Your name may not be familiar, but when I tell you what this plant disease is about, you may be able to recognize its signs in your garden, since it is very common to find. ¿ What is the rust fungus and how can I prevent it ? Planet Gardar tells you!
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What is La Roya?
As I said before, rust is a fungal plant disease , mainly from the genera Melampsora and Puccinia . This usually occurs on the leaves of shrubs, trees, houseplants, vegetables, fruit trees and vegetables.
It is distinguished by the presence of small brown or reddish bumps on the underside of the leaves, which are actually spores accumulated in that area. In the beam of the leaves you can find yellowish spots or discolored portions.
What plants usually affect rust fungus?
Some flowers of plants such as chrysanthemums, azaleas, dragon mouths, carnations, pelargonio, dahlias, begonias or ficus, can be affected by the rust fungus, especially when these beautiful plants are grown in greenhouses with high humidity in the environment, or when they are grown at home and they are not given adequate irrigation to the roots. The lack of irrigation weakens the resistance of plants and can also be a problem, as well as excess moisture.
In some plants, the attack can occur on the stems of the plants, causing brown or orange yellow pustules that, in some cases, can end their life. When there is too much humidity, the spores probably disperse quickly, and others may do so because of the wind.
How to treat and prevent rust fungus?
If you want to reduce the risks of rust infection , it will be convenient not to gather the plants very much and try to distribute them in ventilated places of the house. Likewise, it will be necessary to improve the drainage of the soil and clean it so that the humidity is much lower. If you see that there are infected leaves and stems, remove them and burn them.
To treat rust you can apply fungicides or resort to ecological treatments based on horsetail.
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Types of rust
- Mint rust: it is caused by the fungus puccinia menthae , which mainly affects the stalks of mint, especially the newest. You can recognize them for their orange bulges and deformities in the outbreaks that have been affected. If you do not treat the infection, it will expand to the leaves and cause them to fall. To prevent everything from getting worse, cut off the affected parts or eliminate the entire plantation.
- Quince rust fungus: it is caused by the fungus fabraea maculata that causes reddish spots on the underside of the leaves, which turn black over time. Remove the infected material and apply a copper-based fungicide, or Bordeaux broth when the leaves arise at the beginning of spring.
- Birch rust fungus: this disease is caused by the fungus melampsoridium betulinum that primarily attacks birch leaves. It translates as rounded orange spots on the underside of the leaves. This fungus attacks the tree trunk and causes them to break easily.
Rose Rust
Unfortunately, this fungus also affects the beloved rose bushes causing yellow spots on the bundle of leaves and bumps with yellow spores on the underside that, as the autumn progresses, darkens and causes them to fall. Affected stems have calluses and are weak. Remove the fallen leaves that are in the greenhouse so that the spores do not spread. Provide adequate irrigation to your rose bushes so that the roots do not dry out and also provide proper aeration by spacing the specimens. You can use fungicides such as zineb to treat the infection.
