The trees will tell their secrets to those that tune in. -Steven Magee

You plant and nurture your young tree, and you watch it grow into a mature productive addition to your homestead. You have poured yourself into the success of your tree, and then you notice a problem. You do some research and discover your tree has a disease issue.

Because a tree is a long-term investment on your property, you are tempted to resort to commercial non-organic sprays to solve the problem, but it goes against everything you are trying to accomplish. Don’t worry there’s hope through organic methods.

Common Disease Issues

There are some common diseases that can affect fruit and nut trees:

• Fire blight: a bacterial disease that affects apple and pear trees
• Brown rot: a fungal disease that affects stone fruits such as peaches and cherries
• Scab: a fungal disease that affects apples and crabapples
• Powdery mildew: a fungal disease that affects a variety of fruit and nut trees including grapes, peaches, and almonds
• Cedar apple rust: a fungal disease that affects apple and crabapple trees
• Phytophthora crown rot: a fungal disease that affects stone fruits and almonds

It’s important to note that other factors such as environmental conditions and cultural practices can also impact the health of fruit and nut trees and contribute to disease issues.

Organic Solutions

Here are some organic solutions for common fruit and nut tree diseases:

• Apple scab: Apply compost tea, neem oil, or sulfur-based fungicides to prevent the spread of apple scab.
• Fire blight: Prune out infected branches, avoid overhead watering, and use a mixture of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and water as a spray.
• Powdery mildew: Apply compost tea, neem oil, or a mixture of baking soda and water as a spray.
• Cedar apple rust: Remove infected leaves and use a fungicide based on sulfur or neem oil.
• Black knot: Prune out infected branches and use a fungicide based on copper or neem oil.

It’s important to properly diagnose the disease before treating it and to follow the instructions on any fungicide product carefully.

Treating trees organically may take a little longer and require a little more diligence to see positive results, but your soil food web will thank you.

I do however want to say that sometimes a choice may have to be made to resort to treatments that are not as environmentally friendly or potentially lose a tree. Losing a tree is not like losing an annual crop of something that can simply be grown to maturity next season but rather can take many years to replace the productivity of a tree.

Download: Preventing Disease Checklist PDF