| Do I have to destroy raspberry plants with orange rust or is there some spray that I can use to eliminate this fungus? |
| Unfortunately the orange rust, caused by Arthuriomyces peckianus, is systemic and will infect the entire plant. The good news is that it rarely affects the berries. I generally pick off the leaves with orange pustules on them and remove them from the garden. If you start early enough in the season, you can eliminate the infected leaves and the leaves that appear later in the summer rarely show signs of the problem. Eventually, however, the plant will die back and need to be replaced. Choose a different location for your new raspberry plants, making sure that they get all day sunshine and you space the plants so they get adequate air circulation to help keep them healthy. |
