Question
I asked a question about cedar-apple rust Friday, and I appreciate your answer. Will this go away on its own? I have 3 large trees that touch each other which are almost totally covered in the gelatinous blobs and one that is about 20 feet away that is not so much. A large limb has broken off of the biggest tree, I'm assuming, due to the weight of this substance and the rain. Is this something that I will have to deal with every year from now on or would it be a good idea to just remove the trees? They do offer a degree of privacy and act as a windbreak from the north. I would like to keep them if possible. I have two 3 year old Gala apple trees that I will let bear stsarting this year. Each is about 9-10 feet tall. Will this disease kill these as well?  Thank you!!

Answer
The gelatinous stage of cedar apple rust is in the spring. This is how the fungi spreads by producing spores. All Rust fungi need to two hosts to complete the life cycle. In this case cedar and the other host apple type species. Most of the year the cedar stage of the fungi will be small golf ball size "balls" on the limbs. These really do not harm the cedar tree and the dried ones will drop off after a couple of years.  And are not real noticeable except when they "bloom" in the spring. I do not think the cedar rust had much to do with the limb breaking.
The rest of the disease cycle is on apples. Here it shows up as blotches on the leaves and on the skin of the apple fruit. Symptoms of cedar-apple rust on flowering crab and apple are easily identified. In late spring or early summer, bright, yellow-orange spots approximately 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter form on the upper surface of leaves. These spots gradually enlarge and turn orange. Small black fruiting structures (pycnia) of the fungus form in the center of the lesion. An orange gelatinous matrix often may be seen oozing from the fruiting structures during wet weather. Eventually, an orange, cup-like fungal structure (aecium) forms on the bottom surface of the leaf directly beneath the lesion on the upper surface. This structure has small, tube-like projections in which dusty-orange spores of the fungus are produced.

Leaves with numerous spots drop during the summer. Premature defoliation weakens the tree and reduces fruit set and yield the following year. Trees with severe defoliation also are susceptible to other diseases. Cedar-apple and cedar-quince rust may cause fruit lesions. Diseased fruits develop deep pits or become distorted and usually drop before harvest.

Fungicides can be applied to apple or flowering crab in the spring to prevent rust infection. The first spray should be applied as soon as the gelatinous tendrils are noticed on the cedar galls. Continue applications on a 7- to 10-day interval as long as the galls remain active (usually till the end of May). Several chemicals, including Ferbam, triforine (Funginex, labeled for apples only), chlorothalonil (Daconil 2787, crabapple only), myclobutanil (Immunox, Eagle, Systhane, Rally) and triadimefon (Bayleton) are effective in controlling rust diseases.  Captan and benomyl, labled for control of apple scab, are not effective in controlling rust diseases.  In areas where both rust and scab are a problem, be sure to select a fungicide or combination of fungicides which will control both diseases.  Myclobutanil (Immunox, Eagle, Systhane, Rally) is labeled for both scab and rust. Note that Immunox is labeled for both apples and crabapples, Eagle and Systhane are labeled for crabapples but not apples, and Rally is labeled for apples and not crabapples. Check fungicide labels for proper rates of application. Check with your local nursery/garden type store for these fungicides.