Newbie fruiter -black spot leaves on pear tree and white powdery leaves on apple tree

[crafty_bec]

Hi everyone,

Hope I've done this right, as it's my first post.
I've gained a wealth of information just by viewing posts.


My pear tree has got some black spotted leaves and some blackness around the edges of some leaves. I've looked online and pear scab has come up, but don't know if that's right?
This is my first year growing fruit trees, should I be worried, and if so is there something I should be doing to help?


My apple tree has powdery white leaves on it, is this powdery mildew?
Have read milk and water diluted 1:10 and sprayed on works - anyone tried this, or should I dispose of the leaves? Have 2 other apple trees nearby, so don't know if I need to protect them from this in some way.

Lastly, I wanted to plant some salad items and herbs around my fruit trees (apple, plum, pear). Things like tomatoes, outdoor cucumbers and lettuce and some herbs.
Is this ok to do, and is there anything I can't plant around them?
Have tried looking up on the internet but can't seem to find anything about this.

Thanks for your time with my questions, and happy gardening.
Bec

[FB.]

Picture 1 is probably pear scab.
If the leaves (or fruit) remain damp for a prolonged period, the fungus can infect them. Symptoms usually appear a couple of weeks after the damp period that caused the infection. Newly-unfolded leaves are most prone to infection.
No cure for the already-scabbed leaves.
Sprays may prevent it next year, but it's a lot of work and you need to be careful not to contaminate things with chemicals.
If possible, if the fruits aren't too badly affected, I suggest tolerating a low level of scab in most years and not using chemicals.

Picture 2 is apple powdery mildew.
Mildew also attacks young leaves, but it prefers dry weather with high humidity. It is especially good at attacking trees that are drought-stressed.
No cure for the already-mildewed leaves.
I recommend pruning out the mildew because it could infect other parts of the tree and the mildewed shoot will not grow or fruit properly.
Also, once a shoot gets mildew, the mildew will often persist year after year - stunting or killing the shoot and possibly infecting other parts of the tree (more a problem on young trees with lots of soft shoots to infect). Some varieties are fairly resistant, while other are so susceptible that mildew can ruin the tree in a couple of seasons unless treated.
Some rootstocks lack the vigour to cope with stressful environments, so they can exagerate the amount of mildew attack.

You don't mention the varieties and rootstocks that you're having problems with, nor your location.
The extra info can be useful.....

[crafty_bec]

Just wanted to say a quick belated thanks for your reply.
Have updated my location, as for rootstock/variety etc believe it was Maris Piper unfortunately the tie on label managed to get blown off somewhere by the wind, and silly me didn't put a plant label in

[FB.]

I thought that Maris Piper was a potato?

[biddy]

Pear Conference Tree

can anyone tell me if I need 2 pear trees to get my tree to bear fruit I have 1 Pear tree and there is no flowers on it yet.

[FB.]

Fruit trees take take a few years to start flowering and fruiting - the presence of another tree doesn't make a tree flower. But too much feeding of nitrogen will certainly cause a tree to grow excessively and not flower.

Some varieties and some rootstocks flower early in life, while others flower later in life. Since fruits requires a large amount of the trees energy, once a tree starts to flower and fruit, it often almost stops growing.
Pears are known for taking longer to start fruiting than other fruit trees.

Conference pear is partially self fertile, so can produce an adequate crop by itself, although perhaps not always bearing full crops of high quality fruit.
Don't make the common mistake of planting an additional Conference pear tree, since both trees will be the same type (effectively "cuttings" from the same original tree) and will still produce inbred fruits.

If you decide to plant a pollinator, look for one that flowers at the same time, otherwise pollination can't occur.

[biddy]

thanks for that it is much welcomed biddy