How to treat my new Mulberry that has leaf rust?

[acb]

I noticed on my new Mulberry plant there were 2 leaves with rust patches and that is 10% of the total foliage.  If it is caused by some form of disease, i hope to find a cure before it infests the plant and the rest of my garden. 

Thank you.

AnChi

 

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

Hi @acb,

I'm sorry to hear you are experiencing issues with your new Mulberry plant. Did you purchase it from us? If so, we have a perfect plant promise. All our plants are guaranteed for 12 months, so if you're not 100% happy, return your plant (with receipt), and we'll refund it. The only exceptions to this guarantee are flower and vegetable seedlings and our range of potted colour.

If it has a disease, then the symptoms shown here would be closer to leaf spot rather than rust. Leaf spot is characterized by brownish necrotic irregular spots appearing on the leaf's surface. These brown spots classically form into halo-like patterns (marked in your image below), and advanced cases feature splits on the leaf's perimeter. In contrast, rust manifests as circular pinhead-sized brown eruptive lesions on the leaves. 

The best approach to treating this plant would be to remove the affected leaves, which you have already done, and place them in your hard rubbish bin. I'd then suggest you apply a copper-based fungicide to the plant.

Water the plant only at its base, avoiding the leaves, and do so in the morning to allow the foliage time to dry completely before nightfall.

Please let me know if you have further questions or if your plant does not improve.

Mitchell

 

[acb]

G’morning Mitchell

I really appreciate  Bunnings’ policy to accept return under the circumstances.    I thought about it and decided to bring it back Bennett’s Green Bunnings where I bought it.  It will be great if I can exchange it with another healthy Mulberry plant if you can find one as I found signs on other leaves this morning.  I hope to start afresh with it as I do like the idea of harvesting the delicious fruit from my backyard.

AnChi

[MitchellMc]

That sounds like a good idea, @acb.

I look forward to you updating us with images of your bountiful harvest.

Mitchell

[robchin]

I agree with @MitchellMc that this is unlikely to be 'rust' on your Mulberry. 

[acb]

Thank you, Rob.  I believe that is the case after seeing Mitchell's photos comparing the 2 different cases.  I also went and bought Yates liquid copper as he recommended as it treats many diseases as the label suggests.  

AnChi

[acb]

Many thanks for the most helpful advice.

[acb]

I would like some advice in relation to my 3 years old potted Mulberry tree which has started having yellow leaves.  I feed it with Amgrow Nitrosol Liquid Plant Food and this year I am happy to have been able to pick fruit.  You helped me in November 2021 when I planted the tree and yellow leaves was one of the issues I had then. 

Please advise what is the cause of the yellow leaves and how to treat it. This time my concern is with the increasing number of yellowing  leaves that just fall off the tree on their own accord.

I water it every 2 days and if the leaves appear to be droopy in the sun I put the hose on right away - see one of the photos where the leaves look thirsty at 10:30am and they looked happyier in another shot, taken at around 11:40ish. I have been feeding it 2-3 times each month with Amgrow Nitrosol Liquid Plant Food as the Workshop Team suggested in 2021.  The plant is in a pot of about 57 cm in diameter in a small backyard (350cmx650cm) and receives at best 4-5 hours of sunshine on a summer day, like now.  After the fruiting season I am thinking about transferring it to a bigger pot, but it will make it even harder to wheel it to chase after the sun.  It is now around 230cm tall and 130cm wide. 

[mich1972]

@acb @Mulberries are vigorous growing trees. They really need to be in the ground. We just recently hard pruned our tree as it was massive ! 
looks like yours needs to be repotted to a larger size pot. It looks like it is out growing the pot that it is in. 

[EricL]

Hello @acb 

Wow! your Mulberry tree is huge and I'm amazed that you've managed to keep your tree healthy in such a small pot. I agree with @mich1972 and suspect that it has reached its root limit inside the pot, and this is causing the tree to get stressed as there is no more room to grow. 

One way to find out is to dig into the soil of the pot and see if the tree roots have started to turn inside the wall of the pot. If it has, I propose re-potting the plant into a bigger pot or find a permanent spot for it so that it will reach its full potential. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric