Lychee Trees Common Disease
One common fungal disease of lychee trees and shade trees such as Banana Trees, Banyan trees, Breadfruit trees, Coconut trees, Eucalyptus trees, Hala trees, Jacaranda trees, etc., is anthracnose.
ClimbingHI 's Plant Health Care crew has been identifying this fungal disease all the way from Haiku to Kihei this year. This disease can result in leaf spots, cupping or curling of leaves, and early leaf drop. On fruits, brown pinhead lesions appear that later turn to circular dark-brown to black sunken lesions on mature fruits.
Lychee Tree Care Tips
- Prune out the dead wood and destroy the infected leaves of trees.
- Plant your trees in well-drained soil. You can also enrich the soil with compost in order to help them resist diseases.
- Water your trees 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.
- To control anthracnose, you should remove and destroy any infected plants in your garden.
- Spray your trees with a copper-based fungicide. Be careful not to overdo it, as copper can build up to toxic levels in the soil for earthworms and microbes.
The best way to protect your trees from anthracnose is prevention. If the trees already have signs of disease, adequate and timely treatment is of the essence.
We suggest you schedule a meeting with our plant health care specialist, Taylor. He will be able to properly diagnose your trees and give you the best course of action for a healthy tree.
If your trees are dealing with this or any other issues, we can help!
Our PHC specialist can develop a custom Plant Health Care program to keep your trees happy and healthy.
