Causes and symptoms of apple moniliosis, how to treat the disease with various means

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Moniliosis is a fungal infection common among fruit crops, including apple, cherry, peach, apricot and plum. This disease leads to a loss of 80% of the crop. Timely preventive treatment and timely treatment help to preserve garden trees.

Apple moniliosis - how to protect a fruit crop

Who is the causative agent of the disease

The disease is caused by the ubiquitous fungus. The causative agent monilinia fructigena is ubiquitous. Apple trees growing in temperate and warm climates suffer from it equally. The fungus monilinia fructigena damages apples, pears and stone fruits. The causative agent of monilinia mali is highly specialized. It infects only one type of plant, only apple and pear trees suffer from it. This type of infection is common in the southern regions and gardens of the Far East. The life cycle of the fungus monilinia fructigena consists of 2 stages, in monilinia mali - of 3.

Most popular varieties

When buying pear seedlings, you need to focus on the acclimatization of the variety in a separate region. Only in this case, the pear will endure the winter frosts without loss. That is, if a gardener plans to plant a tree in the Kurgan region, then it should be bred only for growing in the regions of the Urals or Siberia.

Important! The next step in choosing a variety is its yield and early maturity, not little attention is paid to the taste of the fruit.

Bryansk beauty

The Bryansk beauty begins to bear fruit only 5 years after planting. Pears ripen by mid-September. The trees are not large and grow slowly. The crown is not thick. The advantage of this variety is the compact arrangement of the fruits.

The mass of ripe pears can reach 200 g, their shape is correct, slightly elongated. Ripe fruits are golden in color, sometimes with a slight blush. They have a pronounced aroma and a pleasant sweet taste.

Bryansk beauty

An early ripening variety that is resistant to winter frosts. The yield is high, it begins to bear fruit quite early. Differs in its versatility.

The mature tree is not tall, the crown is dense. The fruits do not have impressive size, the average weight of each is no more than 150 g. In ripe condition, the fruits have a light yellow color.

Cathedral

Mature trees of medium height with a conical crown. Ripe fruits are yellow with a slight green tinge, the average weight is no more than 120 g. The taste is sweet and sour.

Cathedral

With the help of a garden sprayer, you can spray chemicals and liquid fertilizers, sprinkle plants in hot weather, treat the land with insecticides and do many more necessary operations. For garden work, two types of sprayers are most often used:

• spray sprayer;
• manual sprayer with pump.

The first option is a manual can with a lever and spray head. The device can be held with one hand while spraying the contents by pressing the lever. The capacity of the bottle does not exceed 2 liters. The hand-operated pump sprayer is worn behind the back. The design is suitable for a large garden, as it can hold up to 20 liters of the preparation.The spray head is located on a long boom, which allows the treatment of high plant parts.

Forms of moniliosis

The disease can proceed in different ways. Its symptoms, the course, depend on the type of fungus that has infected the fruit tree. There are two forms of moniliosis:

• fruit rot;
• monilial burn.

Fruit rot

A tree infected with the fungus monilinia fructigena can be recognized by the symptoms of fruit rot, they appear on young apples:

• at the initial stage, these are small spots of brown color;
• the entire surface gradually turns brown;
• the pulp has no taste, its structure becomes spongy;
• small gray-yellow pads are formed on the surface of the apples, they create a pattern in the form of circles.

Fungus-infected apples mummify, turn black, and harden if the weather is cold and dry. In humid, warm summers, most apples are affected by fruit rot during the filling phase and during the ripening phase. Part of the crop dies during storage and transportation.

Monilial burn

The first signs of a monilial burn may appear in the spring. In May, on apple trees, you can see leaves that stand out with a red color of the leaf plate in the region of the central vein.

The infection affects:

• leaves;
• petioles;
• inflorescences;
• ovary.

On examination of the underside of diseased leaves, small white conidial pads can be seen. Infection (monilinia mali) causes the fruitful shoot (leaves, ovary) to dry out. The formed fruits do not have a monilial burn.

Why is moniliosis of an apple tree dangerous?

Monilia is being infected rapidly. As the fruit ripens, the number of infected apples increases. The fungus makes its way along the stalk to neighboring branches, and in the spring moves to young ovaries.

The disease is fraught with a threat to humans. Eating infected fruits leads to the development of mycotoxicosis. When the fungus enters the body, the internal organs and lymph nodes, skin, nails, hair, the cornea of ​​the eyes, and the mucous membrane are affected.

This is already rubbish - not a harvest

Stages

The life cycles of the fungus occur during the fruiting period of the apple tree. For the fungus monilinia fructigena, which causes fruit rot, 2 stages are characteristic: conidial, sclerocial. The causative agent monilinia mali may still have a rare third stage - marsupial.

See also

How best to protect an apple tree from rodents, hares and mice, what to do in winterRead

Conidial

At this stage, a mycelium is formed from unicellular colorless conidia in the form of a large number of chains. Conidia spread by means of raindrops, gusts of wind, insects.

