Spray injury from pesticides commonly presents as which symptom?

• A. Leaf Burn At Tips And Margins.
• B. Root Death.
• C. Bark Cracking.
• D. Flower Abortion.

Answer: (A)

Spray injury from pesticides shows up most often as leaf burn on the tips and margins because the leaf surface is the part most directly exposed to sprayed chemicals. When a pesticide contacts leaf tissue, especially in hot, sunny, or dry conditions, the phytotoxic components can cause desiccation and necrosis starting at the edges and tips where water loss is greatest and where the chemical concentration can be highest. That’s why scorch or burn along the leaf margins is a classic sign of spray injury.

Root death would come from pesticides affecting the root zone or being taken up systemically, which isn’t the typical surface-contact injury pattern described here. Bark cracking suggests stress or damage to woody tissue, not the common foliar burn from a spray. Flower abortion involves reproductive organs and isn’t the usual symptom of foliar spray phytotoxicity.