Cedar Apple Rust
Cedar Apple Rust is a fungal disease that attacks Apple, Crabapple, Quince, and Pyracantha. This disease can cause damage leading to leaf loss, reduced vigor, and reduced flowering. It is very similar to apple scab in how it affects plant tissue.
Symptoms
The most common symptom of Cedar Apple Rust is orange colored spots on the leaves. Distorted twig growth and irregular shaped fruit may also persist. The stress of this disease can also cause reduction in vigor and fruit production.
Control
As with the management of Apple Scab, it is important to select resistant varieties whenever possible, use proper cultural practices, and administer a fungicide treatment program when necessary.
- Contact your local county extension office, nursery, or garden center for plant varieties resistant to Cedar Apple Rust.
- Cleaning up and disposing of fallen leaves can reduce the amount of spores produced in the immediate vicinity of the plant. However, spores can blow in from outside the sanitized areas.
- Three well-timed fungicide applications will limit rust development and keep leaves from falling. The most effective time to control Cedar Apple Rust with fungicides is prior to infection. The fungicide applications will only limit the amount of the disease each year. No control is one hundred percent effective.
Contact your RYAN certified arborist to learn more about our fungicide programs to help control this disease.