Fighting anthracnose can be a frustrating process. Find out about what plants get anthracnose and how to prevent it to achieve successful anthracnose control.
What is anthracnose?
Anthracnose is a fungal disease that tends to attack plants in the spring when the weather is cool and wet, mostly on leaves and twigs. The fungi overwinter in dead twigs and fallen leaves. Cool, wet climate makes ideal conditions for the spores to spread. Dry and hot climate stop the development of the disease that may start again once the climate conditions wind up ideal. The issue can be cyclic yet it is rarely deadly. Anthracnose is especially known for the damage that it can cause to trees. Among vegetables, it attacks cucurbits.
Anthracnose fungus taints numerous deciduous and evergreen trees and bushes, also fruits, vegetables and grass. Anthracnose is visible along the leaves and the veins as little lesions. These dim, sunken lesions may likewise be found on stems, blooms and fruits.
To be able to recognize anthracnose and to not mistake it for some other leaf spot diseases, you should carefully examine the undersides of leaves for various little tan to dark colored specks, about the span of a pin head. You can always ask for help from a fellow gardener to help with the diagnosing and give you extra anthracnose disease info.
What plants get anthracnose?
- A wide variety of plants can be affected by anthracnose fungus, including those grown outside of a greenhouse, such as woody ornamentals and tropical foliage plants.
- Potted plants and greenhouse crops such as cyclamen, ficus, lupine, palms, succulents and yuccas are sometimes affected.
- Trees and shrubs that are prone to anthracnose include maple, camellia, walnut, ash, azalea, oak and sycamore.
How do you treat anthracnose?
Anthracnose control starts with practicing good sanitation. Picking up and discarding all sick plant parts, including twigs and leaves, starting from the earliest stage from around the plant is essential. This prevents the fungus from overwintering close to the plant. Proper pruning strategies to free trees and plants of old and dead wood likewise assists with counteractive action of anthracnose fungus.
Plant your plants in well-drained soil. You can also enrich the soil with compost in order to help plants resist diseases. Water your plants with a drip sprinkler, as opposed to an overhead sprinkler. Don’t touch the plants when they are wet. Keep ripening fruits from touching the soil. Remember to rotate your plants every 2 to 3 years.
You can try spraying your plants with a copper-based fungicide, though be careful because copper can build up to toxic levels in the soil for earthworms and microbes. For trees, try a dormant spray of bordeaux mix.
Keeping plants healthy by providing them with enough light, water and compost will fortify the plant’s capacity to avoid a fungus attack. Stressed trees and plants have a troublesome time recouping from anthracnose parasite.
