After the lemon tree, the orange tree is the most popular and abundant fruit tree in the citrus family. If the conditions are suitable, it produces very many, so it is a tree that is really worth growing. Additionally, oranges are a delicacy and are consumed in abundance around the world. Although hybrids have been created to further strengthen its structure, there are orange tree pests and diseases that may continue to affect the crop, although less frequently.
For this reason, it is particularly interesting for all people who grow orange trees to know the most common diseases that can affect this fruit tree. In this article, we will talk about them and explain how to deal with them. I recommend that you continue reading if you want to grow your own oranges at home in order to protect or preserve them from pathogens in time.
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The most common diseases of orange trees
There are several risks for orange tree crops. Your fruit trees can not only be invaded by fungi, viruses and bacteria, but also by insects and parasites. It is important to know how to detect orange tree pests in time and to fight them, not only because of the damage that insects can cause, but also because They can also transmit or promote the appearance of certain diseases. Some of the most common pests include:
However, in this article we will focus on diseases of orange trees. Next, we will talk about the most common that appear in these fruit trees of the citrus family.
gummosis
First, we have gummosis. It is a disease characterized by appearance of a kind of gum around the trunk of the tree. However, this symptom does not come alone. In addition to creating this gummosis, the gummosis also causes a dark, triangular patch to form at the base of the trunk.
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How to treat gummosis?
Although the most obvious symptoms are visible to the naked eye in the trunk part, gummosis actually operates from the roots of the plant and eventually spreads to the higher areas. This expansion ends up causing very serious damage to the structure of the tree. Among them are defoliation and cracks in the trunk. In addition, the leaves turn yellow. When this disease reaches a more advanced stage, all parts of the orange tree, including its fruits, eventually exude gummosis.
anthracnose
We continue with another of the most common orange tree diseases: anthracnose. How to detect this pathology? Well, anthracnose stands out for causing some pale spots on fruit shell structure. The evolution of this disease is slow, but it eventually causes the rotting of oranges.
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Anthracnose, one of the fungi that most affects plants
Usually, anthracnose begins to proliferate on rainy days, in particular. The ideal environment for this disease is humid and with rather low temperatures. It should be noted that it is quite common that the first fruits affected by this pathology are those found in the weakest branches of the plant. Then it goes to the rest of the vegetable.
brown rot
Also known as citrus water rot, brown rot is a very harmful disease for orange trees and feared by growers, because it very quickly causes significant damage to the structure of the plant. Brown rot appears due to the presence of a fungus belonging to the family of phytophthora.
This fungal agent directly affects the roots, causing damage that eventually modify the structure by creating gummy formations. In turn, these gummy formations negatively affect the base of the trunk through cankers. Once this disease affects the plant, it does so in a remarkable way. The plant in question shows a very obvious defoliation which yellows the central nerve of the leaves.
How to treat diseases of orange trees?
Now that we know a little more about the most common orange tree diseases, it’s time to find out how to treat them. It should always be borne in mind that well-groomed vegetables are less prone to pathologies, but not immune. Detecting in time if our plants are suffering from a disease is the key to being able to save them. The sooner we know what the disease is, the sooner we can fix it and prevent greater damage to our crops.
The treatments for orange tree diseases that we have mentioned above are as follows:
- gummosis: Once the orange tree is contaminated, the surface of the trunk must be scraped and then covered with a liquid fungicide. Of course, it is essential that the composition of this liquid fungicide contains a high copper content. However, it would be best to prevent the tree from becoming gummy. For prevention, it is essential to prevent the soil around the orange tree from becoming waterlogged and to plant it in a place where the soil is well drained.
- Anthracnose: To treat anthracnose of orange trees, the best thing to do is to carry out a preventive pruning before the onset of the rains. It will also help us eliminate the areas that we see damaged. If despite these measures we are unable to solve the problem and the orange tree is affected by anthracnose, we can turn to chemical components to combat it.
- Brown rot: As always, it is best to try to prevent the onset of this disease. For this, we can take certain measures, such as avoiding damage to the structure of the plant, planting the tree in well-drained soil and not adding decaying organic matter near the base of the trunk. However, if the orange tree is already affected by this disease, all that remains is to treat it with a specific fungicide that acts on this type of fungus.
Well, we already know the most common diseases of orange trees and how to treat them. However, prevention is better than cure. It is therefore recommended to take certain preventive measures such as good drainage and avoiding waterlogging.