Pests & diseases › Rust

Rust

Orange-brown fungal pustules on leaves. Affects beans, leeks, garlic, asparagus and many ornamentals.

Symptoms

  • Bright orange or rusty-brown spots on leaves
  • Pustules releasing powdery spores
  • Yellowing and early leaf drop

Lifecycle

Spores spread on wind and rain splash. Worst in warm humid weather.

What to do

  • Pick off affected leaves, bag (don't compost)
  • Sulfur dust
  • Improve airflow

If it's bad

  • Sulfur-based fungicides

Stop it coming back

  • Wide spacing
  • Drip irrigation only
  • Resistant bean varieties (Provider, Roma II)
  • Crop rotation

Crops it goes for

Plan the plot, track every sowing, cook the harvest

Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.