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Indian summer crab apple with rust spots

17 years ago

Each year our crab apple gets these bright orange rust spots all over it's leaves. Then it drops it's leaves early. It is now just starting to bud. What can I put on it to prevent. It has happened the past 3 seasons now.

Thanks,

Jenn

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Comments (11)

alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
17 years ago
Immunox. You can buy it at Lowe's or Home Depot, maybe Wal-Mart.
MissSherry
17 years ago
What are those spots?
My crabapples get them, too, and I've been trying to figure out what they are. They don't defoliate my trees, but make the affected leaves unusable as hosts for red-spotted purples, which will lay eggs on healthy, unaffected crabapple leaves.
Sherry
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If you can't post a photo, for whatever reason, can you take a sample of the problem leaves (assuming it's leaves that are the problem) or twigs/branches (if they are the problem) to your county extension agent's office - look in the phone book under county offices? If your county doesn't have one, a neighboring county should. The agent should be able to tell you what's going on, or can send the samples off to the relevant lab at the state university for tests. Your other options are to take samples to a knowledgable local nursery, but that may be hard to find, and they may say "oh yes, that's thus-and-so, just spray with this and it will go away", without fully understanding the problem - their bottom line is important to them after all. And the person you talk to may have no tree knowledge, only of the commonly sold plants they carry at the nursery, and doesn't want to say so. The other option I can think of, but it will cost money, is to find a good, certified arborist and have him/her come and look. Again, they may simply offer a spraying program without good results - especially if they have a tree service - that old bottom-line again. And I may be totally maligning the nurseries and arborists in your area, but I have had, and known others who have had problems. Also, if you are having a fungus or insect problem, the culprit MAY be overwintering in the fallen fruit, so if that is the case, removing the fallen fruit would limit the problem. The fallen apples may also have nothing to do with it, but without a diagnosis of the problem, who's to say.
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alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
17 years ago
It's probably cedar apple rust. It requires red cedar as an alternate host. As long as there are red cedars in the area it will always be a problem. Scab is also a big problem.
conifers
17 years ago
Spray with labled product - I'd recommend right now as the trees are either dormant or just breaking bud or as early as timing allows when the tree begins leafing - that they be sprayed with one application of Liquid Sulphur when it's cool outside and either early morning or early evening.

To be followed with: (watch the leaves and any sign spray again).... liquid copper fungicide exactly as the tree has 2/3, 1/2 of it's flowers opened (spray gently don't blast the flowers off), followed with a few 2 or 3 more applications of liquid copper. Liquid copper just like the Sulphur, needs also to be applied during times of cool temperatures similarily (below 60 F or below 15.5 C).

Or you buy anything labled such as HOME DEPOT's OR LOWE's, or your local hardware stores version of "Tree Fungicide/Fruit Tree Spray", etc - and treat them at the same times I have listed for you and also 4 to 5 more times per year.

Lastly. YOU MUST rake up all leaves in fall so none are left. Don't let the leaves settle under other plants such as Roses, Hawthorns, Dogwoods, or other trees or shrubs that are highly succeptible to blights.

I used to spray trees...

Dax

P.s. The organic route is the Sulphur and Copper. It may be used on all your other fruit trees as well. Apples (Crabapples and Cherries) all get their first applications using Sulphur. The rest of your fruit trees/"flowering trees", use Liquid Copper for all 4 to 5 annual sprays. Dogwood's I'd probably spray with Liquid Sulphur early as well or other, quote 'problematic' or already known "problematic trees" you have noticed showing unusual signs of stress.

Never deviate from any product's label! And don't spray folks if you aren't experiencing any problems! That would be a waste of money and silly as well:-)
MissSherry
17 years ago
I don't use any pesticides on anything! I'm a nature/wildlife nut, particularly love butterflies and birds, raise caterpillars myself, and the worst thing I could do would be to spray poison on my host plants.
I was just curious as to what the red spots were.
Sherry
alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
17 years ago
Unfortunately if the fungus is severe enough to cause the tree to be defoliated multiple times, it could eventually kill the tree.
conifers
17 years ago
Right on Sherry!

Daxman
dharma517
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks so much...after this darn winter storm is over we will probably head to the local hardware store for supplies to fight this problem. For some reason it seems we have a lot of fungal problems around here. We also have a home covered in artillary fungus and a heritage river birch with some kind of wooly fungus growth under it's leaves every year also. That tree is large and probably would require an arborist I suspect...ugh. Well...even so...I look foward to the warmer weather. Thanks for all the replies!

Jenn
MissSherry
17 years ago
I dredged up this thread, because it'll be May tomorrow, my crabapples have had leaves on them for over two months now, and they still haven't gotten the rust spots! My neighbor's cedar tree has mysteriously died - honestly, I didn't pour salt on it - and since it was close to many of my crabapples, I'm thinking maybe it was the alternate host. The only red cedars on my property are way up front, away from crabs, and I think I'll keep it that way!
It's nice to see such clean foliage on them!
Sherry
morgang
16 years ago
My crabapple also has rust spots. Is it too late to put anything on it? Also, this is the first year it's happened (it's about 3 years old) I don't see any falling leaves, but very few tiny apples. Is the rust causing that?

Oh... does the cedar mulch I'm using in the yard have anything to do with this?
Or does it have to be a cedar tree?

Thanks.
Fledgeling_
16 years ago
Cedar-apple rust spores can travel miles on a windy day. If there is a tree within a few city blocks, its spores will find you.

It has to be a living juniper species that is capable of spreading rust.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cedar-Apple Rust

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