Image - Planetagarden.com
The Horse Chestnut is characterized by being one of those deciduous trees that attract the most attention. Its large leaves, more than 20 centimeters in diameter, and its imposing height make many of us want to have it ... even if we do not have the space it needs. However, this magnificent plant is very vulnerable to anthracnose.
In fact, it is so bad that it is called horse chestnut anthracnose. What are the symptoms and treatment?
What is it?
Anthracnose, known as canker or chancre, is a fungal disease (caused by fungi) during spring and summer. They like warm and humid environments, so if they detect that our horse chestnut is a little weak, they will not hesitate to cause problems.
What are the symptoms?
First symptoms of horse chestnut anthracnose.
Tree from my collection.
Symptoms of horse chestnut anthracnose consist of:
- Appearance of spots on the leaves, around the nerves.
- Leaf fall (defoliation).
- Lumps on the logs.
- Growth slowdown.
How is it treated?
Preventive treatment
Image - Ecological Alternative
To prevent you from getting anthracnose what we can do is:
- Treat with copper-based fungicides in spring and fall, once every 15-20 days.
- Do not wet the aerial part (leaves, trunk, flowers) when watering.
- Do not prune. This is a tree that does not need any pruning.
- Do not buy diseased plants.
Curative treatment
Once the symptoms have already started, then the following should be done:
- Early stage: if we see that it has some spots, we will treat it with a spray fungicide, spraying all the leaves well both on the upper side and on the underside, as well as the trunk and the earth around it.
- Advanced phase- If the tree has leaves that have turned brown, then it is best to cut off the affected parts and treat it with fungicide.
I hope it has been useful to you.