Why apricot sheds green fruits - common causes
Content:
What gardener will not enjoy the abundant flowering of fruit trees, in particular apricots. But often joy is replaced by disappointment. The set fruits fall off before they even begin to ripen.
General rules for the care of apricots
In order for apricots to grow healthy and produce many fruits, they need to be properly cared for. It is important to carry out sanitization in a timely manner, pruning dried branches. You also need to feed the trees regularly. Without enough nutrients in the soil, no fruit tree will grow well.
Why are green apricots crumbling
It is not advisable to plant trees close to each other. With this arrangement, the fruits will not have enough light, which can lead to shedding of the ovaries.
Reasons for fruit falling off in an immature state
There are many reasons why apricot sheds green fruits. They can be provoked by various factors.
Lack of moisture
Moisture evaporates in large quantities in the heat, so if the trees are not regularly watered, the still green fruits will begin to crumble. Water the trees every 2 weeks after flowering. If there is a severe drought outside, the amount of watering can be increased. One tree should use 50-60 liters of water. Also, 2-3 weeks before removing the fruits, you need to moisten the soil again.
Lack of nutrients
Another reason why apricots do not ripen is the lack of minerals in the earth. During the growing season, fertilizing is applied several times. Potassium and phosphorus are used before and after flowering. You can also water with poultry droppings diluted in water or sprinkle the soil with wood ash before watering.
Lack of sunlight
This problem can arise if trees grow close to each other. In this case, you should cut off some of the weak, thin branches on which ovaries do not form for a long time.
Diseases and pests
Another reason why unripe apricots fall is the appearance of diseases and pests. You need to deal with them immediately after detection.
How to treat a tree
Worst of all, if the cause of the falling of the ovaries lies in the appearance of diseases. Some diseases are contagious and a single apricot can infect an entire garden.
Scab
Scab is one of the reasons why apricots fall green. This disease is quite common in most fruit crops, regardless of the growing region. For the fight, a weakly concentrated solution of potassium permanganate is used as a folk remedy. Topsin-M and Captain-50 are also effective. As a preventive measure for scab, treatments are carried out before flowering.If the disease has already appeared, then spraying is applied every 14 days until the symptoms disappear.
Scab on apricot
Gray rot (moniliosis)
The first sign of gray rot is fruit decay. The disease can begin both in June (when the apricots are still immature), and at the end of summer. Therefore, you need to know what to do if apricot fruits fall:
- The use of copper preparations is recommended.
- Chemicals "Horus", "Mikosan-V", Bordeaux liquid and copper sulfate are effective.
It is advisable to carry out the processing even before the beginning of flowering. It is also important to harvest rotten fruits and leaves as quickly as possible so that the fungus does not spread further in the area.
Hole spot
Symptoms of this disease first appear on foliage and fruits. The whole tree must be sprayed with a solution of Bordeaux liquid. A 2% solution of "Nitrofen" also helps.
What does hole spot look like?
Curly leaves
With curly leaves, the tree sheds unripe fruits and deciduous mass. The easiest way to get rid of the curl is to remove the affected areas of the tree. But this should be done only in May, when such places are clearly visible. Another way to cope is treatment with a 2% solution of "Nitrofen". This drug is used until the kidneys begin to swell. It is recommended to use Bordeaux liquid during flowering.
Cytosporosis
As the disease progresses, the apricot throws off its leaves and fruits. Treatment is carried out in several stages:
- Removal of affected areas of the tree.
- Then you need to circle the affected area with chalk, additionally stepping back 2-3 cm.
- The crown itself can be sprayed with zinc sulfate.
It is also worth adding 40-50 grams of zinc or boron to the soil (this amount of substances is taken per tree).
Powdery mildew
The first symptom of powdery mildew is white bloom on all parts of the apricot. Diseased trees should be sprayed with colloidal sulfur several times. The procedure is carried out immediately after the appearance of a white bloom. The treatments are repeated every 10 days.
Powdery mildew symptoms
Bacterial burn
Damaged areas are trimmed and burned. The tree itself is sprayed with Bordeaux liquid. If most of the apricot is damaged, then it must be dug up and destroyed.
Apoplexy (drying out)
In this case, the only thing that can be done is to water the trees more often and prevent the soil from drying out in the future. As a preventive measure against apoplexy, a non-stop planting of seedlings is carried out.
Prevention and recommendations of gardeners
When the apricot has already begun to crumble, it is too late to take preventive measures, so it is better to take care of the health of the trees in advance.
Preventive procedures:
- Every fall, you need to rake and burn the fallen leaves.
- If wounds appear on the bark, from which gum flows, you need to immediately process them.
- In autumn, you should cut off old, dried branches and thin out the crown.
- Regularly it is necessary to process apricots from parasites, which often not only harm themselves, but also carry various diseases.
Falling off of unripe apricots is always a problem. This can often be prevented by carrying out preventive crown treatments. But if the subsidence has already begun, it remains only to find out the reason and immediately begin to solve it.
