I have about four plants in a window box at the moment and although pretty they've been attacked by caterpillars, bud worms and now they have rust which I discovered yesterday. So I started treatment for the rust by removing and bagging badly affected leaves and sprayed with my baking soda solution to prevent any further outbreaks. Caterpillars are now under control but as you can see bud worm is still active.
Rust, a fungal disease, is difficult to control because of the millions of spores produced are carried by wind onto other parts of the plant. These copper/red coloured spores are found on the underside of the leaves. Unfortunately Zonal Geraniums/Pelargoniums are very susceptible so I might replace them with either regal or ivy leaf types in the next few weeks, I will at least wait to see if my attempt to control this outbreak is successful.
