I would appreciate any help to identify the black spots on my apples this year. I have not had this issue with any of my apple trees before. This is the only variety I have that has the spots on them- Winter Banana.
Thank for your assistance with figuring this out.
Bitter, brown, or black rot. I’d guess brown
2 Likes
Just sort of odd I have never had this issue before and it only is on one of my many apple trees. I will pick the infected fruit off and throw it away in the trash.
TY
1 Like
That is sunscald! It’s just like a very bad sunburn. When it’s black instead of orangey, that side of the apple is ruined, and sometimes the whole apple gets mealy. Next year you can try bags with surround on them or just surround on the sunny side of the tree.
3 Likes
I took a few off the tree and cut into them. It did not have the appearance of any bacterial issue.
You are probably right about sunscald. I have had a lot of fruit, mostly pears, that have had sun scald this year as well as last year. Same horrible high heat and humidity for weeks on end. I had pears that were literally much on the trees when I went to pick them off. They looked great but when I picked them they were like I had just taken them out of the microwave. Some apples were like that as well. Normally just once side of the apple but you could tell that is was sun scalded. Since Winter Banana is a apple that bruises easily and is thin skinned. I can see it getting really dark like that on the sunshine side.
Here’s what the pears look like that have sunburn, sunscald. Look great from the outside but squishy when they are picked.
3 Likes
Pears need to be picked before they are really ripe, and then ripened in the refrigerator or a cool room for a couple weeks. Otherwise a lot of them will rot from the inside out, even without hot weather. When you turn a pear horizontal and its stem snaps easily, it’s ready to pick. If you have to tug it’s not.
Sunscald is much more obvious- it looks like you literally burned the fruit. The fruit underneath will be mealy and unappealing under a less burned fruit. A badly burned fruit will rot from the burn inwards. Above are some examples from my very hot summer (in addition to some bug damage).
You had mentioned that it’s only on one tree. Some fruits are more susceptible, and also that tree’s location may catch sun longer in the afternoon.
2 Likes
Yes, I agree with everything you said here. The pears were not snapping off but just baking on the tree. So I took them all off to save what I could. Even if they did not snap off. They are Abete Fetel pears, delicious!! I hated to lose the rest of them to the horrible heat.
1 Like