Juniper Tip Blight - Juniper Tree Blight Disease

Tagged as: Juniper Tip Blight

Juniper tip blight is a common disease of junipers found in most states east of the Mississippi River. There are many varieties of junipers susceptible to tip blights; however, the disease is most serious on young or newly transplanted plants. As the plant matures, disease susceptibility and severity decreases. Occasionally it can infect arborvitae, cedar, European larch, jack pine, and Douglas-fir. The two most common juniper tip blight diseases are Phomopsis juniperovora (Phomopsis Tip Blight) and Kabatina juniperi (Kabatina Tip Blight).

SYMPTOMS
Phomopsis tip blight Phomopsis tip blight, sometimes referred to as juniper twig blight, is mainly a leaf and shoot infection that affects the new, young foliage of junipers. The first symptoms, yellow spots on young needles, may occur 3-5 days after infection. (Sometimes older needles may also show spotting.) The fungus then enters young stem tissue causing dieback of the new shoot tips. Affected foliage turns dull red to brown and then ash gray. As the disease progresses, small lesions (cankers) form on the stems where infected and healthy tissue meet. Eventually the entire branch may die. Infection is spread primarily by splashing rain, wind, insects, or mechanical means. Repeated infections occur when temperatures are between 70o - 80o F, during periods of high humidity, and when foliage is wet. The fungus can persist in dead parts of infected plants for as long as two years.

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