I planted two Asian pears in the groun back in May. One of them is now developing some black spots on the leaves. I don’t know whether this is normal or something I should be concerned about. This is my first time growing a fruit tree. Nearby peppers and tomatoes suffered from some odd black rot inside the peppers and around the tomatoes this year, but I just chalked that up to how rainy it was.
Any advice appreciated. Not sure why the photos are rotated.
I wouldn’t be super concerned personally, were moving into winter and it’s time for your pear tree to drop leaves pretty soon. My european pears still have mostly green leaves but my asian pear has about 50% yellow leaves. I’m in a bit warmer climate than you.
Indeed… At this time of year as the trees shut down the leaves can look pretty ratty. In spring or summer it would be more concerning and potentially a sign of an issue.
I don’t know why it happens or what to do about it, but it happens on my pear every year and I just ignore it. Seems OK so far.
It’s possibly a form of cedar rust. If you have cedars or other forms of juniper nearby, chances are it’s a rust fungus. Here is what I read about cedar rust on pears:
“Will pear rust go away by itself?
The infection will not, by itself, kill a pear tree. It will however weaken the tree for the current and following year. After having its feed upon your pear tree, the fungus will move on via spore transportation in late summer—but this time to a juniper tree or shrub. This is where the fungus will spend the winter.”
Cleaning up and disposing of fallen infected leaves followed by applications of fungicides before next springs bud break may help reduce the infection before it weakens your tree.
Perhaps others who have treated pear rust can advise on the best fungicide
Dennis
Kent, wa
I’ve had small amounts of cedar rust show up on my pears. It was always an obvious bright orange color though.
My Korean Giant Asian pear gets black spots on the leaves similar to the top picture. Here it’s sun burn. It happens with the first hot sunny days usually in June. It takes heat near 100F to burn the leaves. The OP’s tree was planted in May and would have been especially susceptible to that kind of damage right after planting. The damage won’t happen now but would still be on the leaves.
It causes no damage to the tree or the fruit.
Thank you! I didn’t notice it earlier in the year but I wasn’t looking closely, so it could have been there. It wasn’t happening to the other tree, which got more shade, so I was worried it was beyond just winter. I’ll monitor but as long as it isn’t spreading or doing anything else assume it’s this.
