From LSU Ag Center
"Fig rust, caused by the fungus Cerotelium fici (formerly Physopella fici), is the most common disease of figs in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region of the southeastern U.S. Fig rust occurs only on the leaves and does not affect the fruit directly.
Rust generally develops late in the summer, and in years when disease is severe, it can cause the trees to defoliate in a matter of a few weeks. If this happens on a regular basis, the overall growth of the trees can be reduced and yields can be affected. Another consequence of defoliation is that if it occurs early in the summer, the trees will put out new growth that is then at risk of being damaged by early frosts. On the other hand, if defoliation occurs in the fall, the trees may go dormant earlier than usual, which then protects them from early frosts.
Initially, symptoms of fig rust are visible as small, yellowish spots on the upper surface of the leaves. As these spots (or lesions) grow larger, they turn a reddish-brown color but remain relatively smooth. On the lower surface of the leaf, the lesions are a reddish-brown color and have a slightly raised, blister-like appearance. Heavily infected leaves often turn yellow or brown, particularly around the edges, and drop prematurely.
Since there are no fungicides registered for use on edible figs in Louisiana, the management of this disease relies solely on the use of cultural practices, such as raking up and destroying infected leaves and selective pruning of the tree to increase airflow through the canopy, which promotes more rapid drying of the foliage. However, even these practices only offer marginal control of the disease."
I recently went on a trip and had someone water my plants for me.....a disaster! The end result was sick plants devastated by Rust. He thought the easy way was to sit in a chair and just spray them like rain for 45 minutes every evening. As can be expected the Rust fungus went crazy. All plants survived but it gave me an insight to what is most and least susceptible to Rust in my area. I will give a list at the bottom. First some pics.
The Brown Turkey in the ground was completely striped of leaves but is recovering.
The Black Italian was not affected at all.
This shows the front and back of a leaf affected by Rust.
A tree that was only mildly affected.
Various trees some striped some not....
This is how close the plants are together yet again some not affected and some striped.
This Petite Negra was striped but the figs continue to ripen, this guy is 16" high the big purple fig is silver dollar size and still not ripe. This plant stays small but the fruits are large! Some sites claim the PN is the same as a VDB.....no way!
Now the list
The two inground figs I have are the Brown Turkey which was completely denuded but the Celeste lost only 25% of its leaves.
The plants in pots that were NOT affected or very lightly were the Black Italian, Lsu Purple and Gold, Little Ruby and Little Miss Figgie.
Medium damage was White Marseilles, Ischia Green, Celeste.
Denuded completely was VDB, Olympian, Texas Everbearing, Ischia Green, Hardy Chicago, Panache, Petite Negra, Conadria, Yellow Long Neck and Brown Turkey.
The 15 or so juvenile plants located on my deck did not get the daily late afternoon hosedown and none show any sign of Rust.
What does this mean? Well I think it gives you an idea what will have the least problems with rust and I find it interesting that the Celeste showed some damage but the two figs developed by LSU from the Celeste show almost none.
Well at least you know more about Rust now!