Fruits, the surface of which has mechanical damage, suffer from infection. They are formed as a result of bad weather or due to insect pests. A larger percentage of apples suffer from fruit rot if the weather is warm and rainy in summer.

Sclerocial

This stage occurs during the period when the apple tree is at rest. The fungus in the form of mycelium hibernates in unharvested and fallen apples or in cracks in the bark.

Moniliosis of fruit trees and stone fruits

Apple trees

The apple tree becomes infected during flowering through the damaged bark. The incubation period lasts 10 days, but the first signs are visible 5 days after infection. If the trees are processed at this time - before the start of sporulation, then there is a chance for a quick recovery.

After the end of the incubation period, the leaves, flowers and ovaries turn brown and dry. The leaves, unlike other affected parts, do not fall off and look charred. In warm and humid weather, on the underside of the leaves and on the petioles, the spores of the fungus accumulate in white pads.

The fruit is affected by another species of Monilia fungus. It penetrates into apples through damaged skin. Round brown spots appear on the surface of the fruit.The pulp softens, rots, taste worsens. Apples wrinkle and turn black.

Pears

The disease spreads rapidly from mid-summer, during fruit ripening, in hot and rainy weather. Flowers, ovaries turn brown and dry. The foliage also changes color, curls, but remains on the tree, without falling off for a long time. On the bark of a diseased tree, a mycelium forms in the form of a gray plaque.

The fruits are covered with brown spots, on which gray growths appear over time. Pears begin to rot, eventually mummify and crumble from the tree.

Cherries

Infection occurs during flowering. With severe infection, the leaves on the tree quickly change color. First, redness is visible on them, then they turn brown and dry. Flowers and cherry ovaries perish. The infection further penetrates the branches and causes them to dry out.

With a weak lesion, moniliosis can develop in a latent form. The leaves remain green almost all summer and turn brown only by the end of August. Black dots also appear on them.

From the surviving ovaries, deformed fruits develop. They can crack in rainy weather. The fruits turn brown, and at the end of summer they are covered with light pads of fungus spores. They have an alcoholic aftertaste and an unpleasant odor. Some of the shriveled and dried fruits fall off, some hang on the branches for a long time.

Plum

On the plum, the disease manifests itself in 2 forms: fruit rot and monilial stone burn.

During flowering, a rapid infection of the tree begins. Through the pistils, the spores penetrate into the plant tissues. Leaves, shoots, ovaries, and then fruits and branches are affected. These parts turn brown and dry out. Dead leaves and partially flowers do not fall off. Cracks appear on old branches and gum is released.

The fruits that have appeared are already infected with spores from diseased branches. The infection penetrates through microcracks in the skin due to temperature changes or as a result of mechanical friction.

Gray rot develops on the fruit. Plums on branches quickly deteriorate, deform and dry out. Some of them crumble to the ground, the rest hang on a tree. Mushrooms overwinter on damaged branches, in carrion not harvested from the ground, and in non-fallen fruits. In the spring, signs of the disease appear again.

Sweet cherries

The main signs of the disease are brown, half-dried leaves, dark and dry branches at the sites of infection, shriveled fruits, cracks in the bark. Most often, the infection penetrates through the flowers in the spring. Also, infection can occur through the kidneys.

During long-term wintering of mycelium on a tree, soft areas appear on the shoots. Blackened and dried leaves and branches look burnt against the background of healthy parts of the tree.

How does the infection take place

Spores lead to disease, they penetrate into apples and tree tissues through micro and macro cracks. The main reasons leading to moniliosis of apple trees:

• vital activity of insect pests;
• the presence of infected apples, their contact with healthy fruits;
• other diseases of the apple tree;
• the variety has low resistance to fungi monilinia mali, monilinia fructigena;
• poor care of fruit trees, lack of preventive measures.

The infection is spread by wind, rain, insects, dirty garden tools. Long winter with frosts, snowfalls and long spring, which does not please with warm, sunny days, contribute to the appearance of the disease. The fungus enters the warehouse together with the dirty storage container.

Fruit rot prevention: proper care

If you do certain procedures on time, then with a high degree of probability you will be able to avoid rotting fruits directly on the branches of trees (especially apple trees).

First, to prevent fruit rot, every spring and autumn should be carried out tree pruningc, at least sanitary and rejuvenating (thinning), in order to increase the access of light and air to the crown. The thicker the crown, the more likely it is that not only moniliosis will form there, but also other fungal diseases.

Important! Scab is another common fungal disease of the apple tree, tips for combating which are given in this article.

It is equally important, as fruit rot is detected in spring and summer, to remove (cut off) drying branches (and preferably with a capture 10-15 cm further than visible damage), as well as fruits on which initial signs of decay began to appear, so that they do not infect neighboring.

Note! More information on spring pruning of apple trees and them autumn preparation for winter you will find in the materials on these links.

