Sunday, February 5, 2012

Orange dust/strips on Bradford Pear tree and crabapple tree...only on the berries.?

The berries on the two trees have this orange dust to them, a bit like small strips attached to the berries. I'm not sure what they are but they are all over the Bradford Pear's and on some of the crabapple berries. I don't want to spray the trees with anything harmful and not even sure if this is just a state these trees go through.



We live in Charlotte, NC and it's been 90 degrees plus for about a week now. We have only lived here for a year so not sure if this happened last summer.



Thanks!
Orange dust/strips on Bradford Pear tree and crabapple tree...only on the berries.?
First thought was some type of rust. Most all rusts require a secondary host, like a juniper or cedar. Is there one nearby?



If it is just on the fruit, I wouldn't sweat it as many people find the fruit bothersome and would appreciate an early demise of the trash. If the problem is spreading to the leaves, yeah, I'd get concerned.



Sunday night or early Monday collect samples and get them to the county Cooperative Extension agent in your area. They will send them on to the state plant pathologist unless the agent recognizes the problem immediately.



You want fresh sample, not one that have been in a plastic bag for 3 days in the car, in the sun, etc.



Yes, this just might be heat related which you can no nothing aobut. Understand reluctance to spray anything. If it's a yearly event sometimes spraying with very low toxic horticultural oil will coat the fruit before it is attached or infected......but the key is ....before.



Office is 301 Billingsley rd. (I just googled Charlotte NC Cooperative Extension Service)
Reply:I live in Raleigh, have for many years. The Bradford pear in my backyard is showing the same thing this year. I have been doing some online research and the closest I have come to an answer is here: http://www.plantanswers.com/japanese_pea... . I hope to take a sample to a plant nursery this afternoon and perhaps have a more definitive answer myself.

I did see some of this last year but not to this extent. The tree has been in the ground for 15+ years with many years of fruiting. Nothing like this until the last year.

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