The Grounded Orchardist

It’s pear rust time again. The orange splodges on the leaves below is Pear rust. This is an easy to spot fungal disease. It affects pears in spring and summer. It cleverly releases spores to overwinter on Junipers and evergreen shrubs in winter.

The picture above shows the tell-tale orangey spot on the top of the leaf. It also shows the progression of fruiting bodies to spore release under the leaf.

It won’t kill the tree but will weaken it as the tree sends valuable energy to fight the attack. So it’s good to take them off if you can. A difficult task in a large orchard of course and I wont bother unless its a major attack. Don’t strip a whole tree of its leaves though! At home however, it’s easy enough to just take off those leaves. Burn or dispose in your household garden waste (not compost!).

The pictures below show the fungal disease getting ready to make the fruiting bodies. These bodies will release the spores when conditions are right. At this stage, nothing has spread yet this year. It is a good time to get them out of your orchard or garden.

The pictures below show the progression of the fruiting bodies a bit later in the year and how it moves the spores into the wind so it can disperse

As an organic grower, I am taking off the affected leaves. I have managed to catch them on my pear tree at home before the fungal spores have spread. *smug! Its very helpful that you can see the rust so well. It is a simple case of literally taking off the leaf. I shall do the same at work this week.

All we are doing is disrupting the life-cycle of the fungal disease or at least shifting the balance.

Is it worth it when spores can infect within a lot of miles on the wind…or from next doors garden? No idea, but it won’t hurt either!

I wonder, how many spores are in just one leaf taken out of the orchard? That has to make a difference. Surely!