tree trunk circle, and when active melting begins, cover it with light material or a thick layer of straw. True, this method has its drawbacks - the crown of the tree can dry out without waiting for the sap to flow.
Methods to combat pear rust (video)
If the reasons are a lack of nutrients or inappropriate lighting, it is recommended to do more fertilizing with organic matter and mineral fertilizers. Complete restoration of the tree should be expected within several years.
Even the most experienced gardeners can encounter problems growing pears. Crop losses can be colossal. To avoid this, it is important to adhere to agronomic fundamentals designed specifically for pears. With proper care, trees will delight you with huge harvests of beautiful and tasty fruits.
