Brown rot of fruit
Soft brown rot with gray spore tufts on stone fruit, apples and pears.
What you'll see
- Blossoms turn brown, wilt and cling to the twigs.
- Soft brown spots spread fast over ripening fruit, with buff to gray tufts, often in rings.
- Shriveled, mummified fruit hanging on the tree or lying underneath.
Why it happens
Brown rot fungi survive the winter in mummified fruit and twig cankers. They infect blossoms in wet spring weather and fruit through wounds.
How to fix it
- Pick off and bin all rotten and mummified fruit.
- Prune out blighted twigs and cankers.
- Thin fruit so they don't touch, because the rot spreads between touching fruit.
Keep it from coming back
- Clean up every mummy, on the tree and on the ground, each season.
- Prune for an open canopy, and keep sprinklers off blossoms and fruit.
- Protect fruit from bird and insect wounds.
Sources
General guidance, not a diagnosis. For valuable, edible or outdoor crops, check with a local extension service or plant expert. Use any product exactly as its label says, and keep children and pets away while it dries.