Why do pear fruits massively crack and rot on a tree even before ripening? The culprit of this phenomenon is the ubiquitous fungal disease moniliosis (fruit rot). In conditions comfortable for the fungus, it destroys up to 80% of the crop. There are many reasons for the appearance and development of the disease, we will analyze each of them, we will describe methods for eliminating the problem.

The disease is dangerous because the signs of damage become noticeable only when the fruits begin to pour. Small brownish spots appear on the skin, which grow very quickly, can cover the entire surface of the fruit in 7-10 days.

On the affected areas of the fetus, yellowish-white or dark gray pillows are formed, arranged in concentric circles, spores of the fungus are clearly visible on them. Often, individual severely affected pears are left hanging on the tree. Through the petiole, they infect the fruit branches, which dry out, and the fungus will subsequently overwinter inside.

Attention!

It will not work to cure a pear and collect healthy fruits in one season, but timely action and subsequent prevention will help save the crops of future years.

Rot can also damage skeletal branches. Distinct depressed spots appear on the surface of the bark, which eventually encircle the branch, which leads to the complete drying of its upper part.

What factors lead to rotting of unripe fruits:

Attention!

Fruits affected by moniliosis cannot be stored, even if the spots are single, small, the flesh under them can change color, become brown and mushy. Rotten pears will transmit the infection to healthy fruits.

Pear disease with moniliosis is a consequence of insufficient and improper tree care, this problem can be solved. As for the old varieties of pears, when fruit rot is laid down at the gene level, the harvest can only be saved by collecting unripe fruits and ripening at home.

How to cure a pear from fruit rot, prevention

Treatment of fruit rot should be comprehensive. It is highly undesirable to start the fight against moniliosis, as well as scab, in the same season when the first signs of illness were noticed; it is highly undesirable to postpone the procedure until spring. In the case when most of the fruits are covered with spots, the entire crop is removed and sorted. More or less surviving pears should be eaten as soon as possible or sent for processing (compotes, jams and other preparations for the winter). All rotten fruits are carried away from the garden. Let's start treatment:

Attention!

Bordeaux liquid can be used no more than 3 times during the entire growing season of the pear. See the recommended concentrations of chemicals on the packages, observe the time between processing and harvesting. For example, Hom, Oksikhom, Polyhom and copper sulfate preparations are used 30 days before fruit ripening.

How to fill the deficiency of useful elements

Once a season, a pear with signs of a deficiency of useful elements (poor tree development, fruit shrinkage, pale leaves) is sprayed with a special solution. Universal recipe for 10 liters of water:

100 grams of carbamide;
5 grams of copper sulfate;
3 grams of boric acid and potassium permanganate.

The products can be used in tandem with pesticides, at the same time carry out protective treatments. The solution is quickly absorbed by the leaves, stimulates and controls the main life processes of the tree, improves the absorption of available nutrients from the soil.

The first thing to do when you find slightly rotten pears is to remove them from the tree. Pick off any damaged fruit (cracked, scratched, etc.). Carrion is harvested throughout the growing season. Spoiled fruits, especially with traces of scab and moniliosis, should not be put in compost heaps.

During the summer, keep the garden clean, remove all weeds, fallen branches, leaves. When working with trees, use only carefully cleaned, disinfected garden tools. Treat wounds after pruning branches and cleaning the bark with garden pitch or special paint.

In rainy periods, if possible, loosen the earth in tree trunks, organize drainage systems. In dry, hot summers, the disease usually does not manifest itself, but there are exceptions associated with "stress cracking of the fruit." If, after a long drought, the soil is abundantly watered, the dehydrated pulp of pears will quickly be saturated with moisture, and the skin will not have time to catch up with its mass.

The fungus penetrates into the cracks formed, in 2 or 3 weeks the fruit rot will cover the entire tree. In the heat, moisten the soil in a timely and even manner, be sure to lay a layer of mulch not only in the trunk circle, but also under the entire crown.

Attention!

Do not plant pears next to stone fruits, cherries, elderberries, chestnuts, nuts and peaches, as well as currants, raspberries and other shrubs. Pear trees should not be placed in places where there is a lot of shade.

