Remove mummified fruits before winter

After leaf fall on apple trees and plums, dried fruits remaining in the crown are clearly visible. It is better to remove them before winter: in such fruits, the pathogens of fruit rot can winter. In spring, in wet weather, spores form on the affected tissues, and the infection again falls on the flowers and fruits.

Padalis with obvious rot also do not leave under the tree and do not fold into an ordinary cold compost pile. It is better to remove diseased fruits from the site or dispose of them so that infected tissues are not preserved.

In the crown, check for dried shoots and ulcers - they can also be a source of infection. If they can be safely removed at a suitable time, sanitary pruning is carried out. Strong thickening is also undesirable: after rains, such a crown remains wet longer, which is favorable for many fungal diseases.

If the fruit rot has already been in this season, in the spring, the trees are especially carefully examined during flowering, after rains and when the first damaged fruits appear. It is not worth waiting for the mass development of the disease.

Sanitary cleaning reduces the initial infectious background, but does not replace the entire complex of protection. Annual removal of diseased fetuses and clearly affected tissue, as well as uncoated crowns, reduce the risk of re-infection.

Relevance period: approximately from October 1 to November 30 for the middle strip of Russia / Central non-black earth zone. After leaf fall and until a stable winter, when the mummified fruits are clearly visible in the crown and conveniently removed.