Mummy Berry
Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi
13 host plants
Last updated
Data Coverage 3 of 6 dimensions
Flowers wilt and turn brown as if frosted by the primary inoculum, and developing berries show white fungal growth inside the fruit tissue. Mummified fruit eventually shrivels and drops before harvest, significantly reducing yield. Bury or remove all fallen fruit thoroughly, cultivate soil in early spring to disrupt apothecia development, and apply sawdust mulch.
Control tactics applied to the soil may need to be repeated often since apothecia develop and mature over a period of several weeks. In fall, before leaf drop, shallowly cultivate to bury mummies.
Quick Reference
Causal Agent
Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi
Host Plants
13
Management
Cultural Controls
- Control tactics applied to the soil may need to be repeated often since apothecia develop and mature over a period of several weeks.
- In fall, before leaf drop, shallowly cultivate to bury mummies.
- Research in Georgia indicates that burying mummies 1 inch or more below the soil prevented apothecia from reaching the surface.
- A two-inch layer of Douglas-fir sawdust applied anytime in the dormant season helps reduce apothecial emergence in the spring.
- In early spring between budbreak and bloom, destroy developing apothecia by disrupting the soil under plants and/or in alleyways by raking or cultivating soil.
- Some growers cultivate to pile soil from between the rows at the base of the bushes and between the bushes in order to bury the mummies.
Host Plants (13)
Quercus vaccinifolia Huckleberry, Oak Vaccinium angustifolium Lowbush Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium crassifolium Creeping Blueberry, Thick-leaved Whortlberry Vaccinium macrocarpon Cranberry American Cranberry Vaccinium membranaceum Big Huckleberry, Mountain Huckleberry Thinleaf Huckleberry Vaccinium moupinense Himalayan Blueberry Vaccinium ovalifolium Oval-leaf Blueberry Vaccinium ovatum Box Huckleberry, Evergreen Huckleberry Vaccinium parvifolium Red Huckleberry, Red Whortleberry Vaccinium sikkimense Sikkim Blueberry Vaccinium uliginosum Bog Blueberry, Bog Bilberry Vaccinium vitis Vaccinium vitis