Peach Tree Leprosy: How to Identify It? How to fight it?
Peach tree leprosy is one of the most frequent diseases suffered by this type of plantation.
Knowing it thoroughly will be one of the most important keys to attending to it and attacking it correctly.
Are you interested in everything that has to do with this topic? So, read on. It will take you 5 minutes
To learn more about peach tree pests and diseases, see this article.
What is peach leprosy?
It is a disease that consists of a fungus (mycotic condition) that appears in peach plantations.
It is easy to recognize by the appearance of wrinkled, reddish leaves on the spring shoots. We will be able to observe bulges (dents).
Therefore, peach tree leprosy is also called «Dent». While its scientific name is » Taphira deformans «.
After approximately 45 days from the start of the outbreak, the diseased leaves fall off the tree.
Due to the above, the tree tends to weaken, bearing fruit poorly. If leprosy is not treated correctly, such a tree may die.
Peach leprosy is considered a serious disease for these fruit trees.
What fungus is responsible?
The responsible fungus is of the ascomycete type, which develops on the surface of the cuticles of the leaves.
This type of ascomycete fungus sometimes perforates the leaf to fruit on the outside.
In this way, it produces a variety of microscopic germs, which help it to perpetuate itself in said plant.
These germs have the particularity that in the winter they stick to the bark of the branches, as well as to the stems, and to the leaves that have fallen to the ground.
Then, when spring arrives, those germs obtain better climatic conditions; thus they germinate in the shoots, with which the disease persists.
How do we identify peach leprosy?
Peach leprosy is easily identified by the lesions or bumps (dents) it causes on the tree.
It is important to highlight that the entire green structure of the tree can be affected by the bumps, in many cases the fruits are also touched.
Look at the leaves of the peach tree
Delving a little deeper into the symptoms that identify this disease, we have that it is easier to appreciate it (as already said) in the leaves.
Since it is in the leaves where the most visible and notorious lesions are evident. That is, the characteristic bulges are shown.
Even on the youngest and smallest leaves, the disease can appear.
Usually the bulges are marked with their convexity on the upper side of the affected leaf; these may or may not be linked together.
But there are cases when the lesions can go through the sheet and appear on the bottom.
Generally the dents are located (although this is not a rule) in the central part of the blade, close to the primary vein.
The bulges join each other
It can also be observed with the development of the disease that the bulge formations merge with each other.
In other words, the appearance and health of the tree are highly compromised with the advance of leprosy.
Even the thickness and size of the sheet is raised considerably. The leaves become reddish and fleshy.
In many cases the leaves fall off; so the life of the tree is at its limit, in many cases killing it.
We cannot ignore the fact that peach leprosy is especially lethal in young trees.
What treatments can we apply?
The treatments that can be applied to combat peach tree leprosy are varied but with a certain relationship between them.
Pluck infected leaves
On the one hand , the infected leaves are usually pulled out, this helps but is not a guarantee by itself.
Prevention is highly advisable (perhaps it is the most effective solution for this evil), for this there are some strategies.
Use combined strategies
Among the alternatives is the polyvalent treatment during the winter. Winter oil combined with a DNOC-type insecticide is used.
Also during the outbreak of the buds of the tree, dictiocarbamates are used, among which TMTD, Ziram and Captan stand out.
Cu fungicides can be applied (before the movement of the buds), this has to be repeated after two weeks.
These are some of the most common and effective strategies to combat peach tree leprosy.
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