cedar-apple fungus

I'm looking for any ideas you all might have to combat cedar-apple rot. I have a dwarf apple tree (granny smith, if I recall correctly - I wasn't yet labeling my plants when it was planted. ) that is planted about 50 yards from a huge cedar tree. I was hoping to get some apples from it eventually - and it actually started a couple last year - but it is covered in the yellow spots of the fungus and nothing actually made it to harvest and not even any buds this year.

My dilemma is - the cedar tree is NOT coming down. It is a sentimental 'landmark' to my family. The yard was my grandparent's land and that tree has been there the whole time - the only tree allowed in what was otherwise their large vegetable garden - shading hammocks, holding up clotheslines, etc. There is even an old metal garden-hose caddy grown into the tree that my grandmother originally put there and used. Anyway, the point is, until it dies of natural causes, the cedar stays.

With this in mind, should I just give up on the apple and replace it with something else? Or is there hope? I welcome any and all ideas ;-)

Replace the tree with something resistant to cedar apple rust. Common varities include

Red Delicious
Empire
Keepsake
Liberty
McIntosh
Milton,
Niagara
Paulared
Regent
Spartan
Viking

Others can be found by searching Plant Files for apples marked as resistant to cedar apple rust

You can also try Ferbam spray which supposedly works well. I don't use it myself since it is not organic.

In my orchard, I took out the worst-offending cedar and only a few apple trees are getting it badly now; I may need to remove these few highly susceptible varieties. Esopus Spitzenburg is the worst, and most of my edible crabapples seem to be quite susceptible as well.

Scott

You can spray to reduce the damage from the cedar-apple rust, but it's too late for this year. Check for the orange slimy fungus bodies on the evergreens and spray when they start to develop, then repeat every two weeks until they dry up and shrivel. I use captan.

I have a sulfur spray - would that work?

I really only like the Granny Smith variety - almost all of my family's apple consumption is baked in one form or another ;-) so the tart, firm Granny Smith's tend to do better than any others. I know. I'm SO picky....

If the sulfur spray will work, however, I'm all set for next spring...or would it help to spray either or both trees starting this year?

I don't think sulphur will do anything. Sulphur has a quite limited disease target, unfortunately. Other potential sprays are mancozeb and daconil. I have had some success with copper, that is the only organic option. LTilton is correct about when to spray.

My suggestion if you don't want to spray any of the non-organic sprays above is to look through the list of CAR-resistant apples and come up with the best cooking apple to replace your Granny. I personally feel Granny is way over-rated, and you will be able to do a lot better.

Scott

I have used sulfur sprays on apple trees before to control cedar apple rust and while it doesn't totally prevent the rust, it did help supress it enough so that the leaves stayed more green than rust. I used a wettable sulfur spray with a wetting agent to help it stick to the leaves branches and fruit. The first spray was at pink bud, then at petal drop and weekly for a month usually covered most of the prime sporulation time where I was - I agree with LTilton to check the fruiting bodies on the cedar and make sure to spray while they are moist and throwing off spores.

If the apple tree is truly a dwarf and small enough to lift, you might move it far away from the cedar. Not sure the distance needed, it is quite a ways as I have cedars on one side of an acre property and apples on the other, roughly rectangular at least 300 feet apart. I get cedar apple rust in a very wet spring, but rarely otherwise.