To begin with, let’s straight away put the dots in place. Such “terrible” lichens on the bark of apple trees are nothing more than a symbiosis of blue-green algae with ordinary fungi: the algae synthesize organic matter to feed the fungi, and the fungi collect moisture and salts from the environment for the algae.
These mushrooms do not have roots - they cannot drink juices from trees It has even been established that lichen acids destroy other fungi that destroy wood.
Lichen on an apple tree
If apple tree branches are not sufficiently pruned, the processes of natural ventilation of the crown are disrupted, and the tree becomes overgrown with various types of lichens.
Kinds
First, a greenish coating appears on the shadow side of the trunk. This moist bark of the apple tree is slowly colonized first by unicellular algae.
What is important for them is the absence of direct sunlight and the presence of water - they get everything else from the air.
After the algae comes the turn of mushrooms. Their microscopic spores float in the air in incredible quantities, remaining viable for years - just waiting for suitable conditions for germination.
The cracked bark of weakened trees with a poorly ventilated crown is probably best suited for the germination and development of lichens of a wide variety of forms from these pores:
- Lamellar;
- Bushy;
- Scaly;
- Scale.
The colors are also incredibly varied :
- Silver gray;
- Green-yellow;
- Golden;
- Blue.
Attention! The predominant color of the lichen largely depends on the type of protozoan algae with which it forms a system of symbiosis.
What lichen looks like on the trunk of an apple tree, photo example.
Lichens.
Reasons for appearance
The bark is an ideal place for the development of fungal bodies with high concentrations .
Contrary to popular belief, lichen on an apple tree does not appear on the tree due to old age.
Main reasons:
- Thickening of crown branches;
- Depressed state of the root system;
- Freezing of wood or, conversely, sunburn.
They do not cause direct harm to the tree, however:
- They block the plant's respiratory pores ;
- pests - settle in them .
These are the main reasons why it is necessary to fight lichens and moss.
First of all, it is necessary to establish why the conditions suddenly became favorable for development, but there is one positive point - they are an indicator of the state of the environment , not tolerating dirty air.
Usually, after lichens, the tree trunk is colonized by real parasitic fungi.
Their appearance cannot .
Determination of the environmental situation
With an increase in air pollution, fruticose lichens disappear first, then foliose lichens, and lastly scale lichens (Xanthoria eleganta). Due to the change in color of xanthoriums, butterflies in industrial areas also change their colors, usually to dark gray shades.
The closer to the center of pollution the indicator organism is, the thicker its body becomes. With increasing concentration, it occupies less area and reduces the number of fruiting bodies. When the atmosphere is heavily polluted, the surface of most lichens acquires white, brown or purple shades. The most dangerous pollutant for them is sulfur dioxide. If you suffer from diseases of the respiratory system and have discovered the above-mentioned features of these organisms, then you can perceive this as contraindications for further living in such a place.
Treatment
special recommendations regarding the timing of treatment . During every pruning or garden treatment, this garden problem must be taken into account.
The best treatment is prevention. Lichens appear on weakened trees with a thickened crown.
Therefore, the first main event is the formation of the crown.
It is necessary not only to remove all branches damaged during the winter, but to thin out the crowns of apple trees as much as possible. This will not only improve the lighting of each branch, but also ensure good ventilation of the crown.
Air stagnation provokes high humidity - the optimal condition for the development of all fungal diseases and mosses.
The second most important garden treatment is early spring spraying with 3% Bordeaux mixture or the same concentration with a solution of ferrous sulfate.
It is carried out before the buds bloom on bare branches to prevent fungal viral diseases of the garden (powdery mildew, scab and others, even cancer).
of microflora in the surface layers of the bark - unicellular algae, which feed the lichens - is also suppressed
The lichens themselves, if they have grown too much, must first be carefully cleaned off and the treated area rinsed with a solution of caustic soda (100 grams per bucket of water).
Lichen on an apple tree - how to get rid of it?
In case of significant damage, when there is lichen on the apple tree, treatment should begin with its mechanical removal - cleaned with a wooden scraper. The easiest way to do this is in the spring, while they are still saturated with moisture after winter.
Moss and lichens on fruit trees.
Advice! Before cleaning the trunks and branches under the tree, it is necessary to spread a tarpaulin or film in order to then collect all the cleaning and burn it.