Secondly, the correct feeding apple trees in the spring. Weakened and poorly fertilized trees are most prone to disease.

Third, harvest apples and store them it is necessary according to all the rules that you can familiarize yourself with in our article. If you don't follow them, even whole apples can rot during storage. And if you accidentally put damaged fruits in a common box, then you risk completely running out of winter supplies.

And finally, for the prevention of moniliosis in apple trees and other fruit trees, it is recommended to collect leaves that remain hanging on branches and fallen mummified (infected) fruits every autumn, and then burn everything.

Important! You cannot throw rotten apples onto the compost heap, the fungus can survive there. It is unwise to use them as fertilizer for the garden. It is best to bury them further and deeper.

Selection and correct planting of disease resistant varieties

Now a fairly large number of stone fruit crops have been bred, which have a strong immunity to the disease of moniliosis.

For example, more susceptible to fruit rot old varieties of apple trees are Antonovka, Pepin Saffron, White Naliv.

White filling

More modern and new varieties, less prone to decay fruit right on the branches of the trees - this is Welsey, Liberty, Jubilee, Slavyanka, Parmen.

Welsey

It is equally important to plant fruit trees at an optimal distance (do not thicken the planting), in the highest and most well-ventilated areas in the garden. They should not be planted in lowlands, where fogs can form and, accordingly, there will be high humidity.

Note! On our site you will find tips and recommendations for the correct planting of apple, pear, plum, cherry, sweet cherry, apricot and peach.

How to treat if an infection has occurred

Based on the timing of fruit ripening, the degree of infection of the tree, gardeners determine how best to fight the infection.

Mechanical destruction of infected plants

In the fall, the remaining fruits are removed from the trees. They are disposed of outside the garden. Spores do not die if the apples are buried in the ground.

Infected fruits are the main source of infection, they are pecked by birds, eaten by pests (moth, weevil), spores are carried around the garden.

All dry shoots are cut and burned. When removing a diseased branch, they grab up to 10 cm of healthy tree tissue. Apple tree stems are covered with a layer of lime. For greater effect, a fungicide solution is added to it. In summer, trees are examined, shoots affected by the fungus, ovaries, fruits are cut out, destroyed.

See also

Why tops appear on an apple tree and when they need to be cut, prevention and what to doRead

Chemicals

Chemicals, tested by more than one generation of gardeners, Bordeaux liquid and copper sulfate are relevant in the fight against moniliosis of apple trees. Before the leaves bloom, a solution of 3% is used, in the fall and summer - 1%. Disease prevention is pest control, it is carried out with the help of insecticides: "Aktara", "Profi", "Decis".

Biological preparations

Treatment of apple trees with biological products gives good results. "Pentafag C" is used if there is little time left before harvesting.This remedy is safe for humans, so trees and fruits can be sprayed with its solution several days before picking apples.

Harmless to humans and effective against fungus:

• Fitolavin;
• "Alirin";
• Fitosporin M.

Use of fungicides

Fungicides contain active substances that kill the fungus and inhibit its reproductive capacity. When treating apple trees for moniliosis, they resort to help:

• "Coming soon";
• Horus;
• Abiga Peak.

All parts of the diseased tree are sprayed with solutions of these drugs, the soil of the trunk circle is treated. Fungicides are used throughout the season. Processing is carried out once every 2 weeks.

Folk ways of fighting

There are no folk recipes that destroy the fungus. There are proven ways to control apple pests (moth, weevil), they can be used to prevent fungal diseases.

If the apple trees rot on the apple tree, what to do

Most often, fungal spores enter and appear on diseased apple trees. Therefore, it is extremely important to ensure that there are no cracks, wounds or damage on the tree.

Rotten apple on the tree.

Here's how you can protect your tree:

• remove weeds and carrion in time;
• cut off dry branches, bark and leaves;
• spraying against diseases and pests;
• remove fruits from the tree, do not leave them for the winter;
• in the fall, clean and process the trunk circle;
• apply top dressing and dig up the ground around the tree.

It is very important that those parts of shoots and fruits that have been infected are not simply thrown away, but burned in order to completely destroy the spores of the fungus.

Scheme and processing time

The table lists the proven treatment regimens for moniliosis.

Fighting Fruit Rot

The fight against fruit rot of stone fruit trees is, first of all, in removal of infected parts of plants, that is, drying and brown flowers, leaves and whole shoots, and in the subsequent period and fetuses with symptoms of the disease. It is very important not to allow the mummified fruit to remain for the next year. All such mummies must be removed. But it is better to inspect the plants regularly, and remove the infected fruits already during their ripening period, immediately after the detection of decay, spots and fungal spores.

If in the past years the fruit rot of stone fruit crops manifested itself with great force, preventive spraying of fruit trees is very important. It is necessary to carry out preventive spraying in the initial phase of flowering (the so-called white bud phase) and in full bloom. Additionally, plums should be sprayed a third time, about 4 weeks before harvest, especially if there were heavy rains.