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European canker

Neonectria ditissima

This description was machine-translated.

How to spot it

European canker is caused by the fungus Neonectria ditissima and attacks above all pome fruit such as apple, pear and quince. Typical are sunken, ring shaped wounds on branches and shoots, around which the bark bulges like a wall and thickens in concentric layers. Where the attack is severe the shoot dies above the wound, and in winter small reddish spore pustules often appear on the diseased bark. Blossoms and fruits can rot too and dry out into mummified fruits.

Prevention

Choose tough, less susceptible varieties and plant your tree in an airy, free draining position without waterlogging. Thin the crown regularly so that leaves and bark dry off quickly after rain, and cut infected branches back generously into healthy wood, ideally in dry weather. Smoothing pruning wounds and frost cracks cleanly helps to deny the fungus an entry point. Gather mummified fruits and fallen leaves consistently in autumn and dispose of them with the household waste rather than on the compost, in order to lower the infection pressure in the following year.