# what's wrong with my apple tree?



## mrmojorisin (Mar 8, 2009)

Hi,

Attached is a couple of pictures from my Honeycrisp tree. in the spring the leaves look normal but as the season progresses, the leaves start to look more and more like this. it looks like some type of scab??? i think it does, but i'm not sure. any ideas what it is? and what treatment/spray would best combat this? i have a haralson near by, but that one does not have any issues like this.

thanks

Craig


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## brush (Mar 8, 2009)

Some sort of fungus like apple scab *is* what first comes to mind -

So keep the area clean especially as the year goes on, getting rid of infected leaves, 
and limit water and definitely never watering foilage/leaves _*might*_ be some start to eradicate the infection . . . 

I am about to start planting bareroot fruit trees and I need to definitely *not* plant too deep, a common problem -
How deep is the honeycrisp tree planted ? What was in the soil before ?


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## Urban Forester (Mar 9, 2009)

That looks like it may be a _*raging*_ case of Entomosporium Leaf Spot. The "redness" is a diagnostic clue. Apples are not known as a prime target though. If applications are done on time, a fairly easy disease to control. One @ budbreak, one at 1/3 leaf expansion and one at 3/4 leaf expansion should knock it down quite well (if that's what it is). Use a combination of propiconizole + Chlorothalonil. DMI fungicides (propiconizole) can "create" fungal resistence. Chlorothalonil is a protectant and can NEVER cause any resistence.


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## mrmojorisin (Mar 9, 2009)

i planed these trees in the middle of my lawn, so it's been grass for decades. i got these trees from st. lawrence nursery and i followed their detailed instructions and kept the graft area above ground.

do you guys know of any over the counter sprays that have both propiconizole + Chlorothalonil? i did a quick search and couldn't find anything.

thanks

Craig


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## Urban Forester (Mar 10, 2009)

mrmojorisin said:


> do you guys know of any over the counter sprays that have both propiconizole + Chlorothalonil?



As far as I know no one has combined the 2. However a good alternative would be Thiophanate Methyl/Chlorothalonil. They are available as a combo, and should be "over-the-counter" as well. This combo has a little shorter residual and probably require a 2 to 2.5 week spray schedule from budbreak to full leaf expansion. My diagnosis was just a quick visual look, I would take some leaves (if possible) to an extension agent or other quality source for confirmation prior to engaging in fungicide applications. There are about 20 leaf spot fungi that have varying treatment schedules depending on weather/humidity. This could be any one of them OR something unrelated to fungi, i.e. bacterial in which case fungicide would be useless. On-site diagnostic confirmation is critical.


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## [email protected] (Mar 11, 2009)

It loks like scab disease. Most importantly, read the label of products and make sure they are OK to use on fruit trees.


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## arbadacarba (Mar 15, 2009)

1)Bordo or lime sulphur/dormant oil prior to budbreak, 2)two weeks after petal fall use bordo,lime sulphur or captan (no dormant oil) 3) bordo or captan once a month until about two weeks before harvest. 4) make sure you clean up *and burn*your infected leaves in the fall and dip your pruners in a 10% bleach solution between cuts. Some apples are extremely scab succeptible and others never seem to get it. I have a Coxe's Orange Pippin which should have died by now based on its succeptibility here on the west coast but it does well with no treatment at all -go figure!

I posted the website www.nafex.net elsewhere. They can probably give you some really good advice about what to plant where.


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