The bark on the apple tree is cracking: what to do and how to treat, causes and prevention

Cracks in the apple tree should cause a stir among gardeners. A neglected disease will reduce the yield and, as a result, lead to the death of the tree. The disease easily passes to other fruit crops and in a short time affects the entire garden. Every gardener needs to know what to do if the bark on an apple tree is cracking and how to prevent it. Timely measures will help save the life of the plant.

Causes and symptoms of bark cracking

If the bark is cracked, you need to quickly figure out why this happened. In early autumn, during the period of heavy rains, shoots begin to grow rapidly in the culture.As a result, cracks appear along the entire trunk. This is due to a lack of elasticity. To cope with the problem, you will need to treat the plant with iron sulfate, and then whiten.

Nutritional imbalance

Cracks appear due to lack of nutrients and lack of moisture. Therefore, the plant requires constant and proper care. Many summer residents exceed the dose of nitrogen fertilizer and violate the timing of their introduction, thereby causing an imbalance in nutrition.

Stem pests

Because of stem pests, the bark bursts. These include:

• wood borers;
• bark beetles;
• sapwood;
• rodents.

Every gardener needs to know how to deal with and prevent pests.

Sapwood beetles

At the moment of sap flow, the beetle gnaws out a round hole. Next, the female crawls and makes oblong passages under the surface of the bark and lays larvae that gnaw through the transverse passages. As a result, the movement of the juice is disturbed, and the plant begins to hurt. In such plants, the bark cracks, and entire branches dry up.

Woodworm butterflies

Insects lay eggs in the summer on the trunk and branches of the plant. The emerging caterpillars bite into the top of the shoot and penetrate under the bark. Their food is the wood of trunks and branches. By autumn, damaged shoots die off.

Physical damage

Relate to:

• damage by rodents;
• rifts caused by natural disasters;
• a broken branch due to an ill-formed crown.

To prevent the barrel from cracking, it is necessary to build protection against rodents.

Frostbite and burns

If the bark is cracked after the winter season, then the cause may be a sharp temperature drop. If the crack is longitudinal and there is no darkening around, then the wine is in severe frosts and sunburn. A simple whitewashing of the bole will solve the problem.

The sign of frostbite is deep cracks and the color of the bark has not changed. The plant heals wounds from frost on its own. In the process of sap flow, the cracks are tightened by the secreted juice. Therefore, processing with garden pitch is not recommended.

Causes and signs of detachment

The cause may be fungal diseases that can be recognized at an early stage and save the plant.

Cytosporosis

The disease appears on weakened plants. Reasons for weakness:

• non-compliance with irrigation regimes;
• poor soil;
• wrong top dressing;
• mechanical damage.

The disease manifests itself in the form of brown-red ulcers, which are initially characterized by a slight darkening. In a short time, ulcers capture a large area of the cortex, while deforming the surface. The bark moves away from the trunk, and dying branches break off.

Fungal disease leads to rapid death of the plant. After a maximum of 2 seasons, the apple tree will die.

European Cancer

The disease begins with a small spot. In the affected areas of the trunk and deep cracks, sagging is formed. There are 2 forms of cancer:

• Open. The deeply exposed wood is ringed by a swell of tissue formed by the action of fungal toxins.
• Closed. The influx of callus closes the cancerous wound, leaving only a crack filled with decayed mass.

Swellings, tumors and ulcers are surrounded by red-dark bumps. The disease occurs as a result of wounds that occur when the bark is damaged during the pruning process. Plants of any age are affected.

Black Cancer

The disease manifests itself in the form of cracks in the bark, which turns black and becomes covered with a sooty blackish coating. The disease is caused by a fungus that instantly infects the entire tree, including foliage and fruits. For 3 years, the culture is gradually dying.

Treatment is necessary at the first sign of illness. Otherwise, with a strong spread, it will be impossible to defeat the disease.

To protect the bark, whitewash is applied until the leaves appear, during the period of increasing solar activity, which occurs in late March.

Methods of treating young and old apple trees

To avoid the death of a young and old apple tree, it is necessary to carry out treatment in time.

Treatment of fungus affected areas

Treatment is carried out when the juice in the plant moves slowly. Otherwise, highly released moisture will not allow wounds to heal for a long time and will create ideal conditions for the reproduction of the fungus. The affected areas are cut off along with part of the he althy surface and treated with the drug:

• "Topsin M";
• Funaben.

Processing should be carried out in dry weather. Excess moisture will reduce the effect of the drug in wounds.

Spraying insecticides against pests

Use:

• "Confidor". Valid for a maximum of 20 days. The result is noticeable after 4 days.
• "Aktara". Works well on hot days, compatible with fungicides. Long lasting.
• "Spark". Has a fast action. Apply after 2 weeks. 4 treatments are carried out.

Last processed a month before harvest maturity.

How and how to cure an apple tree from cancer

When a culture is affected by cancer, it is necessary to cut and burn all damaged areas and branches on which black spots appeared. Handling:

• the wounds are covered with garden pitch, drying oil is also suitable;
• the plant is treated with copper sulfate (3%);
• after flowering is sprayed with Bordeaux liquid (1%).

In order for the disease not to appear on the tree, it is necessary to pay constant attention to the plant. If cracks appear on the bark around the branch, the shoot must be removed completely. This will help get rid of the source of infection.

Proper care and regular fertilization

To prevent diseases, proper care of the plant is required:

1. In the autumn, remove plant debris around the crop. Dry foliage is a source of infection.
2. Feed in time. Complex fertilizer will ensure rapid growth and proper maturation of the wood of the tree. Feed in spring and autumn.
3. Regularly handle damage. The affected areas are cleaned with a knife, while capturing he althy tissue. Then disinfected with blue vitriol.
4. Spray crops with fungicides in autumn.
5. Carry out regular pruning of the crown, remove dry branches.

Preventive measures

For prevention, they process:

• Copper sulfate. To do this, 50 g of the powder is diluted in 10 liters of water and sprayed until flowering.
• Hom. Before the buds swell, the tree is treated with a solution of 10 liters of water and 40 g of the product.

From frostbite, the trunk and skeletal branches are wrapped with a tape of natural linen and secured. Spruce mats are constructed from rodents, which are tightly wrapped around the trunk and lower parts of the branches. As soon as the frosts disappear, the protection is removed.

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