Beech trees are considered one of the most important trees in eastern North America. These trees provide food and shelter for wildlife and humans. In 2012, beech leaf disease was first spotted in Ohio. It slowly spread across the United States East Coast and parts of Canada.
Symptoms and Infections
Beech leaf disease (BLD) is detrimental to beech tree species. It's caused by a nematode, a microscopic worm. In the winter, nematodes will hide in beech buds and their damage is shown when beech leaves bloom in the spring. Infected leaves develop dark bands between leaf veins. Some leaves may become very crinkled, smaller, and leather-like. If the tree is heavily infected, many buds are killed, and severely damaged leaves fall off. While beech trees produce new leaves, they are different from healthy beech trees. The new leaves are paler and weaker.
Treatments
This disease can destroy a mature tree within six to ten years, while beech trees normally can live up to 400 years. While tree removal can treat BLD, it can be a costly solution that leads to more problems for wildlife. In 2017, Ohio researchers discovered soil treatment using phosphite products can treat infected trees. After five years of treatment, treated trees had fewer nematodes and were significantly healthier compared to non-treated trees. Although a five-year program may seem long, this treatment can help beech trees from overcoming BLD.
SaferGro’s Solution
SaferGro provides a sustainable, cost-effective solution to save beech trees from BLD. Fosphite is one of the listed products recommended by researchers to treat BLD. Fosphite is available to purchase here. SaferGro also carries other phosphite-based products that can treat infected beech trees. Our phosphite products are known to stimulate plant defenses. These products include Phosgard 0-28-25, Phosgard Plus 0-32-25, Phosgard 4-25-15, Phosgard Bio 0-28-25, and Phosgard Copper.
Beech trees are essential to North America’s East Coast for both wildlife and humans. SaferGro hopes to provide a sustainable solution to help diminish BLD from spreading. Beech trees deserve a chance to grow and persevere!
