The more I look into it, the more I think it is pear rust and that is not good news… It seems worse than having cedar apple rust.
Recommendatins are mostly to remove junipers to lessen or eliminate the problem.
The more I look into it, the more I think it is pear rust and that is not good news… It seems worse than having cedar apple rust.
Recommendatins are mostly to remove junipers to lessen or eliminate the problem.
I was wondering if Scott’s suggestion that the base tree was an apple might be the problem. Just a lack of compatibility. Sometimes varieties of same species are also incompatible, as I recall.
As far as i can see down the trunk it’s all pear though we cant see everything.
Mamuang,
That area and many others are hot areas for rust and I am sure that’s rust on those trees. Thats not like the common rust though because that stuff infects even the most resistant pears. Since that area has rust yanking those trees is not the answer. I would spray with sulphur for the moment. Since there are only two trees it should be manageable but will never go away all together. Incompatibility will cause the strange leaves but rust will also so if it is rust next year the tree will recover but if not by this time next year it is likely a virus, incompatibility etc… I know psylla can spread pear decline and that would certainly be possible depending on the rootstock. If it’s an old home x farmingdale rootstock and I suspect it is that’s not the case.
Clark,
You know more about pears than I ever do. A couple of months ago, I read up on Euro pear rust that started to show up in the west coast and mid west. It seems more challenging than apple rust.
Well, whatever it is, I hope the trees comback normal next year.
Susu,
This is what Harrow sweet should look like.
Pears suffering from incompatibility do look similar to your picture. Note the smaller leaves in center of this tree in this photo but this is a pear that is growing out of the problems. It will always have some incompatibility.
This is what it looked like at first ( note leaves were smaller)
Thank you all for comments. I’ll spray sulfur for time being. Hopefully it’s not a compatibility issue and the tree will bounce back. Removing junipers is not an option. All the neighbors all around me have them.
Remove the neighbors! Just kidding. Same problem here. Junipers are my neighbors’ decorative plants.
As mentioned you won’t get rid of your pear rust but rather hopefully you will learn to live with it. The conditions are perfect for it at your location. You will be challenged to grow both apples and pears and both will have some form of rust. Sometimes it will make your trees grow slower than they should but eventually you can still get fruit.
Giving me hope
Is this pear psylla? Whatever it is. It’s affect my new graft and rootstocks that failed and am just growing for next season.
Nope. It died long ago. I actually believe it was herbicide spray
I hope your Harrow Sweet graft has worked out well.
After almost 10 years, my Harrow Sweet has gotten some fire blight right now in this warm and wet weather.
Harrow sweet and most other graft I did using your scions are doing great. Thank you. In fact I’m eating fruit for the first time in a long time because my neighbor caught 3 groundhogs that were destroying everything. They made the bad decision of moving under his deck. I’m thrilled about being rid of groundhogs.
I’m seeing some burr knots on my plum branches though. All the rain is not helping.
Those are not burr knots. They are likely black knots. When they start to show, they are bumpy brown knots. Over time, they will turn black. Black knots are very difficult to control.
Both my J plums and E plum have them. Some varieties are more susceptible than the others. Scott Smith uses blow torch to kill them. So far, I have remove twigs/branches but will need to look into a blow torch to fight them, too.