It is necessary to clean the trunk and branches very carefully so as not to damage the bark. In addition to the lichens themselves, all of its inhabitants will be present in the garbage:
- Insect pests;
- Bacterial infections;
- Spores of pathogenic fungi;
- Viruses.
After such cleaning, it is necessary to disinfect the bark with a 3-5% solution of vitriol, which is better for apple trees than iron vitriol.
If there are deep cracks , they must be covered with at least the clay itself (preferably, use clay mixed with manure).
What to spray with?
The easiest way to prevent and treat your garden from these uninvited guests is to spray with disinfectant compounds:
- Before the buds open, treat the affected trunks with a 7-10% solution of ferrous sulfate. The lichens will fall off within a week;
- In case of slight infestation, spray the fruit trees with lime milk (stir 1 kg of lime in 10 liters of water);
- Prepare a mixture (for 10 liters of hot water - 1 kg of salt, 2 kg of ash, 2 pieces of ordinary laundry soap) and coat the tree trunks;
- For especially resistant forms of lichens, before buds bloom on apple trees, you will have to apply the special antifungal drug “Skor” according to the instructions .
Folk remedies
mechanical cleaning of moss and fungi with the use of a very effective folk remedy made from inexpensive and accessible components.
Treatment with this composition will not affect the quality of apples at all.
To prepare you will need:
- Slaked lime - 600 grams;
- Powdered sulfur - 400 grams.
Slaked lime is mixed with 0.5 liters of boiling water and placed on low heat. Stirring gently, add a solution of sulfur in 1.5 liters of water. With constant stirring, cook for ¼ hour until the product acquires a red tint.
this concentrated solution is diluted with water 1:50 (for 5 liters - 100 ml of product).
cannot be stored in a diluted form ; it oxidizes in air.
For long-term storage, the product is poured into airtight container. To prevent air from entering, machine oil is poured on top. The product “burns out” mosses and lichens in 2-3 days.
Attention! The decoction is poisonous and must be used with gloves and safety glasses.
General information about moss
Moss on fruit trees
There are about 20,000 species in 120 families of bryophytes. Most of them do not grow higher than 5 cm, but there are also giants - usnea reaches seven meters in length. Mosses have no roots. They are attached to their habitat by small outgrowths similar to root hairs - rhizoids. They also absorb moisture. Mosses do not bloom or set seeds. They reproduce by spores, which are easily carried by the wind, streams of rain, and move to a new habitat on the legs of insects. Mosses are capable of reproducing vegetatively - a small patch can give rise to a new colony.
Advice ! Fashionable moss gardens should not be created near fruit trees; they can easily infect them.
The dense structure of mosses not only accumulates moisture well, but also acts as a kind of filter, purifying the air from various contaminants. They are very stable and easily adapt to any living conditions.
To exist they need:
- a lot of moisture;
- lack of light.
There are exceptions, growing in dry and well-lit places. Mosses live in all climatic zones.
Protection and prevention measures
The basic rule to remember: mushrooms and mosses do not live dry
Therefore, the main protective measures are aimed at maintaining the healthy condition of the external integument of the branches and trunk of the apple tree:
- Timely treatment of the garden against various diseases;
- Rational balanced feeding of fruit-bearing apple trees;
- trimmings ;
- Whitewashing of trunks to prevent frost and sunburn.
Correct composition of whitewash : whitewash, in addition to lime (3 kg), should contain copper sulfate (150 g) per bucket of water.
This whitewashing must be carried out in autumn and spring , combining it with pruning of the garden. After pruning, apple trees become overgrown with young branches on which lichens do not grow.
Whitewashing an apple tree.
When inspecting the garden, pay special attention to areas where the area affected by lichens increases.
Surely these trees have problems that need to be sorted out first. The appearance of these colorful growths is just a symptom of the disease processes in the garden.
Important! Remember that these mushrooms themselves are completely harmless .
What do readers want to know?
About treating apple trees for lichen
Application of theory in practice is impossible without additional questions that do not arise immediately. Every time the garden presents a surprise in the form of new guests.
When?
There are no specific deadlines for such processing.
It is carried out as needed.
Typically, treatment is combined with pruning the garden and preparing for the winter or spring season.
You don't want moss to appear on your apple tree? What to do for prevention during processing, read on.
How?
