Shaun Shepherd and I had an interesting conversation about anthracnose as we were out collecting scion this past week. What struck us both, deeply, was that we know so little about it. 'Time to write a piece!' we decided. Can anybody recall a definitive treatment of the subject in Pome News or elsewhere? I'm not looking for volumes of uberscientific detail (I have ready access to USDA plant pathologists), so much as input which popularly addresses the fundamentals of infection, ID, 'treatment' and so forth, with anecdotal insights most welcome - if cutting scion off trees with anthracnose, how do we do it well, for example. How have people witnessed it spread? How have HOSers dealt successfully or unsuccessfully with it? Shaun and I have already determined that initial signs of infection are too subtle to record with a digital camera.



n

Hi Nick,
Getting really bad anthracnose is what inspired me to learn how to make compost tea. It saved me big time. I have continued to make it all of these last 10 years or so since then.
John S
PDX OR

Wow. That's huge news. Two springs ago I was studying leaf diseases at the Corvallis repository and I sprayed compost teas on their worst affected pears with Joseph and Kim's permission. I had access to a $500 compost tea brewer at the time (my Porsche, I called it) and I made what I thought was a good brew. I never got back to check my records. I will this year. Maybe I'll see something: maybe not. I've found that turning a tree around can take time. I've mostly approached chronic disease issues with interplanting alliums and medicinals. Plums go ape for elephant garlic. I've grown Spilanthes spp. many ways: above all, it is in love with the afternoon shade of a pear tree.

If you have a mo', would you be so kind as to describe whether there was any plan to your spraying, and did you cut, too?

n

When you say did I cut too, do you mean cut out the affected parts? These were young fruit trees/vines, so no, I didn't cut back. But they were almost all black, not growing and looking near death. I can't figure out how to attach a file, but I will email an article that I wrote in the POME news a couple of years back about how I make and use compost tea to any HOS member. You will need to include the words, " I am a HOS member" in the body of the article.
Thanks,
john s.
pdx or

I have a couple PRI numbered selections that are magnets for anthracnose. Also I find that Erwin Bauer is a similar magnet. Other cultivars have never had it or else just a small strike here and there.

Oh yeah ,
I forgot to mention. If you want the article sent to you, my email is
skyjs@yahoo.com
Thansk
John S
PDX OR

am intrigued to hear a testimonial about compost tea from someone who I believe is level-headed and will consider this.....

anthracnose has been a problem endemic to the Pacific Northwest....and has been particularly bad the further north you go....Vancouver, Canada has really been plagued by it......and the Mt. Vernon research center in northern (and western) Washington had a particularly virulent strain hit some of the trees recently....to the point they were considering getting rid of some of the trees at that research center and just starting over.

Raintree nursery used to sell (and I think still does) a video about anthracnose......

http://www.raintreenursery.com/Control- ... e-DVD.html


Seattle has had more anthracnose lately as the particularly wet Fall weather we had in 2010 has not been helpful.....in fact, it seems like we have been above average in rain the past few years at times that are conducive to more problems on the fruit trees in general.

http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/tree001/tree001.htm

It is good when you can cut out the cankered branches at appropriate spots. At the historic Piper's orchard in Seattle, though, if we cut out every bit of anthracnose we might not have much of an orchard left as anthracnose is common in many of these old trees......so it is a judgment call.

Let's hope and pray this Spring and Fall are a bit drier and sunnier ! ! At least it would be nice to not have so much of the fungal diseases like anthracnose and apple scab, etc., etc.

Gary Moulton at WSU says he uses a blowtorch to burn off the cankers (I think in the dormant season)... he said be sure to stop when you start to see steam coming out from behind the bark to avoid damaging the tree.

There is some mention of it here:
http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/res ... ?term=2581

I haven't tried this myself, but he is a fruit tree expert.