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6 Major Tree Diseases and How to Cure Them in the Early stage?

Every living thing is prone to diseases, including trees. Unsightly, tree disease can reduce the tree’s productivity or cause the tree to die.

The tree’s defenses can be compromised by disease, which may spread to the tree and sometimes cause it to die. It is common for foresters to identify and treat tree diseases for the benefit of all.

1. Powdery Mildew

Problem: 

Plants are prone to powdery mildew outbreaks, which have readily identifiable symptoms. It appears as talcum powder patches or white spots. Warm, dry weather is helping to mildew growth, especially juicy tissue. It is possible to treat powdery mildew, a plant disease, with chemicals.

The microsphere is a genus of fungus that attacks trees with powdery mildew. Fungi overwinter in leaves and are transported in the spring to the host plants by insects, wind, or rain.

Solution: 

Remove infected leaves and destroy them to stop spores from spreading. Allow plants to breathe well and to drain well. Do not water at night. Let foliage dry before an evening by watering in the morning.

Baking soda and water solutions can treat powdery mildew, say George “Doc” and Katy Abraham.

Powdery mildew commonly affects lilacs, which are highly aromatic plants.

2. Downy Mildew

Problem: 

Affected plants include impatiens, pansies, columbines, grapevines, lettuces, and cabbages. During wet weather, upright leaves will develop downy mildew. Lower leaves will develop mold.

Solution:

Select cultivars with resistance. Cultural practices can help, but fungicides aren’t available. In case of downy mildew, destroy infected foliage or whole plants. Make sure plants are not crowded or watered at night and rotate edibles each year.

3. Mosaic Virus

Problem: 

A mosaic virus can infect plants. Garden are more likely to be affected by two of these viruses: tomato mosaic virus and tobacco mosaic virus. Canker of tomato, pepper, potato, apple, pear, and cherry. In comparison, infesting tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, lettuce, beets, petunias, and tobacco.

Foliage with slanted edges and yellow or green mottling are symptoms of the mosaic virus. Typically, these plants show yellowing and stunted growth, as well as malformed fruits. Hot weather is conducive to mosaic virus outbreaks.

Solution: 

A resistant variety exists, but no chemical control is available. It is likely for the virus to continue for some time in dry soil. Plants vulnerable to infection can be grown in the same spot for two seasons if the roots of the infected plants are removed.

You should wash your hands before handling tobacco plants because they carry a lot of bacteria.

4. Rust

Problem: 

Rusts, which are fungal diseases, affect several hardwood species. The condition is rarely severe. The upper surfaces of the leaves display yellow spots. A closer look reveals yellow-orange spore-filled bumps on the leaves. In the middle to end of August, leaf spot and rust infiltrations will occur.

Defoliation and slow growth will be the major effects. Improved varieties of poplars and cottonwoods are resistant to Melampsora rust. During their life cycle, rust fungi commonly host other plants. Rust attacks cottonwoods, poplars, willows, oaks, ash trees, birches, maples, and plum trees.

Solution:

We can use fungicides. When raising plants, it is vital to get rid of any infected plants to prevent fungus from overwintering.

5. Snow Mold

Problem: 

It occurs when melting snow or rainy weather causes fungus in the soil. Golf courses and other turf areas are most disposed to snow mold.

This fungus, Microdocium nivale, also causes a fusarium patch, the pink snow mold. A tan or a reddish-brown patch may be as large as 30 cm (1 foot) in diameter, or it may merge with surrounding patches. During rain, mycelium from the fungus covers the leaves in dense whitish to pink threads.

Molds responsible for Typhula blight include T. inishikariensis, T. incarnata, and T. tidahoensis. It produces approximately circular bleached-tan areas 60 cm in diameter or more.

The patches can become covered with dark-blue to nearly black mycelium under humid conditions. Sclerotia are minute brown spots that form on diseased plant parts.

Solution: 

Make sure you break up the mold on matted grass to develop new growth. It must be cut at a height that prevents matting in the last cut of the year.  

6. Sooty mold

Problem:

Sooty mold grows from the honeydew secretions left behind by insects. It contains many types of fungi.

Fungi produce dark, thread-like mycelial filaments that resemble soot as they grow. Sometimes, they can cover entire stems, leaves, fruit, or vegetable crops and can be small or spotty.

Aphids, an insect that attacks plants, carry sooty mold fungus.

Fungi may cause sooty mold in a variety of ways. There are other species of fungi that grow on plants and some types of insects. Many are attracted to honeydew produced by insects.

Fumago and Capnodium are also common fungi that cause sooty mold.

The spores produced by fungi are spread between plants when they splash water or blow air. The mycelia can also be dislodged and transmitted in the same way.

As a result of their sticky nature, fungi stick to surfaces.

In a few cases, sugars produced and secreted by plants themselves are the cause, rather than pests.

Some plants, such as hibiscus and black walnut, produce sugary exudates on their leaves that promote fungus growth.

Solution:

Leafhoppers, aphids, mealybugs cause sooty mold. You should use insecticidal soap or neem oil to kill them.

Honeydew is a food source for ants, keeping predators away, so the pest population decreases. Use sticky compounds such as Tanglefoot around stems of woody plants to attract ants.

Finally,

These are six common and major plant diseases that happen for numerous reasons. To stop them early, take the help of gardeners or plant experts.

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