Disease Note

First Report of Monilinia Leaf and Shoot Blight of Peach in Georgia. D. H. Tucker, Jr.,, Extension Plant Pathology Department, University of Georgia, Athens 30602. N. E. McGlohon, Extension Plant Pathology Department, University of Georgia, Athens 30602. Plant Dis. 69:811. Accepted for publication 18 June 1985. Copyright 1985 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-69-811d.

A blight of peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) shoots on trees showing severe leaf curl (Taphrina deformans (Berk.) Tul.) was prevalent in northern Georgia in 1984. A Monilia sp. was noted in field observations of blighted shoots but was not observed on green fruit or leaves not previously infected with leaf curl. The shoot necrosis usually extended 7.5–10 cm from shoot apices, and necrotic leaves did not abscise from diseased shoots. Laboratory isolations from blighted shoots consistently yielded Monilinia fructicola (Wint.) Honey. Similar symptoms were reported in Connecticut in 1928, but other reports of this blight are rare. Apparently, environmental conditions are a major factor for disease development. Cool, wet conditions prevailed in northern Georgia in the spring of 1984. Such peach diseases as leaf curl, scab (Cladosporium carpophilum Thuem.), and anthracnose (Glomerella cingulata (Ston.) Spauld. & Schrenk) were more severe in 1984 than in previous years.