PROTECTION OF TREES AND FRUIT FROM DISEASES AND PEST

Each type of plum is at risk of many diseases and problems that should be effectively coped in order to make the harvests plentiful. Brown rot disease must be combated in spring on vulnerable variations and trees that had the symptoms of the disease in the previous seasons. It may occur on flowers and sprouts or fruits. Infected fruits start rotting in their ripening time. To prevent this, a protective spraying should be carried out three weeks after flowering. On the market there are several agents designed to combat the brown rot disease. In most cases they require a temperature of 12 ° C for effective results.

A cyst may appear when the tree was not sprayed in the period of buds heaving. The operation aiming to combat the disease should be carried out at the start of a white bud with the use od specialised farming agents.

In a phase of a green bud all variations shall be subjected to treatments against spider mite, plum rust mite and aphids. The last ones are particularly dangerous because they are responsible for sharka disease. This is why you should observe the sprouts and phyllotaxy once in a several days and only after the aphids are noticed, conduct the protection treatment with the use of some specialized agent.

Sharka disease is believed to be the most dangerous plum disease. It is evoked by the plum pox virus. The disease may be recongised on the basis of yellow, irregular spots and smudges on leaves and pox-nature, unsightly spots on fruit. Unfortunately, the plum tree that suffers from the sharka disease is not able to be cured – is should be removed together with roots; this is why the regular observation of aphids apperance is so important.