I think most of my euro pears don’t get any rust. I plan to talk to my asian pears about being more careful about their behavior, otherwise, they are getting a time out
I have heavy rust pressure here. One approach I am trying is to hack all cedars south of my orchard (where the prevailing winds come from). I read that somewhere. Not sure if it’s a thing or not. We have hot dry winds from the south. Winds from the north (or east) are more likely when it’s raining or wet. Maybe the theory is that the spores disperse once the rain has occurred, and at that point, we possibly have dry winds to blow the spores away from the orchard. I’m hoping! I can’t cut all the cedars to the north because it’s our windbreak and we’ll be blown to Kansas during the winter storms without it. I have some apples that are suppose to get some rust, but it’s been minimal so far (although the trees are young). An older Korean Giant is maybe 100 hundred yards south of heavily infested cedars, and it seems to get maybe only the slightest hint of infection if I look very close.
Had my first year w Pear Rust here in Dallas last year, pretty much wiped out all pears. But my 2 LeConte’s weren’t affected. I would have thought they’d be like Keiffers, but I guess not.
Is pear rust something that needs a treatment if it is a young tree without fruit. I have a Douglas and another variety that are showing some rust on leaves. I plan on spraying copper during this next dormant season, but my young trees did not get sprayed after planting this year. Should the affected leaves be pulled off or a treatment with something like penncozeb 75 be more appropriate, or a combination of both? Thank you to everyone who responds!
Yes hit them with something like pencozeb feverishly now and eliminate the rust in the pears now. Try to kill any nearby cedars. Do it before the trees get larger.
I’ve had rust 3 years now and can see some trends here in Dallas. I haven’t sprayed.
Immune: Orient, Pineapple, Harrow Sweet, Harrow Gold, Harrow Delight, Harvest Queen, Potomac, GEM. Potomac hasn’t fruited yet, rust seems to be worse on fruiting trees.
Moderate: LeConte, Warren. Crisp & Sweet. Fruit only cosmetically affected.
Severe: Keiffer and Ayers hammered, no fruit last year but not affected much this year. Turnbull & Plumblee are like Keiffer. Monterrey. All Asian pears; Tennoshui and Korean Giant a little less than others but still bad; almost no fruit from Asian pears.
Growing pears was more fun 10 years ago, before I had rust and stink bugs.
Have never seen pear rust here until today…big old volunteer callery I was girdling & poisoning had a full crop of rust infected fruits.
April freezes here eliminated ALL edible pear & apple fruits this year…serviceberries were clean…mayhaws had scant crops, and substantial rust damage on the few fruits they made.
Got about a pint of serviceberries before the birds found them.
Blueberries have a moderate crop…if the winged rats don’t take them all.
Mulberries got blasted (as did pecans, oaks, hickories) in that April freeze; mulbs are throwing out a second crop, but it’s sparse, and I’ll never get a ripe one ahead of the birds.
Afraid the persimmons got nuked, but I’ve not yet looked…
Well, i don’t know that I qualify as anything other than a hobby farmer. Sure not dependent on it for my livelihood…but, it’s gonna be a fruit/nut poor year.
But… there’s always next year !
Seckel here (SE Michigan) looks pretty badly struck by rust. Its sad because when I sprayed lime sulfur/copper (bordeaux spray) in spring I didn’t do the pears because I didn’t think they had any problems needing spray.
At this point am I just stuck living with it this season? Can I spray bordeaux in the fall after dormancy, or is it just a spring thing?
