Can I eat apples and pears with Scab?<\/h3>
Yes, apples and pears with scab are perfectly safe to eat. They only look ugly, underneath the skin they should taste the same, unless they are also rotten!<\/p>
- \n
- They won\u2019t store, so you\u2019ll need to juice varieties that are normally ripened off the branch.<\/li>\n
- Home cider makers generally don\u2019t bother removing scabby skin, they just use campden tablets to sterilise the brew.<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Apple Scab & Pear Scab Symptoms<\/h3>
Scab attacks almost all parts of the tree: new stems, foliage, flowers, and fruit.
It stunts and distorts leaf growth, and can clearly be seen as brown patches of dead tissue on apple leaves, or black patches on pear foliage.
Leaves with scab turn yellow and fall earlier than usual. If the attack is severe, it can defoliate the tree.
Fruit tends to be undersized and scabby all over; as it grows, these scabs harden and often crack.<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/apple-scab-on-fruit-venturia-inaequalis-1.webp\")
<\/figure><\/div>Apple Scab & Pear Scab Causes<\/h3>
- \n
- Relatively warm Autumns and Winters cause leaves to fall later, and emerge earlier than usual.<\/li>\n
- This gives the fallen leaves less time to decompose before the vulnerable new leaves appear, so over wintering scab spores (among other pests & diseases) are more of a problem.<\/li>\n
- In the spring, scab spores settle on the tree, regenerate, release more spores in late March to early April, then do it again at intervals of a few weeks.<\/li>\n
- This makes the disease appear to be progressive, but it is actually caused by waves of infection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Scab is more common in warmer, humid parts of the UK, mostly in the South and West.<\/p>
You should not be put off growing apples and pears in those areas, as choosing the right varieties and good hygiene make a huge difference, before you even reach for a fungicide.<\/p>
Apple Scab & Pear Scab Prevention<\/h3>
As is so often the case in gardening, hygiene is crucially important.<\/p>
- \n
- \nRaking up and burning<\/strong> all Autumn leaves in the orchard will bring a significant reduction in infection the following Spring, for scab as well as other fungal and insect pests.<\/li>\n
- Pruning and burning infected young shoots, which will have cracked, coarse bark in Winter, also removes overwintering spores.<\/li>\n
- Well planted and watered trees, mulched with wood chips or other organic matter<\/strong> in Spring, are stronger and more resistant.<\/li>\n
- Before bud burst, mow the orchard, which helps to break down remaining leaves from the previous year, and disturbs the fungus before it is ready to spread.<\/li>\n
- Plant your orchard in a poly-culture where, at the very least, no two trees of the same cultivar are next to each other.
- \n
- Better yet, plant a sequence like apple \u2013 cherry \u2013 pear \u2013 plum, thus keeping the species separated. This prevents any disease or pest from having a wall-to-wall banquet.<\/li>\n
- For bonus points, add a few nitrogen fixing trees like Red Alder, Alnus rubra<\/a> (which produces fewer suckers than other alders, making it easier to manage) and coppice them for firewood.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Scab Resistant Apple and Pear Varieties<\/h3>
One of the best eating apples for scab prone areas<\/strong> is Red Windsor<\/a>.<\/p>
- \n
- \nScab resistant eating apples<\/strong> include:
- \n
- Arthur Turner<\/li>\n
- Ashmeads Kernel<\/a><\/li>\n
- Beauty of Bath<\/a><\/li>\n
- Charles Ross<\/a><\/li>\n
- Discovery<\/a><\/li>\n
- Egremont Russet<\/a><\/li>\n
- Ellison\u2019s Orange<\/a><\/li>\n
- Golden Delicious<\/a><\/li>\n
- Greensleeves<\/a><\/li>\n
- Kidds Orange Red<\/a><\/li>\n
- Lord Lambourne<\/a><\/li>\n
- Sunset<\/a><\/li>\n
- \nTydeman\u2019s Late Orange<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- \nScab resistant cooking apples<\/strong> include:
- \n
- Grenadier<\/a><\/li>\n
- Lanes Prince Albert<\/a><\/li>\n
- Lord Derby<\/a><\/li>\n
- \nReverend W. Wilks<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Beurre Hardy<\/a> is the most scab resistant pear<\/strong>.<\/p>
Scab Chemical Treatment<\/h3>
At the time of writing, there are no seriously effective, legal chemical controls for the home grower.
The nearest things to an organic fungicide against scab are copper based: sulphur is less efficient, and some \u201csulphur shy\u201d varieties really don\u2019t like it.<\/p>Follow the manufacturer\u2019s instructions. Generally, the first spray should take place when the buds are closed, and the second when they are barely beginning to show the first signs of colour as they open. Spray when the air is still, in the evening when there are fewer pollinating insects around.<\/p>\n\n
\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRelated Products\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Jupiter](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/jupiter-apples-fruit-2.jpg?v=1755634518\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Jupiter](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/jupiter-apples-fruit-3.jpg?v=1755634517\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tJupiter Apple Trees\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a324.99\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Brown](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/brown-turkey-fig-ficus-carica-1.jpg?v=1755543116\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Brown](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/brown-turkey-fig-plants-3-litre.jpg?v=1755634266\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t'Brown Turkey' Fig Trees\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a37.99\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Ripe](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/chelsea-king-james-mulberry-fruit-1.jpg?v=1755543043\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Chelsea](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/chelsea-king-james-mulberry-tree-morus-nigra-2.jpg?v=1755634296\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tKing James \/ Chelsea Mulberry Trees\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a384.99\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"White](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/White-Marseille-Fig-Tree.webp?v=1774611484\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWhite Marseilles Fig Trees\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t
- Lanes Prince Albert<\/a><\/li>\n
- Beauty of Bath<\/a><\/li>\n
- \nScab resistant eating apples<\/strong> include:
- \nRaking up and burning<\/strong> all Autumn leaves in the orchard will bring a significant reduction in infection the following Spring, for scab as well as other fungal and insect pests.<\/li>\n
![\"Bramley](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/bramley-apples-fruit.jpg?v=1756062454\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Newly](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0947\/0351\/8022\/files\/newly-planted-half-standard-bramley-apple-tree.jpg?v=1756062454\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t