Apple scab and pear scab

Apple scab is a disease caused by the fungus, Venturia inaequalis, that spreads by airborne spores and survives the winter on fallen leaves. Expect scab marks to appear on leaves from mid-spring until leaf fall in autumn.

This is a disease specific to apples and other trees and shrubs including Cotoneaster, Pyracantha and Sorbus. A closely related fungus, Venturia pirina, causes a similar disease called pear scab on fruiting and ornamental pears only.

You may see the following symptoms:

• On leaves: Patches of olive-green spots or blotches appear, which are initially velvety as they release airborne spores, and then darkening. Affected leaves often fall prematurely
• On young shoots: Infections cause blistering and cracking that can then provide entry for the apple canker pathogen
• On fruit: Black scabby blotches develop and, as the fruit matures, these restrict expansion of the skin, leading to distortion and cracking. Light attacks only damage the skin and eating quality is hardly affected (though the disease is commercially very serious, because growers cannot sell scabby fruit). However, if the fruits crack as a result of scab they become prone to fruit rots and will not store well

Non-chemical control

Pruning out young shoots which are blistered, and disposing of fallen leaves and infected fruit will reduce the amount of fungus available to start infections in the next season. Unfortunately, this is generally of little value unless the trees are isolated, because the spores can be blown for long distances.

Some apple cultivars are resistant to infection, including:

A-C

‘Adam’s Pearmain’, ‘Alfriston’, ‘Ashmead’s Kernal’, ‘Barnack Beauty’, ‘Beauty of Bath’, ‘Brownlees Russet’, ‘Charles Ross’, ‘Cheddar Cross’, ‘Claygate Pearmain’, ‘Cockle Pippin’, ‘Cornish Aromatic’, ‘Cornish Gilliflower’, ‘Court Pendu Plat’, ‘Crawley Beauty’

D-F

‘D’Arcy Spice’,  ‘Discovery’, ‘Duke of Devonshire’, ‘Edward the Seventh’, ‘Ellison’s Orange’, ‘Emneth Early’, ‘Encore’, Epicure’, ‘Exeter Cross’

G-L

‘Golden Reinette’,  ‘Grenadier’, ‘Ingrid Marie’, ‘John Standish’, ‘King of the Pippins’, ‘King Russet’, ‘Lane’s Prince Albert’, ‘Lord Derby’, ‘Lord Hindlip’

M-Q

‘Melba’, ‘Merton Russet’, ‘Millers Seedling’, ‘Monarch’, ‘Mother’, ‘Newton Wonder’, ‘Orleans Reinette’, ‘Park Farm Pippin’, ‘Pinova’, ‘Ponsford’

R-Z

‘Rajka’, ‘Red Devil’, ‘Reinette du Canada’, ‘Resi’, ‘Reverend W. Wilks’, ‘Rosemary Russet’, ‘Ross Nonpareil’, ‘Rubinola’, ‘Santana’ (but is very susceptible to canker), ‘Stirling Castle’, ‘Suntan’, ‘Tom Putt’, ‘Topaz’, ‘Wagener’, ‘Wealthy’, ‘Wheeler’s Russet’, ‘Winston’, ‘Woolbrook Russet’.

Resistant pears include:

‘Beurre Hardy’, ‘Docteur Jules Guyot’, ‘Fondante d' Automne’, ‘Gorham’, ‘Hessle’, ‘Jargonelle’, ‘Josephine de Malines’, ‘Nouveau Poiteau’, ‘Catillac’, ‘Black Worcester’, ‘Souvenir du Congrès’.

Chemical control

No fungicides are currently being produced for use by home gardeners on trees from which the fruit will be consumed.

Gardeners in possession of the myclobutanil-containing products Systhane Fungus Fighter or Fungus Fighter Disease Control, which have been withdrawn and are no longer sold, can still use the products against labelled diseases (including apple scab and pear scab on edible crops) until the 30th November 2016. After this time it is no longer legal to use the products and any remaining stocks should be disposed of safely.

Fungicides labelled for use on ornamental plants to control other diseases can be used on ornamental Malus (crabapple) and Pyrus trees (provided the fruit are not intended for consumption) and may provide some incidental control. They are used at the owner’s risk (test-spray a small area first to ensure that plant damage does not occur), but are safe to the operator when used as directed.

For the most effective control, you need to cover the whole tree. Unfortunately, most gardeners will not have sprayers capable of treating large, old trees.

Download

Fungicides for gardeners (Adobe Acrobat pdf document outlining fungicides available to gardeners)

The fungus spends the winter on fallen leaves and also infected shoots if these are not pruned out. In spring airborne spores are released from the infected fallen leaves, which causes the initial infections on the newly developing foliage. As these develop, they release large quantities of a second type of spore, also airborne or spread by splash from raindrops, which spreads infection throughout the growing season.

Aphids
Apple canker
Apples
Apple sawfly
Apple tree problems: frequently asked questions
Bitter pit in apples
Blossom wilt
Brown rot
Disposing of diseased material
Powdery mildews
Rosy apple aphid
Sooty blotch and fly speck of apples
Trees and shrubs: scab diseases