Fruit rot of mature dried plum fruit caused by the brown rot fungus. A new, interactive Web site developed by the University of California to help dried plum growers make brown rot management decisions may serve as a model for other stone fruits. Brown rot, caused by Monilinia fructicola and M. laxa, is the number-one disease problem for stone fruits in California, said Dr. Themis Michailides, plant pathologist at UC’s Kearney Agricultural Center in Parlier. Field losses can be extensive and can ruin half or more of the fruit before harvest, with the remaining fruit subject to postharvest infection. Michailides […]