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Symptoms
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Bending down of young shoots in May (mostly before longitudinal growth is finished); at first, needles in the middle of the shoot discolored greyish; later on, all needles of the shoot pale, then brown and shrivelled; in summer and autumn minute fruiting bodies visible as blackish dots emerging from the bark (hand lens!); in atumn the shoots drop; repeated infestations may cause branching anomalies, loss in increment, as well as dieback of crown parts (associated with additional microfungi); only young plants may totally die from Sirococcus-infection.
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Impact
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Occurring on sites with high moisture (fog, mist, high grass, depressions) a well as in rainy years; primary infections from dry galls of spruce gall aphids. Furthermore, spruces on poor sites (nutrient deficiencies) are highly susceptible; the disease can be mistaken for Grey mould or for Spruce cone rust, which may also infect current years shoots, but here the symptoms appear later in the year (length growth nearly terminated), and there is a blackish stain of the bark.
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Control
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Balanced nutrition, avoidance of sites with high and long lasting humidity
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| Hosts |
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Spruce;
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| Affected plant parts
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Needle;
Shoot/Twig/Branch;
Stem;
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