The MGS Forum
Gardening in mediterranean climates => Pests and diseases => Topic started by: MikeHardman on August 17, 2014, 12:59:47 PM
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My 'Anna' apple has finished fruiting now. It gave a good crop considering it was planted only last year. Most of the apples were very good - good size, firm, sweet and crisp. The leaves are still very healthy, as they have been all season. When ripening, the first fruit to show red were pecked by magpies (in between having my tomatoes), but they gave up on that, thankfully. But around the same time, some of the near-ripe fruit developed brownish patches. There was no sunkeness or swelling and no hint of damage to the skin by insects or bruising.
So it is not a big problem, but I am curious to know the cause.
The photos may be more enlightening than my description - showing the browning to be concentrated just below the surface.
Regards,
Mike
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Mike looks like ' bitter pit' which a physiological disorder caused by the lack of Ca , i think.
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Thanks David.
Hmmm - although the damage is just below the surface (as with bitter pit), my fruits' symptoms look different on the surface - just one of two broad areas with vague edges rather than many small areas with more-distinct edges, and no sunkenness.
Superficially, it looks more like core rot, but the core of my apples was OK
(http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/tfipm/images/corerot2.jpg
from http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/tfipm/postharvest.htm#dryeyerot)
Brown rot also has some similarities, but no pustules ever developed (maybe because we removes the fruit and eat it; it tasted fine).
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Mike it,s the core that is the giveaway.
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Davis,
I wonder if my photo is misleading. The section on the right was taken near the bottom of the fruit, and the browning was penetrating further there, especially up the axis.
Do you think it might be sunburn?
This paper include some photos which include external symptoms most similar to mine.
- http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/php/research/sunburn/
(I refer to the browning form rather than the necrotic form - to use their parlance)
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Further observation...
Earlier in the season, the magpies were keen on the fruit, waiting until they saw red, then tucking in :(
But they eventually lost interest.
My 'Anna' had a good flowering and fruiting this year.
But with the high temperatures, the sunburn remains a problem
(the ones I have inspected are OK at the core, so I don't think it is bitter pit).
Here are a couple of great-looking fruit. But the lower one has a slight browning at the base - it is starting to 'burn'. On the tree, such apples get worse in a few days and have to be discarded. I have found that it is best to pick the fruit before the first signs of burning, and keep them in the fridge. They keep longer that way. It gives you a chance to eat a heavy crop coming ripe all at once.
Mike