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Juniper tip blight is the general name for two different diseases having nearly identical symptoms on junipers. One disease, caused by the fungus Phomopsis, is widely distributed in landscape plantings throughout Indiana. This fungus renders the foliage of junipers unsightly and may even kill extremely susceptible plants such as seedlings. The other disease, caused by the fungus Kabatina, also causes damage to the tips of junipers, but it has much less potential for causing severe disfigurement of landscape plants and rarely causes death of the plant.
Phomopsis blight affects many different members of the cypress family but is most severe on junipers, especially eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana), Rocky Mountain (J. scopulorum), and creeping junipers (J. horizontalis). Phomopsis blight has also been found, less frequently, on various species of arborvitae, cypress, false cypress, fir, larch, and white-cedar.
Symptoms. Typical symptoms of twig blight are a browning of the tips of affected twigs and the appearance of ashen-grey sunken lesions (cankers) at the junction of healthy and diseased tissue. In advanced stages of infection, pinhead-sized black spots, which are the reproductive structures or fruiting bodies of the fungus, can be found in the cankered areas. NOTE: Similar symptoms may result from dog urine damage, winter injury, frost damage, and drought; however, injury due to such causes does not show the characteristic cankers or fungal fruiting bodies as described above.
New growth is most susceptible and most severely damaged by Phomopsis; mature foliage is resistant. Small diameter stems, those less than one-third inch in diameter, supporting new foliage are frequently killed, whereas larger diameter branches are rarely affected. Thus, well-established juniper plantings are not likely to show extensive injury of major branches.
Cause. Phomopsis blight is caused by the fungus Phomopsis juniperovora. During prolonged wet, warm periods, spores (similar in function to seeds) of the fungus are produced in the fruiting bodies and are spread by rain to adjacent healthy foliage and plants where new infections occur. Infection will occur whenever young foliage is available and moisture or humidity are high, usually in April, May, early June, and late August and September; very few new infections occur during dry summer periods. The fungus grows from the foliage into small twigs that are then killed by girdling cankers.
Symptoms. The Kabatina blight also results in a tip dieback of various junipers. Initial symptoms are very similar to those caused by Phomopsis: browning of affected tips and a small sunken gray canker at the border of healthy and diseased stem tissue. On creeping juniper, twig tips infected during the growing season will remain green during the fall and winter when the rest of the plant takes on a purple brown color. During spring, these tips will turn brown when the rest of the plant greens up.
Cause. The fungus Kabatina juniperi causes this second blight which causes limited damage to well-established junipers, although the discolored tips can look unsightly. Kabatina can only cause disease on foliage that has been wounded in some way, such as from insect feeding. In contrast, Phomopsis can infect nonwounded foliage.
The selection of blight resistant species, varieties, and cultivars is the most practical approach to disease control. Juniper cultivars having a history of repeated and severe blight damage should be replaced whenever possible with a culturally similar but more resistant cultivar. Those listed in the table have been marked with a check if they are resistant to Phomopsis or Kabatina. Blank spaces indicate that the resistance is unknown, and "no" means the plant is not resistant.
Fungicides will not control Kabatina tip blight. The fungicide benomyl (Benlate) has proven successful in control of Phomopsis. To be effective, benomyl must be applied as preventive applications on a regular one to two week schedule during periods of rapid growth, beginning with new growth in the spring. Because of the minimal damage caused by both tip blights to established landscape plants, chemical control is usually not warranted. However, commercial growers with highly susceptible varieties, or species, may want to consider the use of benomyl for control of Phomopsis tip blight. Refer to the label for recommended rates.
Reference to products in this publication is not intended to be an endorsement to the exclusion of others which may be similar. Persons using such products assume responsibility for their use in accordance with current label directions of the manufacturer.
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Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Indiana, Purdue University and U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating. H.A. Wadsworth, Director, West Lafayette, IN. Issued in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914. It is the policy of the Cooperative Extension Service of Purdue University that all persons shall have equal opportunity and access to our programs and facilities.