By John Fulton
One of the normal scourges of spring has hit us again. This is the group of fungi collectively known as leaf spot fungi. Common ones include anthracnose and apple scab. Anthracnose starts as dead leaf areas between leaf veins, or on the tips of leaves. When severe enough, leaves will fall. Several of the infected trees have actually had the leaves turn completely black already.
It is much more noticeable on one side of many trees as well, due to air movement carrying the disease and drying out foliage quickly. The good news is that it rarely harms trees. If enough leaves drop, a new set comes out in 4-6 weeks and we start all over. The next set of leaves may also get the disease, but they may not. Infection can continue with weather favorable to the disease, and when nighttime temperatures stay under 65 degrees. Treatments when you see the symptoms of this disease are simply wasted time and money.
Apple scab is a disease similar to anthracnose, and can cause premature leaf drop in apples and crabapples. If you are on a regular spray schedule for fruit trees, it should prevent most of the problems. You could also spray crabapples this way, but you would have to weigh the cost and benefit since no fruit production is involved.
As a reminder, spray programs for disease prevention in fruit trees should be applied every 10-14 days after the bloom period is over. It should be stressed that these are preventative programs, and not curative. These programs then continue until roughly two weeks before the fruit is ready to harvest.