The weather is still favorable for Monilia and Taverina, but diseases and pests that prefer warmer weather are coming – fruit moths, scabies, aphids, etc. – also. However, for the time being, it is still cold for fire extinction, and a serious apple moth swarm is not expected until later.
In the first days of May, the precipitation zone approaches the Carpathian Basin from the southwest. The front did not cause a significant cooling, bringing rains mainly to Transdanubia and the central regions of the country. Its amount only soaked into the top layer of soil, but it promoted the spread of several diseases.
The weather is still favorable for monilial flowering, cotyledon infestation, and peach tafrine leaf curl. The process has already begun with the blossoming of almonds and apricots, but even now, during the blossoming of cherries and sour cherries, conditions are very favorable for an epidemic.
Even with regular protection, it is difficult to find fruit trees free of symptoms, nearly 100% of apricots and cherries are diseased to some degree.
Even more spectacular is the wrinkling of peach leaves, the affected leaves have already developed, they will “appear” on the trees with all the colors of the rainbow, and the blistered and diseased leaves will soon begin to dry out and fall off. Under these favorable conditions, it is possible for some of the young fruits to also display symptoms caused by the curling of the tavern leaves. In addition to the changeable weather, among the insect pests of drupes, only the oriental fruit moth and the plum moth swarm in greater numbers. Primary aphid colonies appeared on apricot buds, but it is still too early to talk about mass damage, but with significant warming it can happen quickly, just like on other stone fruits.
In apples and pears, weather conditions favor the spread of scab infection. Ascospore dispersal is continuous, and the risk of incubation is maximum due to prolonged moisture coverage.
Powdery mildew is already spreading from canes infected last year and showing initial symptoms, but warmer weather will be needed for intense persistence, and also for bacterial blight to occur.
The plants are in a sensitive phenological stage, and mulching with moisture would be sufficient, but the temperature is still low for the pathogen. Pear aphids thrive moderately, while pear fungus has a spectacular spread on some susceptible varieties. Red spots appeared on the leaves and deformation of the tip of the cotyledon can be observed. Apple moths still fly moderately in pheromone traps, and more significant swarms are expected in the future.
In grape farms, symptoms of grape leaf mites and silkworms appeared as foci on the buds of sensitive varieties.
Based on the inspection, make a decision on the need for protection. The swarm of various grape moths continues to be ubiquitous across the country, but the number of butterflies caught in pheromone traps remains low.
You can read detailed forecasts on plant protection at www.magyarnovenyorvos.hu website.