To scare away various pests without resorting to chemical treatments, organize small flower beds with pharmacy chamomile, wormwood, calendula and tansy in the garden. If pests have already appeared, decoctions and infusions for spraying can be made from the same herbs.

Pear varieties resistant to fruit rot

There are no completely resistant pear varieties, but there are varieties that have fairly good immunity to all fungal diseases, including scab. Let's highlight the best of them.

A cracked pear presents a sad sight

Why do pear fruits crack? With such a question, our reader Vera turned to the editors of the Dachny site.

Here is how she describes her problem:

“The pear was planted in 2011, it did not bear fruit before. This year there was one ovary. And here is what her first fetus looks like (photo attached). Although on another pear, older, everything is fine.

Causes of cracking

It can often be observed that the fruits of a pear (and apples too) crack on a tree, while deep and wide cracks are formed.

Fruits become unsuitable for eating and even more so for storage. The reasons for cracking pears can be very diverse.

Often it is not possible to determine exactly why this happened. I will give only a few main reasons that can lead to such a sad result.

Scab

Scab is a dangerous disease. Pear fruit affected by this disease.

Scab can lead to the formation of deep cracks in pear fruits. As a rule, it is this fungal disease that is the most common cause of cracks.

The places of the pear affected by the scab cork and break, the fruits stop growing, the peel dies off.

Scab control measures - fungicide treatment:

Azofos - during the period of the beginning of bud break (100 ml per 10 liters of water);
Pennkozeb (Tridex) - during bud break (20 g per 10 liters of water);
Fast before flowering (1.5-2 ml per 10 liters of water);
Strobi - during fruit growth (1.5-2 g per 10 liters of water).

weather changes

Pears do not tolerate a sharp drop in temperature and humidity

Physiological changes that occur due to sudden changes in weather can lead to the formation of cracks in pear fruits.

So, if a long dry period is suddenly replaced by prolonged rains, this can lead to an increase in pressure in the tissues and the formation of cracks.

In this case, it is necessary to provide the soil with humus, which will help to equalize its moisture content. Here you can recommend mulching the trunk circles with mowed grass or compost.

Varieties prone to cracking

Pears of different varieties are prone to cracking in different ways.

Meanwhile, there are a number of varieties of pears that are prone to cracking.

Varieties such as Cox Orange, Ingrid Maria, Holsteiner and Boskop crack at the slightest inappropriate climatic conditions.

Rough pear fruits are much more susceptible to cracking than smooth pears.

If fruit cracking, which, by the way, can also occur in a normal summer, without temperature fluctuations and heavy rains after a drought, occurs every 4-5 years, then such a tree can be left in your garden plot.

But if cracking occurs annually, then you should think about changing the variety. Perhaps this variety of pear is simply not suitable for climatic conditions, or it is not resistant to local diseases.

Nutrient deficiency

An ecolist can feed a pear.

Also, one of the reasons for the cracking of pear fruits may be insufficient provision of their nutrition.

With a lack of boron (especially on sandy soils), pear fruits harden and crack. In this case, top dressing with mineral fertilizers with an admixture of boron or foliar treatment of trees before flowering (rose bud phase) with Ecolist boron (35-40 ml per 10 liters of water) will help.

Often, a lack of calcium can also lead to cracking of pear fruits; treatment with ash infusion can help here.

Dear visitors of the Country site!

Pear: why do fruits crack?

Nina Efimova

candidate of agricultural Sci., fruit grower, breeder, author of pear varieties/

Aphids appeared on the pear, against which no treatments were carried out. When the fruits appeared, they began to crack. Why is this happening?

In the summer, I found aphids on a pear, which I did not treat against. Insects literally stuck around the top of a young tree. It bloomed well, fruits appeared. However, the entire crop turned out to be unfit for consumption (photo taken in September). How to save a pear?

Aphids are sucking insects and, in large concentrations, cause significant damage to plants, sucking juices from leaves and shoots, which dry out as a result. Trees become depressed, their winter hardiness and productivity decrease. Aphids should not be allowed to spread, attract useful entomophages to the garden - insects that destroy this pest. However, in this case, aphids are not directly related to fruit damage.

