Mummy Berry
Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi
13 host plants
Last updated
This profile synthesizes data from multiple published sources. Expert field review is in progress.
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
Management
Bloom period (bud break through early fruit development), approximately mid-April through early June in Puget Sound region. Critical risk window when apothecia are emerging (late March-April) through petal fall. Extended wet periods favor disease development.
Ascospore release begins when soil temperature rises above 45°F in early spring, coinciding with floral and vegetative bud break (approximately 1020-1498 GDD₃₂). Soil moisture and solar radiation critical for apothecial maturation and ascospore release. Flowers are most susceptible as they open; already-pollinated flowers are less susceptible. # Source: PNW Plant Disease Management Handbook; Pest Prophet GDD model
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.