The unusually wet summer has provided the perfect conditions for fungal disease. The main crop potatoes have already been affected by blight and now the apples are succumbing to Venturia inaequalis or Apple Scab. Commercial growers would treat the trees with a fungicide but as I want to garden organically, this option is not available to me. Instead, I will rake up all the leaves and burn them rather than making leaf mould. As the spores overwinter in the leaf litter, this should reduce the infection next year. A severe winter followed by a drier summer next year would be helpful too.
In the meantime I am taking comfort from the fact that apple scab rarely kills its host and that the apples, whilst unsightly, will still be fit for cider.
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