Monilia mushroom (Monilia), causing the disease of fruit trees - moniliosis, causes great damage to our gardens. In the people, this is the most fatal stone fruit disease is better known as “brown rot” or “mummified fruits”. In the scientific world, it's a mushroomMonilia cinerea on stone fruit trees. On pome crops (apple, pear, etc.), moniliosis is caused by a fungus Monilia fructigena. On quince it's a mushroom Monilia cydonia.Immediately, I note that moniliosis is very difficult to treat. As a rule, monilia spores affect flowers, buds, fruits. The most characteristic symptoms are damage to the flowers, the green tips of the branches during the germination of the pathogen fungus into the blossoming flowers through the stigmas of pestles or stamens.
What causes the appearance of the monilia fungus on stone fruit crops? Firstly, a sharp change in temperature (it was cool, plus precipitation fell). Secondly, the extended flowering of stone fruits causes new infections later than other flowering branches. So, for example, early varieties of cherries are rarely affected by moniliosis.
This pathogen, monilia mushroom, affects stone fruit trees - cherries, apricots, plums, cherries, and others. A monilial burn begins in the spring, when an infection spreads inside the flowers, transmitted by air currents on the stigma of the pestle. The spores of the fungus germinate quickly - after 28 hours they are found in the ovary of the flower.
The rate of development of the disease depends on environmental conditions. The fungal mycelium quickly moves along the branch, infecting healthy tissues. Monilia nutrition in plant tissues is associated with the release of toxins that act on the host plant. As a result, the yield of such plants decreases, as a rule, by 35-40%. There were cases when the entire crop was lost.
In some cases, however, the monilia mushroom can also infect old branches of fruit trees. There were cases when the trees died after frost, because they had a monilial burn - moniliosis.
The disease usually leads to withering of the whole branch. First, the leaves hang down, later they turn brown, dried up, but usually they do not fall, they remain on the tree until next spring. In wet weather, at the base of the affected inflorescence, between the drying and living parts of the infected twig, fluffy light cream pads (spoilage), and sometimes drops of thick resin, appear. The fruits infected with the fungus are gradually covered with putrefactive spots. The spots increase and then spread over the entire surface of the fetus. Over time, the affected fruits dry up, hang on a tree all winter. Therefore, it is very important to prune infected branches.
Infection of fruits with moniliosis can occur at any period of fruit development. Mechanical damage to the fruit (from birds, wind) can also serve as an entry point for the monilia fungus. So, for example, the volume of the prune fruit increases significantly when the color begins to change from green to purple. At this time, the surface of the fruit becomes softer, the volume of fruits increases, the skin stretches. Thus, microcracks appear in the skin - the spores of the monilia fungus easily penetrate into the fetus. The defeat of moniliosis can occur during storage of fruits.
The spores of the monilia mushroom winter on the bark of a tree and are carried downwind. They also hibernate in affected plant debris, for example, fallen plant branches. They hibernate in branches on trees, fruits, where it is introduced during fruit formation by wind or insects. For example, flies, which in many can rest on fruit. An infection can be introduced by moths or birds. Fruits are covered with ash-gray sporulation pads. Symptoms of moniliosis on infected young seedlings are not always noticeable, and this increases the risk of spreading the disease to healthy fruit trees.
Does the role of agronomic technology for growing stone fruits? Of course, yes. Pruning, watering, digging near-stem circles, organic fertilizers strengthen the immunity of plants. But this, unfortunately, does not allow protecting plant organisms from the development of infection.
The only way to get rid of the fungus is to regularly treat the trees in spring and autumn with copper-containing preparations. I advise you to refuse to use Bordeaux mixture in the fight against moniliosis, since it gives a low effect. It is best to use drugs of a new generation - fungicides "Chorus", "Benolil".
It is also necessary to remove mummified fruits that remain on trees or lie on the ground, their destruction. It is imperative to trim the shoots affected by the fungus monilia with a margin, capturing 10-15 cm of the healthy part of the branch. This work will have to be done for several years in a row to prevent a burn from developing.
It is best to burn the cut, affected by moniliosis, branches, collected diseased fruits. If this is not done, then the spores of the fungus will annually affect your garden trees. Fruits affected by brown rot should not be buried in their area. It is also not recommended to feed them to animals or poultry, since then, fertilizing your areas with manure, you continue to infect the soil with monilia spores.
It is necessary to fight against codling moths, cherry flies, weevil beetle - goose, as they are carriers of spores of the monilia fungus. I will not propose to plant varieties resistant to moniliosis, as the proposed control measures should be directed to preserve plants already grown in the garden.