A Detailed Guide to Common Avocado Diseases and the Latest Control Methods
The avocado is a deciduous tree distributed across various tropical regions. It contains very rich fats and is a relatively important oil crop, widely used to make butter and soap. In addition to these industrial uses, avocados also contain extremely rich nutrients, such as protein, vitamins and so on. With a series of effects such as anti-aging and breast-enhancing and beauty care, it has attracted a large number of people to grow it. But do you know what diseases can occur during the growing process? How should these diseases be controlled? Let us take a look together!
1. Spot disease
Disease characteristics: Spot disease poses the greatest threat to leaves and branches, forming many dry spots on the surface, making them look as if they lack water, with the epidermis cracking and splitting. The cracks also have a chance of allowing anthracnose virus to invade. In the early stage of leaf infection, spots of varying sizes appear, and later they change color. In severe cases, the leaves and branches become covered entirely with patches, affecting growth and development and reducing yield.
Control methods: The treatment of spot disease is mainly based on prevention. After the disease occurs, fungicides such as azoxystrobin can be sprayed on the affected areas, which can effectively inhibit the spread of the disease.
2. Small cavity shell fruit rot
Disease characteristics: Fruit rot mainly harms the fruit as well, beginning to develop during the ripening stage and impossible to detect without careful observation. After harvest, obvious changes in the fruit can be felt, with irregularly shaped patches beginning to appear on the peel, slowly invading the flesh and the fruit stalk. Later, a foul-smelling brown liquid flows from the diseased spots, causing the entire fruit to rot and become worthless.
Control methods: Its control methods are almost the same as the following two, mainly strengthening management of the orchard and removing things that do not belong to the orchard and are not conducive to the growth of the fruit trees. For example, diseased and disabled branches, diseased leaves and fruits, and so on. Harvest time should not be chosen during rainy weather, so as to enhance the resistance of the fruit trees and reduce the incidence of disease.
3. Scab
Disease characteristics: Scab mainly harms the fruit. In the early stage of infection, irregular brown slightly raised diseased spots appear on the fruit surface, and later they gradually extend, with the patches gradually joining together to form a whole area. Although it has no effect on the taste and quality of the avocado, it seriously affects the appearance and reduces commercial value. It mainly occurs during the young fruit stage of the avocado, with the highest incidence under low-temperature and humid conditions.
Control methods: Regularly disinfect the orchard and prune away useless branches such as leggy branches and diseased branches. To eliminate pathogens in the orchard, copper-based fungicides such as Bordeaux mixture can be sprayed for control.
4. Anthracnose
Disease characteristics: Anthracnose mainly harms avocado fruit, and occasionally also poses a certain threat to leaves and flowers. In the early stage of fruit infection, roundish diseased spots appear, slightly sunken. If not treated in time, the spots will rapidly extend and expand, and then all the spots will connect together. In the later stage, it causes the fruit to drop and rot.
Control methods: Timely clean up fallen dead branches in the orchard, as well as diseased and disabled branches and leaves and fruits, to reduce pathogens and lower the infection rate and incidence. The resistance of the avocado is relatively weak, so after harvest, attention should also be paid to low-temperature storage and transport. This prevents the occurrence of other diseases and reduces damage.
The above four are the diseases that often occur when growing avocados. Their control methods are actually all similar, mainly based on prevention, timely cleaning up harmful substances in the orchard. Do a good job of orchard cleaning in winter, use pesticides to spray the whole orchard, eliminate overwintering pathogens, and reduce the disease incidence of the fruit trees in the coming year. To learn more related information, please continue to follow Qinnong Web!