I live in northern Louisiana and I believe I have a  Celeste approximately 15 years old.  It produced spectacularly until three years ago.  It developed a  
leaf rust (to the best of my knowledge) and defoliates one or two  
times during the summer.  The fruiting has practically ceased.  After  
the first year I used a copper fungicide with no apparent results.   
The second year I used Bordeaux fungicide, as recommended by "tree  
expert", also with no apparently results.  The tree still defoliated.   
This year, as soon as the leaves started to appear, I applied Bordeaux  
again, ten days later again, and will apply the third application  
again in ten days.  I have already noticed on numerous leaves the rust  
appearing again.  Every year when the tree defoliates I gather and  
burn the leaves and any other material under the tree.  I have pruned  
the trees so no limbs are even close to the ground.  What can I  
do???!!!!  I would like to save the tree if at all possible and want  
to make sure the new trees will not suffer the same problem.  

pull back the soil and check the roots for Rootknot Nematodes.  if your tree is infested, you will see galls (they look like a string of brown pearls).  i have found that my RKN+ trees are more likely to suffer from other problems than the more healthy tree.  Although I have not seen a lack of production from RKN.  if it is RKN and it is severe enough to affect your trees production, start air-layering some of the branches to reproduce your tree.  do not plant anything else near the tree.

~james

Thanks for the response.  I will take some pictures and post them.  Maybe someone can verify for me.  

James,

Hi Eric,

I would start by verifying the cause of the problem.  I've had a main crop on my fig tree survive a ~50% defoliation due to rust.  So the fact that your crop is failing seems more significant than just an issue with a fungal infection.  Along the Gulf Coast, both Leaf Rust and RKN can be a problem, but you should check for other problems as well.

The link to the Aggie Horticulture page on air-layering is a good one.  The advice of taking pencil thick layers and tenting after removal from the parent tree is good for spring/early summer layers.  However in our areas, where there are relatively mild winters, bigger layers can be taken, if timed right.  If you can time the removal from the parent tree and potting of the layer around the time the parent tree goes dormant, the roots will continue to grow in during the winter months while the top is quiet.  So the balance of roots to top is less important.

I've taken air-layers with Sphagnum Moss, Rockwool cubes as well as my normal growing mix.  In my experience, SM yields the best results (although not by much) and Rockwool is the easiest to use.  Having said that, I prefer to use my normal growing mix to air-layer in so when the layer gets potted, there is a homogeneous medium in the container.

~james

I will check the roots today and take pictures of the leaves.  Hopefully someone can verify for me the leaf rust.  I am 95% that is what I am seeing.  

Eric,

I believe what you are seeing on the leaf is Leaf Rust.  The frequency and severity of the problem (as well as the lack of response to treatment) leads me to believe there is some other factor (possibly RKN) which is compromising your tree... this makes the other attacks on your tree more successful.

Bordeaux/copper should be sprayed at the first signs of Rust.  The infected leaves should be removed and both sides of the remaining leaves sprayed.  It does not "cure" your tree of the fungus, rather it helps prevent it's spread.

~james

Here are some pictures of the tree, roots and leaves.  The whole tree is turning yellow now and has the "rust" all over it.  Some leaves have already begun to fall.  Less than 30 days since the leaves began to come out.  I dug in several places around the tree and don't think I found any nematodes.  I have included pictures to verify.  Let me know what you guys think.

defoliation is a sign of stress. judging by the pictures it doesn't seem you have nematode. It seems that there's something in the soil. Perhaps a lack of nutrient. Can you take soil sample and send them to your local ag agent.
Other than that, I'm not sure what else you can do to identify your problem.

Thanks Bass.  I will do that.  Does this look like rust?

I am thinking that a good, deep soak and after that some fertilizer might be of help, I am seeing lot more yellowness in the leaves and a lot lest "rust" than I would have expected. This looks more nutritional at this point. I am no "rust" expert, but the browning of the leaves almost looks like sunburn, like you would have seen on an indoor plant that was given too much sun, to quickly.

Rust and RKN... but I wouldn't write the tree off yet.  It is not possible to fix everything in the immediate term, but I think it is possible to get your tree in a much better state by next season.

I think the most important thing is to prune the tree.  Prune with two things in mind:

• thin out the canopy to allow more light and air-flow (reduce the likelihood of Leaf Rust)
• remove under-performing/over-taxing limbs
  

I will do another pruning.  Did a MAJOR pruning last year.  Seems like the next big step is to get the soil checked.  I will do this asap.  Will be out of town all next week.  On return will work on these problems.

What catches my eye the most.

The picture with the person standing in front of tree i see many fallen leaves under it but they are more green looking which should not be happeneing at all and leads me to believe there is a deficiency of some sort in soil affecting the tree as a whole.

Rust will look like someone took a magnefying glass and held it to the leaf making little brownish yellow spots that can be seen on both sides of leaf, it will yellow and intensify itstelf then drop.


Im curious though how often and what type of fertilizer do you use .
As another poster stated its best to bring in a soil sample.

Unless you were cutting branches before that picture was taking there should not be that many green leaves on the ground under that tree unless a wind storm came thru very recently.
Lack of water leaves will turn yellow from top part of tree and fall.
To much water they turn yellow from lower part of tree and fall.
Not enough N leaves turn yellow and can get sunburn and fall.

I hope this has been noticed in the picture (with Eric? & shovel) that part of the tree on the left side is more dark greener (healthier) than the bigger part on the right hand side with light green leaves and the leaves are falling under the light-green part of the tree. Is my observation is correct that only some limbs above the ground are showing the problem?

First, the person in the picture is my brother.  I did not want to break the camera........ but I did want to show the size of the tree.