To prevent the appearance of lichens and other fungal diseases of the garden in early spring , before buds open, spray with 3% Bordeaux mixture.
This is a necessary measure to maintain the health of the garden. There is no way to delay its implementation, much less neglect it. We are no longer talking about the loss of the crop, but of the entire garden.
What to treat in the fall?
Autumn treatment separately for mosses and lichens is impractical.
It’s just that after the autumn pruning of the garden, you need to clean up everything that has grown and whitewash the trunks for the winter. In the lime solution you need to add 100g of copper or iron sulfate per bucket of water.
If the defeat is severe
Significant infection of a tree indicates, first of all, that the tree is severely depressed either by disease , or the root system has reached the groundwater level.
First, you should carefully scrape the lichens onto the film spread under the tree with a wooden scraper (to burn - pests live in them).
The peeled bark should be treated with a 3-5% solution of vitriol (copper is also possible, but iron is better). Be sure to remove any shading branches on this tree when pruning.
Attention! High-quality sanitary pruning of the garden is the key to its health . Lichens appear only on weakened trees.
Apple trees are covered with lichen and are drying up
Lichen on an apple tree.
Apple trees do not dry out because of lichens; they are not a cause, but a consequence:
- The bark of apple trees is peeled, and perhaps the reason for the appearance of mushrooms will become clear - cancer.
- In this case, exposed blackened wood will be visible.
- Everything should be cut down to healthy wood, without waiting for autumn.
- Be sure to burn the cuttings.
Perhaps the tree is drying out from the roots getting wet. In any case, dry branches must immediately be removed, lichens must be cleaned, and the bark must be disinfected with a 3-5% vitriol solution.
How to treat old apple trees?
It is best to cut off without waiting for autumn. This alone will half solve the problem.
pest larvae live in them ).
Disinfect the cleaned areas with a 3-5% solution of ferrous sulfate.
Mechanical tree cleaning
Now the most important thing is not to harm the tree bark! What can you take for work? A wooden stick, a metal scraper or a hard mitten. There must be film or rags under the tree. Now very carefully remove the remaining moss and lichens. Everything you collected, as well as film and rags, must be burned. Otherwise, all your efforts to save trees will be useless. Now all that remains is to find out when this work should be carried out. This should be done in early March or November.
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Means of struggle
Dealing with unnecessary mushrooms is not that difficult.
Often it is enough to carry out normal sanitary operations:
- Garden pruning;
- Whitewash for the winter;
- Prevention of fungal diseases;
- Proper feeding of the garden.
To directly combat existing lichen or moss, it is possible to use both special chemicals and traditional methods.
inkstone
Iron sulfate effectively helps to cope not only with lichens.
Its use in early spring at a concentration of 3% helps prevent many fungal diseases of fruit trees - scab, powdery mildew, various rots.
In addition, vitriol provides additional supplementation .
Moss on the trunk of an apple tree, how to get rid of it with a solution
The easiest way is to prepare a solution:
- 100 g soda ash,
- 100 g of iron sulfate,
- 10 liters of water.
Apply it with a brush to the affected areas. In a week the moss will dry out and crumble .
Whitewashing apple trees in autumn
Before autumn whitewashing, you must first clean the bark if there is lichen on the bark of the apple tree.
In addition to lime (2-3 kg per bucket of water), you must add 100-150 g of copper sulfate or kitchen salt .
The solution will stay on the bark all winter if you add 1-2 glasses of low-fat milk - this is the advice given by experienced gardeners.
Advice! Until the age of 5, to whiten trees for the winter.
Soda Ash
Gardeners' advice: if there is lichen on an apple tree, to combat it, use washing the bark with a solution of soda ash.
Add half a glass of soda to a bucket of water and apply with a brush , generously wetting the surface of the lichens. In a week they will dry out and fall off.
Treatment with vitriol
Protecting the apple tree from fungal diseases.
To prevent the appearance of lichens and other fungi, it is necessary to spray with a 3% solution of iron or copper sulfate in the spring before the buds open. These drugs do not accumulate in the apple tree and are harmless to humans. In a week the moss will fall off on its own.
Urea
To suppress the development of any fungi, use a urea solution (a matchbox of 10 liters of water) to treat the tree trunk circles after scraping off the lichens with a wooden scraper.
This treatment is also a good scab prevention.