The photo shows a typical physiological cracking of pear fruits, which is observed in stressful situations. Most often, this problem occurs when, after a dry period, rains begin or excessive watering of dry soil is carried out. At the same time, the somewhat dehydrated internal tissues of the fruit (pulp) are quickly saturated with moisture, and the outer shell (skin), which does not have time to “catch up” with their increasing mass, cracks.

Putrefactive microorganisms penetrate the cracks, they quickly

develop in a nutrient medium and contribute to the decay of the fruit on the tree. In two or three weeks, they are completely affected by the disease and become spore carriers themselves. A bulging grayish coating on rotten pears is a harmful spore.

Rotten fruits fall off or remain hanging on the tree in a mummified form, acquiring a black and blue shiny color. Such "rotten" tightly dry to the branches and become a source of disease in the next season, so they should not be left on the tree. All damaged fruits must be removed (if they are high in the crown, you can use a fruit picker or knock down with a pole), collect and dispose of.

In autumn, during the period of leaf fall of trees, in order to suppress the infection, autumn spraying is carried out with an 8-10% solution of ammonium nitrate or a 5-7% solution of urea. The often recommended use of copper-containing preparations (Bordeaux liquid, copper sulphate, and others) is best transferred to early spring (before bud break). In autumn, this event is ineffective in rainy weather, moreover, it can cause a burn of young shoots that have not yet passed pre-winter hardening.

Reduces physiological cracking of fruits and uniform soil moisture. If watering is not possible, you should try to keep spring moisture reserves longer - mulch the soil under the entire crown, and not just near the trunk.

Kira Stoletova

When growing a pear tree, you can notice that the fruit of the pear turns black. This indicates the development of a dangerous disease called scab. It also affects leaves and shoots, as a result of which the crop yield and its winter hardiness decrease, and the quality of the fruit deteriorates.

Reasons for the development of the disease

Scab is caused by a fungus. In the spring, after rainy weather, the wind carries its spores from old leaves to trees. In the future, they germinate on fruits and other parts of the pear. Favorable conditions for this are:

rainy spring and cool summer - the optimal temperature for the development of the pathogen is 19-25˚С, but the process is also possible at 2-3˚С;
increased air humidity.

Spores can dissipate until July. But mass reproduction occurs before the flowering of the culture, in the period between the blooming of leaves and the formation of buds.

In hot and dry summers, trees may not be affected by the disease. But the risk of activation of the fungus exists when heavy dew falls. They, like rain, determine the humidity of the environment.

Symptoms of the disease

After the defeat, the scab appears after 2-3 weeks. It is important to identify it at an early stage. The disease is accompanied by such symptoms:

black spots on fruits with a velvety coating - the pulp under the damaged areas becomes loose, in these places tissue cracking occurs after a while;
rounded green-olive spots on the leaves, which are invisible at first, but then darken;
fruit deformation - their appearance loses its presentability;
falling of affected leaves, ovaries, pears.

If the infection occurred in the spring, then the spots on the leaf plate are large. If later - small. Sometimes scab infects the crop before harvest. Then the black dots are barely noticeable, but appear during storage of the fruit.

When the shoots are damaged, the bark is covered with small bubbles in which the mycelium of the fungus develops. The swellings eventually crack due to the pressure of the conidia. The surface starts to peel off. Flowers, stalks, cuttings are also affected.

Treatment of the disease

Black fruits, leaves and other affected areas of the pear are removed and burned. To prevent the development of the disease, it is necessary to spray the tree with medicinal preparations at a certain time. The event takes place in dry calm weather. If it rained immediately afterwards, the steps must be repeated.

Bordeaux liquid

The first time the plant is treated before bud break. To do this, use a 3% Bordeaux mixture. The following sprayings are carried out every 2 weeks, since the action of the product persists throughout this period. The concentration of the substance is reduced to 1%. During the season produce up to 6-7 treatments. Instead of Bordeaux liquid, you can use a 3% solution of copper sulfate.

Fungicides

Effective in the treatment of scab are systemic drugs:

Fast - the product is used up to 2 times during the season: before flowering, after flowering. To do this, 2 ml of the substance is dissolved in 10 liters of water. Processing action - up to 20 days.
Strobi - the drug is used in 3 stages. The interval between sprayings should be 2 weeks. The dosage is determined according to the attached instructions. Effective for 35 days. Can be combined with other means.
Horus - processing is carried out 2 times per season: during bud break, at the end of flowering. Gives good results at low temperatures (3-10˚С). Validity - 1 month.

