Sunday, July 8, 2001		Garden Life

WE generally forget a plant once it has borne fruit or flowers till the time it is again slated to bear fruit the next year. The result is that poor quality of fruit or flowers are borne in the next cycle.

After a tree bears fruits, it gets exhausted. During the rest period, it recuperates to prepare itself for the next cycle. Any setback at this stage tells upon the health of the plant which starts declining, leading to bearing of poor quality crop.

At times, the damage caused is irreparable as in the case of citrus fruits where a condition called ‘citrus decline’ sets in. It becomes difficult to rejuvenate or revive the affected trees.

Plant diseases are of so many kinds and appear at different times of the year. Though we tend to take care of the problems that appear during or just before fruit bearing, we become oblivious to the problems that the tree has to brave during the off-season. It is necessary to keep in mind that the plant build-up during the off-season is responsible for its bearing quality fruit the next year.

Not many people know that the main diseases in grapes appear after the harvest in June.Though diseases like cercospora leaf spot, Anthracnose or die-back, etc, get carried from the diseased parts during the growth and bearing stage, these get aggravated during the rains. There should be no negligence in plant protection. Any neglect tells upon the health of the vine which manifests itself in premature leaf fall and damage to branches. The incidence of die-back is so high that during pruning most of the potential fruit-bearing branches have to be removed and there is hardly any branch left on the vine.

To prevent this, spray bavistin (1 gm in a litre of water) during mid-July, mid-August and mid-September. The spraying will also take care of downy mildew which also assumes serious proportion after the rainy season, causing premature defoliation.

Similarly, in case of mango, Anthracnose or twig die-back have to be kept under check after fruit bearing. Branches that show spots of canker or dead branches should immediately be removed. You can spray captan (2 gm in a litre of water) during August.

It is not only in fruit trees that such precautions are taken, the flowering plants and shrubs too need similar treatment. Let us take the example of one of the most common plants in a garden — the rose. The black spot on leaves appears sporadically throughout the year. Its incidence is more during summer and the rainy season when we usually forget this plant. Black spot with a yellow ‘halo’ appears on leaves. The fungus responsible for this emits ethylene, causing enhanced ageing of leaves and premature leaf fall. Even during the flowering period if the foliage shows black spots, it lowers the commercial value of the bloom. Moreover, who would like to keep a disease-infested bloom in a vase?

This feature was published on July 1, 2001