Measures to control powdery mildew on currants

About which powdery mildew control measures on currants to be taken and why it is important to do it on time, we will discuss this material. Powdery mildew disease quite often affects currants and cause damage to the yield of a given crop. The branches stop growing, the leaves become small and dry, and the berry is covered with a white coating and it is impossible to eat.

You need to understand that you can not get rid of powdery mildew at a time. Here the approach should be comprehensive and regular. Certain measures are being taken to combat powdery mildew on currants not only in autumn, but throughout the entire period of the year, except for winter.

About the signs of the disease

If you carefully monitor the bushes during their growth, then you can notice the disease at the first stages of its development. And then immediately it is necessary to begin the struggle, so that in the end it ended successfully. On red and black currants, the first signs, if there is a disease, will appear in early summer. Carefully you need to inspect the lower leaves of the bush, whether there was a plaque in the form of a spider web.

Over time, if you do not treat the bushes, the disease will spread to the tops of the leaves, petioles, and the berries will be affected. Sticky spots will appear on the affected areas.

Important! Powdery mildew favorably develops in warm weather, 17-28 degrees heat. The disease does not like hot days. Than process trees in the garden in the fall.

If during the year the gardener ignored the signs of defeat, then already in the autumn there will be brown spots on the leaves, they will become dense, they will actively fall. The yield of the bush will be significantly reduced, and the berries will be acidic and small. The first preventive treatment of powdery mildew should be carried out in early spring, when the spores of the fungus that causes the disease are only released from the fruit body.

Specific control measures

In the photo you can see exactly how powdery mildew looks on currants, but measures to combat the disease require careful and detailed study. If the disease can not be blocked at the initial stage, then, perhaps, then a complete trimming of the tops and infected parts of the bush will be required.

A preventive measure here can be called trimming the tops of the affected shoots in early spring. Then you will need to additionally spray the plant with copper sulfate. At the end of the season, the fallen leaves must be collected and burned, and the soil under the bushes to be dug up.

Common and effective measures to control powdery mildew on currant bushes:

1. You can treat the bush with wood ash in two stages with a break of two weeks. Dilute 300 grams of wood ash into ten liters of water. Also additionally add 300 grams of dry wood ash for each bush, mixing it with the soil.
2. For spraying bushes, you can use an aqueous solution based on soda ash. For ten liters of water, 50 grams of such soda is taken, add 30 grams of laundry soap to the mixture. Insist for several days, so strain and use for spraying.
3. As an option, mullein will help from powdery mildew on currants. You will need to take a third of a bucket of this product (you can replace it with decayed hay), pour three buckets of water into it.After three days of insisting, dilute with water three times, strain and use for fine spraying.
4. You can take a liter of whey, skim milk and buttermilk for the composition, as well as nine liters of pure water. Mix the ingredients and use immediately for processing the bushes.

Important! Pruning currants, as well as applying nitrogen fertilizers, is an important step in caring for the bush. However, excessive efforts here can lead to the fact that resistance to the development of powdery mildew will be reduced. To improve the currant's resistance, it is necessary to feed the bushes not only with nitrogen, but also with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers in sufficient quantities.

As for chemistry stores, there you can buy special tools to kill the disease. For example, gardeners respond well to topaz 0.02%. They spray the bushes twice with an interval of two weeks.

These are the main folk and chemical means, which control measures were adopted in the fight against powdery mildew on currants. It is imperative to prepare for the fact that the struggle will be long. Especially often, the disease affects the bushes growing under the crown of fruit trees.

If it happened that on your blackcurrant powdery mildew appeared, then control measures include not only spraying after flowering. Here we need a comprehensive and regular approach in order to ultimately win in such a difficult battle. One thing is clear - it is necessary to fight the disease, otherwise in a few years it will completely destroy your berry bushes.