Fruit infected by the fungus Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi falls on the ground and withers into shriveled-up berries that seem deceased. But it turns out those "mummies" are actually the fungal version of the fruit — undead berry corpses.
Mummy berries are hard, pink then
white and shrivelled. They reduce yields and those berries that drop onto the ground in the summer will produce spores the following spring which continues the disease cycle. “Most growers would recognize the hard white shriveled mummy berries on their bushes at harvest time and may find those berries falling to the ground or in the harvester,” Teasdale explains. She says the disease is controllable and growers have a variety of tools to work with.
“Most growers use fungicide sprays at bud break to protect the foliage when the mummy berry spores are first being released. That is the best time to break the disease cycle. If mummy berry symptoms appear during bloom, additional fungicide sprays applied during bloom can help protect the flowers from infection.”
Some organic growers rely on bio fungicides and others rake or mulch the ground beneath the bushes in January- February before bud break to disrupt spore release.
“There are many different fungicides that can be used. The best advice for growers is to consult the Berry Production Guide for the various types of fungicide and the correct method of application.
“A good practice for farms that have a history of mummy berries is to put on two or three fungicide sprays typically during the months of March and April,” Teasdale advises.
The weather is another issue growers need to be concerned with, she notes. “Infection at bud break requires leaf wetness. The risk of early-season infection is highest when we get many consecutive days of rain and temperatures are above 10 degrees. During bloom the spores are spread to the flowers by bees. Bee activity is greater during warm, dry weather, which is what we want for pollination.” Teasdale said all growers participating in the China or Korea export program are required to hire a third party
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Integrated Pest Management (IPM) consultant. The consultants monitor leaf bud growth and spore release in late February and early March to recommend precise timing of fungicide sprays.
“They also monitor for symptoms of infection during bloom and recommend additional fungicide sprays if necessary. As the berries ripen, the consultant assesses the level of fruit infection before harvest and identifies any mummy berry hotspots in the field.” The hotspot areas should not be
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picked for export to China or Korea. “When the picked berries go to the packer, high-tech sorting equipment is used to ensure no mummy berries or fragments of mummy berries make it into the clamshells of packed fruit.” Growers who are planning to participate in the Asian export program need to be aware of the potential mummy berry problem as well as the SWD (Spotted Wing Drosophila) insect which this coming summer due to a warm winter is expected to be worse than last year.
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