Monitor for orange rust in brambles

Editor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included.    

This is a good time to check blackberry and black raspberry plantings for orange rust. Red raspberries are immune. Characteristic symptoms are spindly shoots with clustered, misshapen, pale green to yellowish leaves, as well as bright orange, powdery blisters on the undersides of leaves. Before the blisters burst open, they look waxy or shiny, as if covered with lacquer. On black raspberries, the rusted leaves start to wither and drop in late spring to early summer. New leaves produced towards the tips of canes may appear normal, giving the impression that the plant has “grown out” of the disease. However, such canes will remain infected and will produce a mass of spindly shoots with no blossoms the following spring. The plant becomes systemically infected and remains so for the rest of its life. Orange rust does not usually kill plants, but it can significantly reduce vegetative growth and yield. The disease can be caused by either of two closely related fungi, Arthuriomyces peckianus or Gymnoconia nitens. The orange spores are spread by wind and can infect leaves of healthy plants with long periods of leaf wetness provided by rain or dew. Orange rust is favored by relatively low temperatures (50-70ºF). The fungus overwinters in the crown and roots of infected plants, leading to the production of new infected canes every year.

Cultural control

While there were no chemical control options for this disease in the past, we now have several excellent fungicide options. This does not mean that we should abandon cultural practices, such as establishing new plantings from disease-free nursery stock, which will also help in avoiding virus diseases. If any plants show signs of the disease during the spring in which they were planted, this means there were already infected at the time of planting. Upon inspection of plants each spring, any infected plants, which are economically worthless, should be dug up and destroyed promptly before rust pustules mature and spores are liberated. The location of those plants should be clearly marked, and any new suckers arising from root pieces left in the ground should be removed and sprayed with an approved systemic herbicide. It is also prudent to remove infected wild brambles in nearby wooded areas and fence rows. Management practices that improve air circulation, such as thinning out canes within the row, pruning out floricanes immediately after harvest, and effective weed control aid in disease control by reducing build-up of moisture in the planting. Some blackberry cultivars (e.g., Eldorado, Raven, and Ebony King) are reported to be resistant to orange rust, but no black raspberry cultivars are known to be resistant.

Fungicide options

The best fungicide options are Nova (myclobutanil), Pristine (pyraclostrobin + boscalid), and Cabrio (pyraclostrobin). While Abound (azoxystrobin) is labeled for use on brambles, it does not have orange rust (or any other rust for that matter) on the label. Nova may have a bit better curative activity than the others because of its greater systemicity, which would make it the material of choice during or after a rainy period with inoculum already being present. Each of the earlier-mentioned fungicides will also control various other cane, leaf, and fruit diseases. Since Pristine has two active ingredients, it has the broadest spectrum of activity. None of these fungicides will cure an already infected plant. However, they can prevent healthy plants from becoming infected. Since infected plants will continue to be sources of inoculum over their lifetime, it is best to remove and destroy them altogether and replace them with healthy plant material from a reputable nursery. Apply fungicides upon first discovery of the blisters, preferably before they burst open and release spores. If the field has a history of the disease, sprays should be initiated before blisters appear. Since infections can also originate from wild brambles near the field, one should keep an eye on these as well if possible.

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