Fruit and Vegetables

Pomace diseases

Pomace diseases

The success of the cultivation of plants depends on a correct management of fertilization and preventive methods of defense against adversity, it is therefore important to constantly control the crops, in order to be able to intervene adequately to limit the spread of diseases and promote proper development.
Given the multitude of crops and pests that can damage them, the fruit plants have been distinguished in various similar groups by agrarian and botanical group, due to the similarity of the parasites that can hit them and, therefore, for the relative methods of control, prevention and care.
To be able to intervene adequately it is important to know how to recognize from the first symptoms the pathogens or the cause of the vegetative block that affect the various crops.
The symptoms and causes of the various pathogens will be displayed in various cards to facilitate the identification of the adversities that affect the fruit plants grown in the garden.
Assuming that in the fight against plant adversity "prevention is the best cure" and that "good nutrition is the best resource for disease resistance" we will examine in this first part the pathologies that affect the pomaceae group.
In the agrarian group of pomaceae are included plants that produce fruits called "pomi": the apple tree, the pear tree and the quince.
They are among the most important fruit crops in terms of diffusion, production and cultivation, and belong to the botanical family of rosaceae, among which there is the nearby "rose" floral relation proper.

Adversity and care

To exemplify the various problems and pomaceae diseases, the different causes can be grouped into: environmental pathologies, fungal parasites, insect and animal damage.
1) Non-parasitic diseases: nutritional or environmental
All the pomaceae, in order to vegetate, flower and produce fruit regularly, need neutral or sub-acidic soil, rich in fertilizing elements, organic substance, and suitable humidity.
The lack of a soil suitable for cultivation and lacking in nutrients causes a general deterioration of the plant, with manifestations of poor flowering and therefore production and leaf yellowing, associated with various presence of pathogens.
The nutritional deficiencies negatively affect the whole physiology of the plant, first of all reducing their resistance to fight diseases, and, in the specific fruit sector, the damage is reflected on the economy due to lack of production, quality of the fruits and poor conservation of the same.
Pomaceae, like all plants, can manifest specific manifestations, such as yellowing or leaf desiccation, scarce flowering and fruiting or insipid and deformed small fruits.
Depending on the type of nutrient that the plant lacks, the main causes are explained in the following table:

on the plant

on fruits


generalized plant and leaf yellowing
more pronounced in the basal areas. Stunted vegetation
with poor flowering and faded color flowers.

production and size


bronze-purplish leaves, little growth
and poor flowering.

very slow lack of fruits and their preservability


at the edge of the leaves that can be curved to
U, the flowers have poor coloring and are of a size

small, poorly pigmented and sugary


basal leaves turn yellow in the rib area
central and dry quickly detaching

fruit drop at maturity


leaves dull and fold down. The plates
they mainly dry on the margins and on the apex.

which appear pitted, bitter and poorly


progressive from the apex to the bottom of the plant, with
leaf desiccation. Flowering nothing or a lot

poor and of poor quality


Parasitic adverse effects of pome fruit due to fungi

One of the most frequent problems with pomaceous plants is the proliferation of fungal or cryptogamic diseases, more commonly called "mold" due to the appearance of their fruiting, which generally covers the plant attached.
These pathogens, if not fought promptly, can quickly destroy the flowers and the fruits, therefore the production of the plants; they are favored by humid or rainy climatic conditions, and they mostly afflict the pomaceae with nutritional deficiencies.
The manifestations are dependent on the plant and normally the various groups of pathogens prefer only certain organs and therefore the localization allows us to diagnose them.
The symptoms of the affected organs are various: they can be molds, rots, gummy cancers, holes, bumps, the following table shows the symptoms and causes:

Pome diseases: Insects or animal pests affecting the pomaceae

The pomaceae are easily attacked by various types of insects, which can present chewing or sucking mouthparts, and the damage occurs on the whole plant, with various preferences depending on the type of parasite.
The damaged organs can manifest various symptoms like: leaves with rosure or internal tunnels, rosure on the branches, piercing and erosion of the fruits, withering of the buds, teasing or leaf yellowing.
The most feared category of insects is given by suckers, such as aphids, because, in addition to the direct damage caused by the removal of lymph and the transmission of viral forms, it is combined with the production of the unaesthetic honeydew, with the recall of ants and subsequent formation of "sooty mold".
In the following table the symptoms and the main agents of the damage are summarized:

on the plant and on the fruits

pathological of mushrooms

stems and branches appear depressed red-purple areas,
which then dry up with a split bark.

of the stems, Cancer of the branches and Cracks

young plants show browning and rotting
at collar level. The plant first turns yellow,
then it dries quickly.

basal or collar

leaves, flowers and apices of the branches appear spots
white felts. The flowers do not hatch or wither.
Rusty deformed small fruits.

Powdery mildew
or Mal Bianco

leaves and flowers appear gray ashen mold,
which then rot.

of leaves and buds

leaves appear blackish or violet confluent spots.
The affected leaves quickly dry up and fall off
quickly stripping the whole plant. On the fruits
appear, depending on the severity of the damage, from
dry dark spots with deep cracks on
necrotized areas.

and leaf maculations

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on the plant and on the fruits

of insect

They cover
all the young parts of the plant and carry it
rapid wilting due to sap subtraction.
They produce honeydew and transmit virosis. Deformed fruits
and underdeveloped.

or lice

be of various types: from caterpillars or larvae of lepidoptera
green or yellow, to adult insects like
beetles. They eat leaves, flowers or shoots.


They suck
the sap like aphids, they differ in being
almost motionless and living protected by waxed badges
white or pinkish yellow. They stare at each other
leaves branches, fruits.

Scale insects

microlepidoptera larvae that "undermine" the area
green of the leaf leaving the cuticle intact.
The leaves dry and fall.

of lepidopteran miners

caterpillars or larvae of butterflies that they destroy with the
their erosion, the fruit pulp being formed.
these subsequently fall or remain buggy.

codling moth

sucking butterflies that prick young leaves
or buds. The affected organs curl up
with silver coloring


insects with transparent wings that suck the sap
fixed on leaves, branches, fruits. They cause weakening
of the plant, early fall of the fruits and abundant
production of honeydew with "fumaggini"


tiny spiders that they cause with their bites
on the yellowing leaves that later dry up
totally. They are very mobile and when they attack
massively the plant also produce small

or red and yellow spiders