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Signs of damage
- The appearance of orange dots on leaves, shoots, and fruit twigs;
- Over time, the spots on the upper sides of the leaves turn into large yellow-orange spots;
- Infected leaves dry and fall prematurely;
- Large spots on fruits;
- The growth rate decreases sharply or even stops;
- Heavily damaged branches die, bark and wood crack on slightly damaged branches;
- If you do not fight the rust that has appeared, it will spread to all above-ground parts of the plant, and if so, the plant usually dies.
How to prevent
Like all plant diseases, it is better to prevent the appearance of apple rust than to treat it after its appearance. Carry out preventive treatments, take into account the neighborhood of apple trees with conifers, and take measures immediately when the first signs of infection appear. For preventive purposes, you can also use preparations of organic origin based on colloidal sulfur, which are an effective and quick way to avoid rust fungus. You can also choose rust-resistant apple trees for planting.
Heal
The methods of combating this dangerous disease include:
- Treating the apple tree in early spring and late fall with copper-containing preparations;
- Cleaning and burning fell leaves in the fall;
- Digging up the soil under the tree in the fall;
- Pruning severely affected branches;
- Closing all wounds in the bark;
- Spraying with fungicides.
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