An apple affected by brown rot

Brown rot

Published: Friday, 8 March 2019 at 3:00 pm

Protect your fruit trees and their fruit from brown rot.

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Any tree fruit that has been wounded by insects or is split can be infected by this fungus. If the affected fruit is still on the tree, inedible and rotten, the fungus can even spread back into the spurs. Damaged, harvested fruit can also be affected. The spores are transmitted three ways: via insects, when infected fruit touches other fruits, and by wind and rain.

Symptoms

Tree fruit becomes inedible and rather unsightly when a small brown spot gradually encompasses the whole apple, pear or plum. The skin's surface is also peppered with greyish pustules.

Find it on

apples, pears, plums

Organic

Immediately destroy all contaminated fruit, as well as any damaged ones liable to infection. Cut away and destroy dead shoots or spurs (pruning in the summer for plums, winter for apples and pears) to make sure the disease doesn't survive there over winter. Cut away and destroy any mummified fruits you might have missed during harvesting which have survived into the winter.

Chemical

There is no specific remedy for brown rot, but eliminating apple scab, which can cause fruit to split, will help reduce the likelihood of an attack.

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