Pink Lady and Honeycrisp apple tree leaf issues - Ask Extension
My early pink lady apple tree and honeycrisp apple trees are infested with aphids or some type of leaf fungus. Can you help determine what the likely...
Knowledgebase
Pink Lady and Honeycrisp apple tree leaf issues #797629
Asked June 24, 2022, 12:44 PM EDT
My early pink lady apple tree and honeycrisp apple trees are infested with aphids or some type of leaf fungus. Can you help determine what the likely issues are and hoe to treat them? I have 6 total semi dwarf apple trees all planted together. Two are liberties that seem fine, one fugi that might have some aphids, one pink lady that is really bad and two honeycrisp that seem to be starting to get aphids and what ever leaf fungus the pink lady has.
Lincoln County Oregon
Expert Response
If you see aphids, you should try to hose them off with a strong stream of water. If you also see ants on the tree with the aphids then after blasting the aphids with water, you should put a sticky barrier around the trunk (for example, Tanglefoot) to keep the ants from getting back up the tree. Ants can protect aphids in order to eat the honeydew the aphids produce. Here is some information from the Pacific Northwest Insect Management Handbook - https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/tree-fruit/apple/apple-aphid
The leaves with the red spots might indicate apple scab. Pink lady and Fuji varieties are very susceptible to apple scab. Honeycrisp is normally resistant to apple scab. Scab overwinters on old leaves so rake up leaves each fall. When temperatures are above 60 deg F and leaves are wet, you can spray fungicides (Bonide Captan, wettable sulfur, summer lime sulfur, Spectracide Immunox).
The photo with the wilted brach and"burned" leaves might indicate fire blight. One symptom is the "shepherd's crook" wilt pattern that appears to be there. Pink Lady and Fuji varieties are very susceptible to fire blight. You should immediately prune these branches off at last 12 inches from the blight and dispose in the trash - do not compost.
Here is some information about treatment from Oregon State Extension - "Managing Diseases and Insects in the Home Orchard" - https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/ec631.pdf
The leaves with the red spots might indicate apple scab. Pink lady and Fuji varieties are very susceptible to apple scab. Honeycrisp is normally resistant to apple scab. Scab overwinters on old leaves so rake up leaves each fall. When temperatures are above 60 deg F and leaves are wet, you can spray fungicides (Bonide Captan, wettable sulfur, summer lime sulfur, Spectracide Immunox).
The photo with the wilted brach and"burned" leaves might indicate fire blight. One symptom is the "shepherd's crook" wilt pattern that appears to be there. Pink Lady and Fuji varieties are very susceptible to fire blight. You should immediately prune these branches off at last 12 inches from the blight and dispose in the trash - do not compost.
Here is some information about treatment from Oregon State Extension - "Managing Diseases and Insects in the Home Orchard" - https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/ec631.pdf
Thank you very much for the recommendations. I will give the wettable sulfur a try and trim out the fire blight. Cheers!
You’re welcome.