A brown blemish creeps across the fruit, which softens to mush, wrinkles, and ends up entirely rotten. Brown rot (Monilinia) is the fungal disease behind these spoiled harvests, and the only way to beat it is to act as soon as leaves and fruits fall, then prepare again for spring.
It targets fruits and makes them rot. This disease is characterized by rotting fruit and is caused by Monilinia, a family of fungus species.
The only way to get rid of this disease is to deal with it as soon as fruits and leaves have fallen and prepare for the following season in spring.
Like most fungal diseases, moisture is what triggers its appearance.
European brown rot usually appears in spring.
Most fruit trees can be hit.
European brown rot can attack apple trees, pear trees, cherry trees, quinces, lemon trees, orange trees, peach trees or plum trees.
A brown blemish appears on the fruit, which softens until mushy, and spreads to cover the entire fruit. In its final stages it wrinkles the fruit which ends up entirely rotten. Sometimes it looks like rings spreading around the fruit.
Fruits then turn grayish and develop a granulated texture, and stay attached to the tree all winter long if not removed.
It is very important to get rid of them and destroy them.
On the picture, a pear tree infected with rotting fruit disease give the impression of fruits that rot while still on the tree.
Brown rot is not beaten in a single pass: each action has its own moment in the year. Here is the sequence described below, from leaf fall to fruit set.
| When | What to do | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Fall, as leaves and fruits drop | Gather fallen leaves and fruits, then burn them or dump them in a remote corner | Takes away the material the fungus would overwinter on |
| Fall and winter | Spray Bordeaux mixture, 2 to 3 times at a two-week interval | Treats branches while the tree is bare |
| Spring, at blooming | Spray a fenbuconazole-based product sold as “fruit tree disease treatment” | Stops fruit rot appearing altogether |
| Spring, once first fruits have set | Thin the fruits out, and cut off some branches if there are too many | Keeps fruits from touching, which is how the fungus travels |
| As soon as symptoms show | Remove every diseased fruit | Curative step that removes the source of infection |
| Whenever a wound appears | Cover it immediately with wound-healing paste | Avoids giving the fungus a way in |
Miss the autumn clean-up and the spring sprays have far more to fight.
Treating against brown fruit rot must be done in stages throughout the year, with the first step at the time that leaves and fruits fall from the tree, in fall.
More than anything, avoid wounding the tree. If you detect a wound on any portion of the tree, protect it immediately with wound-healing paste.
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