Showing posts with label saskatoon berry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saskatoon berry. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Orange Fluffy Fruits: Saskatoon Berry Rust

I have been curious about these strange fruits on our Saskatoon berry bushes this year. Several fruits are covered in what looks like little orange tufts or horns. An orange powder transfers onto the surface of nearby fruit.

Searching the internet reveals that this is likely Saskatoon-Juniper rust. It is more likely with a delayed fruit in conditions with a cold wet spring. Well, everything is certainly late this year and the spring was definitely cold and wet. There is one juniper plant in the same raised bed, though from a distance, it looks okay. The information says that the juniper has galls in spring, which I may have not noticed. I could live without the juniper though, if that would help. For that matter, I don't even like the Saskatoon bushes.

Anyone have any recommendations? I hate to think that this problem will get worse next year, with fungus spores spreading far and wide.