Many summer residents, on whose plots pears are in full bloom, sometimes, to their horror, discover on the leaves terrible growths of a bright color - from yellow to orange.
This disease is known as “pear rust” and, as the expert of the online publication “BelNovosti”, scientist-agronomist, landscape designer Anastasia Kovrizhnykh explained, it is caused by a fungus.
How does rust infection occur?
This fungus has two hosts: juniper (the main one) and pear (the intermediate one). After spending the winter on juniper, in spring the fungus forms bright orange swellings on the branches of the plant, in which spores mature.
Once ripe, they are carried by the wind over long distances and infect pear trees, the first “rusty” spots on the leaves of which appear after flowering.
In autumn they germinate on the underside of the leaves and infect the juniper, creating a cycle of infection between the two crops. Note that neither the juniper nor the pear can infect themselves.
How to treat rust
What to do? All you can do is monitor the condition of the plants and avoid mistakes.
Many gardeners began to furiously uproot junipers, not only their own, but also their neighbors’, and for good reason – after all, pear rust is, so to speak, not an obligatory disease.
Both of these crops – pear and juniper – can coexist peacefully.
If trouble does come, you will have to turn to fungicides for help. Before the pear blossoms, a 3% Bordeaux mixture works well, and after blossoming, the drug "Agrolekar".
Earlier, the expert explained why the seedlings suddenly fell over.
Expert: Anastasia Kovrizhnykh
