Stop disease from ruining your apple harvest.
Use these tips to keep your trees healthy.
A few easy tactics will help you combat these apple tree diseases to ensure you get a bountiful harvest.
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The first step in the fight for fruit begins withidentifying the tree diseaseyou are dealing with.
Check out the 6 profiles below to determine what disease might be attacking your tree.
Then you’re free to take the right steps to get rid of it.
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And before you know it, you’ll be biting into a homegrown apple.
Apples harvested from backyard trees rarely resemble their grocery store counterparts.
Expect homegrown fruit to have a few blemishes and sport some odd shapes.
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When disease does take hold, identify it early to slow the spread.
And remember, plant resistant cultivars to reduce disease in general.
The spots canaffect the entire leaf, causing it to turn brown and fall off.
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Apple scab creates slightly raised black spots on fruits.
Apple scab resistant cultivars are the best way to prevent an infestation.
Raking and removing leaves around trees in fall will reduce a source of infection.
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The spots develop in mid- to late spring and often cause leaves and fruit to drop.
The fruit that does hang on the tree is often small and malformed.
If possible, remove anyjunipersgrowing within 200 feet of an apple tree.
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Many cedar apple rust resistant apple cultivars are available.
They quickly turn black.
Dead leaves usually remain attached to the dead branch; the tree looks like it was scorched by fire.
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Disinfect pruning tools between cuts using a solution of 1 part household bleach to 9 parts water.
Fire blight resistant cultivars are the best way to prevent the disease.
New growth is usually stunted, curled, or distorted on aplant with powdery mildew.
The fungi that cause this disease is especially prevalent during hot, dry periods.
Several cultivars tolerate powdery mildew.
Flyspeck and Sooty Blotch
What it looks like:These two diseases often occur together.
Flyspeck is identified by groups of small black dots on the surface of fruit.
The dots are often slightly elevated.
Prevent both diseases bymaintaining and pruning treesto promote good air circulation and thinning developing fruit.
‘Pristine’ and ‘Enterprise’ are two resistant cultivars.
Rot eventually affects the entire fruit.
Control and prevention:Remove diseased fruit as soon as you notice the problem.
This reduces the fungi that cause summer rots and spots.
