passerby said:
Thank you for your comment, Pat. Yes, I did read about this strange
inter-species rust and most likely this is what it is. But we don't have
cedars here (and likely within a mile or so) for sure and any junipers on
my property (the ground cover, low growing ones) look healthy, there are
only three of them, anyway, and rather far away from the quince. Honestly,
I don't know what to look for in a juniper - does the rust growth , the
bright orange that looks like flickers of flame, look the same on cedars
and junipers?
It's far more subtle on the junipers--much of the time it might look only
like a slight swelling or mild canker, nothing like the dramatic orange
flares you see on the quince. It will only show orange during times
when the fungus is actively producing infective spores (generally during
a moist period in spring).
That said, there are other types of trees in the development around my
property that show the very same type of rust. Best I can tell those are
flowering varieties of plums or cherries (for some reason not crab apples
which would make more sense). Those trees are on the common areas of
the development and I can't do anything about them. So, I think it's almost a
guarantee that some amount of spores will always be around. You
recommend just cutting the tree?
Unless you like swimming against the current or beating your head on
walls, yes.
I'm wondering if there are any rust resistant quince varieties? My guess
is that I should avoid planting an apple in that spot, what else may be in
danger if this rust persists in the environment?
The site below lists apple, crabapple, pears, quince, hawthorn, serviceberry,
mountain-ash, flowering quince, cotoneaster, chokecherry, and photinia
as vulnerable. (This disease was fresh in my mind as I'd recently seen it
on a hawthorn at a nursery.)
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.o...ardening/your-
garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-
problems/diseases/rusts/cedar-quince-rust.aspx
or
http://tinyurl.com/kshht5k
A quick search turned up Juniper, hawthorn, apple and crabapple cultivars
with resistence, but no mention of quince.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI
"Yes, swooping is bad."
email valid but not regularly monitored