Rotten apples? What to do with them? Avoid mistakes people do over and over again

It seems that rotten apples are part of life. You always get some “bad” apples. Even if you take care of your trees as you should, chances are that your tree will be attacked by moniliosis, which is the main cause for fruit rotting. Fruit attacked by moniliosis is inedible and you should not consume the good parts either, because the whole apple contains dangerous toxins. You should collect rotten apples and disposed of them soon as possible.

Compost?

Apples infected with moniliosis are usually not suitable for compost, except for so-called hot composting. If you do a hot-composting you place a thick layer of a suitable material, such as cut grass, together with the rotten apples in your composter. You may also use lime to disinfect compost. However, your goal should be to prevent and eliminate moniliosis and this is done by proper pruning and fertilizing. When apples starts falling in June you should go through the crown and remove the bad ones.

Photo: Pixabay

Things to which out for

If you let apples grow very close together in dense clusters you are inviting many diseases – not just monoliosis. It is important to reduce the number of fruits and thin clusters. If apples grow in large quantities, the tree may not be able to support the weight and some branches may even break. Large clusters tend to develop smaller fruit too. Check the fruit regularly while it is ripening. Any fruit showing signs of damage such as scars, cracks and other skin damage should be removed immediately – damage is the entrance door for many infections and you may lose even healthy apples.

Unwelcomed wasps

Insects can transmit various diseases too. You definitely do not want wasps in your garden, because they will bite fruits and eat the flesh. Sometimes they eat the entire fruit. If wasps feast on multiple trees they can easily spread diseases across your garden. Make wasp traps from PET bottles.

Forficula auricularia – European earwig

European earwig can also transmit diseases… Yes, we know there are very useful against aphids, so you should not mind them but… The best thing is to build special shelters for them and lure them to go to one place. When they fall in the trap you can collect them and transfer them to another place in your garden.

Post-harvest rot

Rot may appear on harvested fruits too. That is why it is important to check stored apples regularly – rot spreads rather quickly and can destroy a large part of the harvest. The most important thing is to prevent damage to the fruit and you do that by harvesting slowly and gently.

Source: https://www.ireceptar.cz/zahrada/nahnila-jablka-30001002.html
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Preview photo: Pixabay