Work in the garden continues all year round. Even in winter, there is no rest from caring for plants. In January, we usually carry out treatments aimed at protecting specimens against dangerous diseases and pests. This time we will focus on protecting fruit trees against brown rot. It only takes a moment to save the orchard.
Brown rot most often attacks stone fruit trees, i.e. cherries, sweet cherries and plums. It can also occur on apple trees, pears and peaches. Its development is caused by fungi of the genus Monilinia, especially the stone fruit fungus (Monilinia laxa) and the fruit fungus (Monilinia fructigena).
These fungi are already present in winter and hide in dried fruits, as well as in infected branches. They develop in warm and humid conditions, most often during flowering and fruit ripening.
The symptoms of this dangerous disease appear on shoots, leaves, flowers and fruits. They are different in each species. For example, in cherries, brown rot causes the leaves, flowers and shoots to dry out. In turn, in other plants we observe brown, rotten spots on the fruit with visible spores in the form of gray warts.. They often become deformed and dry out.
The most common causes of brown rot are damaged fruit skins and too dense tree crowns, which receive little air. Therefore, we must prevent this disease by removing infected shoots, cutting them and spraying them during flowering and before harvesting.
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Winter is the perfect time to perform sanitary work in the orchard. Already in January, it is worth taking care of fruit trees so that they are not attacked by brown rot. So what should you do?
We need to remove the parts where fungi overwinter. Therefore, we get rid of infected shoots from fruit trees, and above all, dried fruit appearing on the branches and under the crowns..
We can also cut dried shoots or those that show visible disease symptoms. We cut them a few centimeters below the infected area.
Let’s remember that do not throw infected branches or dried fruit into the composter. Infected parts could survive the composting process. Later, such fertilizer would be harmful to the entire garden and orchard. That’s why we put them in the bio-waste bin.
