Cedar-Apple Rust

Let me introduce you to a highly infectious tree disease called “Cedar-Apple Rust”.

Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae Is the scientific name for the tree diseases we refer to as cedar-apple rust. It is a very undesirable disease especially where I live - near the Apple capital of Georgia. Here in the mountains, people flock at the end of summer to the local Apple orchards. Apples are a lucrative and prolific crop for us due to the proper weather conditions. Those same conditions can also allow for cedar-apple rust to develop and spread.

Cedar-apple rust can live in cedar trees during the cool months and then spread to apple trees for the summer, creating a cycle of back and forth for the spores to infect both species of trees. In the beginning of spring, galls found on cedar trees will extend out orange gelatinous tentacles. The winds pick up those spores and can transport them up to a mile away onto apple trees.

When these spores infect apple trees, a whole orchard can be ruined and a years worth of crops destroyed. Galls found on cedar trees should be burned so they don’t infect any nearby apple trees or orchards. This is a farmers nightmare to see the orange tentacles of death.