How Do You İdentify An Apple Scab and How To Get Rid Of Fungus On Apple Tree?
Can I Eat Apples With Apple Scab and What İs The Best Fungicide For Apple Trees?
A low-maintenance addition to any home garden is an apple tree. In addition to fruit, apples have lovely blooms, and when grown to their full height, larger varieties make great shade trees. Unfortunately, apple tree scab is a common and dangerous problem. To learn how to manage apple scab in their trees, apple tree owners everywhere should keep reading.
How Do Apple Scabs Appear?
Early in the season, developing apples are infected by the apple scab fungus, which may not show up on the fruits until they start to enlarge. Rather, apple scab develops on the undersides of the leaves of the blossom cluster.
The leaves may crinkle or distort as a result of these fuzzy, roughly round, brown to dark olive green lesions. Scabs can be tiny and rare, or they can be so many that a velvety mat completely covers the leaf tissues. Between bud set and harvest, fruits can become infected at any point. Young fruit lesions look like those on leaves at first, but they soon turn dark brown to black before killing the surface tissues, giving the fruit a scabby or corky texture. Even after being stored, scabs on infected apples continue to form.
Treatment for Apple Scabs
Once apple scab has taken hold of your tree, it can be challenging to eradicate, but you can safeguard subsequent harvests by learning a little bit about it. Apple scab is dormant in fruit and leaves that have fallen to the ground or remain affixed to the tree. Sanitation is often enough to control a mild infection, but burn or double bag everything to stop the disease from spreading. If spraying is necessary, it should be done between bud break and a month after the fall of the petals.
To stop apple scab from forming in rainy weather, applications may need to be made every 10 to 14 days. Use copper soaps or neem oil when apple scab is an issue in your home orchard, and always clean up any fallen debris. Apple scab is unlikely to cause issues as the fruit ages if it can be avoided early in the year. You may want to replace your tree with a scab-resistant variety if apple scab is a common problem in your area.
