Fungus on Blue Berry Plant - Ask Extension
We live in a suburban neighborhood. Our neighbor behind us has had trees with fungus on them for years, and now it has spread throughout our yard. Spr...
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Fungus on Blue Berry Plant #871397
Asked June 03, 2024, 6:19 PM EDT
We live in a suburban neighborhood. Our neighbor behind us has had trees with fungus on them for years, and now it has spread throughout our yard. Spraying fungicide on the Star Jasmine and Waxy Leaf Privets seems to be working very well. One of our blueberry bushes now has fungus on its leaves and it's currently heavy with blue berries.
Questions:
1. Is it safe to eat the berries this year?
2. After harvesting of all blueberries and nearby strawberries, is it ok to spray the blueberry bushes with the fungicide?
3. If the fungus spreads to my raspberry and marionberry plants, is it safe to spray them after they've stopped bearing fruit?
Washington County Oregon
Expert Response
I do not know of a fungus that will attack all those different plants like that. Send along an image of what you are seeing on the blueberry plants. I suspect your fruit will be fine to eat but before you spray anything lets figure out what you might be dealing with. What kind of product were you thinking of spraying?
I can't manage to send the photos to you via your email and so I am hoping to attach the blueberry fungus here and will send the Jasmine photo next. I hope this works. Thanks for understanding my limited tech skills. Judy Edwards
It seems that I am terrible at responding. The second photo that I sent is one of the Jasmine plant.
Thank you for understanding.
Judy Edwards
Well, the jasmine seems to look fine despite the oldest leaves falling off. That is not too unusual.
The blueberry seems to have either a nutrient deficiency, root rot or virus. The leaves are showing us between the vein necrosis on the older leaves. The virus is not as likely as the other two.
Key thing to note is soil pH. Do you know what the pH is? They like it acidic: https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/blueberry-vaccinium-corymbosum-incorrect-soil-ph
I sort of see an irrigation tube down below. It is possible that these shallow rooted plants have root rot. Irrigation should be frequent but not much each time. https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/blueberry-vaccinium-corymbosum-root-rot
The blueberry seems to have either a nutrient deficiency, root rot or virus. The leaves are showing us between the vein necrosis on the older leaves. The virus is not as likely as the other two.
Key thing to note is soil pH. Do you know what the pH is? They like it acidic: https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/blueberry-vaccinium-corymbosum-incorrect-soil-ph
I sort of see an irrigation tube down below. It is possible that these shallow rooted plants have root rot. Irrigation should be frequent but not much each time. https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/blueberry-vaccinium-corymbosum-root-rot
Thanks so much. I will follow up.