Mineral fertilizers

If leaves and fruits turn black on a pear, it should be fed. This procedure helps fight scab, and will also serve as foliar fertilizer. Mineral solutions are used. For 10 liters of water take one of the following drugs:

ammonium nitrate - 10 g;
ammonium sulfate - 10 g;
potassium chloride - 3-10 g;
potassium sulfate - 3-10 g;
potassium nitrate - 5-15 g;
potassium salt - 5-15 g.

Combination of drugs

If the fruits turned black in the later stages of plant development, then the best treatment would be the complex use of drugs. They are used in the following way:

After harvesting produce foliar top dressing with mineral products. The air temperature must be above 4˚С. The procedure helps to increase productivity, and also acts against various pests.
In the spring, before flowering, the tree and the near-trunk circle are sprayed with Bordeaux liquid or a solution of copper sulphate.
After flowering, the plant is treated with a fungicide.

Disease prevention

You can prevent the development of scab by taking the necessary measures. Prevention begins even before planting a seedling. To do this, they act according to the following principles:

choose a place that meets the requirements of the fruit tree;
disease-resistant varieties are planted: Bere Gardi, Bere Bosk, Clapp's Favorite, Vrodlyva, Zolotovorotskaya, Etyud, Vyzhnitsa, Tavriyskaya, Trembita, Stryiskaya, Margarita, etc.;
do not thicken landings.

After planting a tree, preventive measures are as follows:

cleaning up fallen leaves;
proper feeding throughout the season;
treatment of trees after harvesting with Bordeaux liquid or other copper-containing preparations.

The following types of culture are most susceptible to the disease: Forest beauty, Ilyinka, Bergamot Milevsky, Bere Ligelya winter, Sapezhanka.

Bacterial cancer on a pear and methods of treatment

Treatment of tree diseases

Diseases of pears. Treatment of wood with artificial bark.

Conclusion

If the pear fruit turns black, it is worth inspecting the plant for symptoms of scab. Timely control measures will help protect the crop from damage. If you do not start treatment, you can lose all the fruit. Prevention of the disease will prevent the occurrence of unnecessary worries. It is also worth paying attention to other fruit trees in the garden, which can serve as sources of fungi.

It can often be observed that the peel of apples and pears crack, forming wide and deep cracks.

Causes of peel cracking can be very different and often cannot be precisely determined. Anything that makes the skin of apples and pears inelastic can cause it to become stressed by fruit growth and crack.

Scab often plays a major role in fruit cracking. In places affected by the fungus, the peel dies off, stops growing, turns cork and breaks with the growth of other parts of the fruit. Therefore, you need to pay the most attention.

How to deal with fruit cracking

The most favorable conditions for growth and productivity with uniform soil moisture throughout the growing season. Strong changes cause physiological disturbances. If, for example, a long dry period is suddenly replaced by rain, this can lead to increased pressure in the tissues and the formation of cracks.

Good contributes to the alignment of its moisture content. Therefore, we can recommend mulching tree trunks with mowed grass or compost. Under such a cover, soil moisture fluctuates much less than when it is kept under black fallow or under sodding.

In years with contrasting weather conditions, you can often see the skin of apples in cracks.

Not all varieties are equally prone to cracking:

It is known that the fruits of such varieties as, for example, "Cox Orange", "Boscope", "Ingrid Maria" and "Holsteiner Cox" crack very easily under unsuitable climatic conditions.
Fruits with a rough surface are more prone to cracking than those with a smooth surface.
early varieties often have very large cracks in the skin and flesh.
In valleys and depressions, fruits mostly have a less smooth surface than on slopes. Because the skin of rusty-mesh fruits is inelastic, cracked fruits are common in these locations.

If, under the conditions described above, it was a question of large gaps and cracks, then very small (1-2 mm) cracks can also occur during the period of fruit growth. Fruits on trees that are not sufficiently provided with food are most often prone to this.

If there are cracks in the peel of apples and pears, it is easy for fungi to penetrate the pulp of the fruit and cause rotting. Spraying cannot prevent the possibility of such a subsequent penetration of the infection into the fetus.