Plum Pockets (PLC)
Beginner
This pest affects:
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Scientific Name
Taphrina communis
Identification
Leaves
- Deformed and curled as in leaf curl of peach and nectarine but are not as conspicuous
Fruit
- Small, white blisters on immature fruit
- Blisters enlarge as the fruit develops and soon encompass the entire fruit
- Infected fruit becomes abnormally large (3-4 times its normal size), misshapen, and bladder- like with a thick, spongy flesh
- Plum seed does not develop, so a hollow pocket forms in the center of the fruit
- Infected fruit is initially red but later appears gray as it is covered with a powdery fungal growth
- Eventually, infected fruit withers and falls from the tree
Period of Activity
Bud break.
Scouting Notes
Threshold
No threshold. This is a sporadic disease in commercial plums.
Advanced
This pest affects:
|
Scientific Name
Taphrina communis
Identification
Leaves
- Deformed and curled as in leaf curl of peach and nectarine but are not as conspicuous
Fruit
- Small, white blisters on immature fruit
- Blisters enlarge as the fruit develops and soon encompass the entire fruit
- Infected fruit becomes abnormally large (3-4 times its normal size), misshapen, and bladder- like with a thick, spongy flesh
- Plum seed does not develop, so a hollow pocket forms in the center of the fruit
- Infected fruit is initially red but later appears gray as it is covered with a powdery fungal growth
- Eventually, infected fruit withers and falls from the tree
Biology
The fungus overwinters on infected twigs and buds. Spring rains wash spores of the fungus to the surface of leaf buds and provide conditions for spores to multiply. Once the bud scales loosen in spring, spores are carried in water films to the emerging leaf tissue where infection takes place. Rain and temperatures between 10 and 21ºC are necessary for infection. After infection occurs in late winter or early spring, there is no further spread of the disease during that season.
Period of Activity
Bud break.
Scouting Notes
Threshold
No threshold. This is a sporadic disease in commercial plums.
Management Notes
This disease does not have significant economic impact in commercial plum plantings.
Prune back infected branches and burn these along with any other affected fruits and twigs that can be gathered. This will eliminate much of the source of inoculum.
Some information included above excerpted from;
