Sooty blotch and flyspeck is a descriptive term for a condition of darkly pigmented blemishes and smudges caused by a number of different fungi affecting fruit including apples, pear, persimmon, banana, papaya, and several other cultivated tree and vine crops. It’s also safe to eat unless you have a mold allergy, so for many homeowners, appleblotchfungus disease may not pose a serious enough threat to treat. For others, some level of treatment between none and orchard-level protection may seem more appropriate. Sooty blotch and fly speck of apples. These blemish diseases are caused by unrelated fungi, but both result in dark fungal growth on the surface of the fruit. Apples are affected most commonly, but the fungi may also be found on pears, plums and citrus fruit. The apple-blotchfungus is not materially checked by un-favorable weather conditions, and spray must be applied each year for its control. The use of lime-sulphur during damp weather and Bordeaux during dry weather seems advisable. Sooty blotch often starts out by colonizing apple twigs. However, the hyphae – long, branching structures that are the fungi’s main method of growth – can fragment. These fragments can fall all over your apples, resulting in this nasty-looking infection. Rub Your Fruit Like a Genie. Appleblotch, caused by Marssonina coronaria, is a serious and widely distributed fungal disease that causes huge losses to apple production especially in South and East Asia. apple fruit (Figure 3). The individual “fly specks” are more widely scattered and much larger than the pycnidia of the sooty blotchfungus. The flyspecks are sexual fruiting bodies (pseudothecia) of the fungus, and are interconnected by very fine hyphae. Marssonina leaf and fruit blotch. This new disease in Eastern apple production regions caused defoliation and fruit spots from 2017 (Figure 4). A lot of growers in both 2017 and 2018 complained about their trees of defoliated between 20 – 70% from September to October. Appleblotch caused by Marssonina coronaria is widespread in North Western Himalayas and is well known for causing economic losses to the apple growers since it was first reported from Himachal Pradesh in 1994 (Sharma, 1999). SUMMARY Sooty blotch and flyspeck diseases occurred on apples that de-. veloped from hand pollinated blossoms covered with plastic bags in 1974.Control of Sooty Blotch and Flyspeck of Apples. with a Pre-bloom Application of Captafol. Sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) fungi produce superficial, dark-colored colonies on fruits, stems, and leaves of many plant genera. These blemishes are economically damaging on fruit, primarily apple and pear, because they reduce the sale price of fresh fruit. What fungicide/treatment schedule is best to control sooty blotchfungus on apples. The apples on all 4 of my trees ended up being almost completely black this year. Learn about Sooty BlotchFungus and how to treat it effectively in your fruit garden. Get expert tips and advice on maintaining a healthy apple tree to prevent fungal diseases. Abstract and Figures. Marssonina blotch, caused by the fungus Marssonina coronariae, is a serious foliar disease on apple in East Asia as well as in other moist temperate regions in Asia, Europe, and South America.
