Issue with wild chokecherries - Ask Extension
I have noticed that there appears to be an infestation that is causing strange growths to appear on recently-emerged flowers on wild chokecherries in ...
Knowledgebase
Issue with wild chokecherries #796443
Asked June 17, 2022, 11:26 AM EDT
I have noticed that there appears to be an infestation that is causing strange growths to appear on recently-emerged flowers on wild chokecherries in the Tower area. I harvest chokecherries for wine so I pay attention to the crop every year and while the number of flowers look to be exceptionally high, a large percentage of them on many plants are exhibiting these strange growths. I've read about so-called "plum pockets" and am wondering if this is what is happening here.
Just FYI, I'm also the publisher of the local weekly newspaper and am interested in writing about this issue, so I'm looking for information on the cause as well as diagnosis. Could this be the result of recent wet conditions? Is this condition likely to spread to the other fruits that aren't currently affected?
Thanks for any help you can offer. I can be reached by phone if you'd prefer at<personal data hidden>.
St. Louis County Minnesota
Expert Response
Thank you for sending your question to extension.
What appears to be plum pockets on your chokecherry tree may be a gall made by a fly like insect called the chokecherry midge. Cut the gall open and look for their orange larvae inside.
https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/chiwonlee/plsc368/student/papers99/mbjerke/index.htm Plum pocket is an unusual disease that causes unripe plums to grow abnormally large within a month or two after bloom. It is caused by the fungus Taphrina communis.
Manage this disease by removing infected fruit from trees before they produce spores. https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/diseases/plum_pockets https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/plum-pockets
Chokecherry Gall Midge adult has a Bright orange larvae that feed in infested chokecherry fruit and causes the seeds to abort.The gall is the enlarged fruit, which is pear-shaped and hollow. There may be a combination of normal berries and galls on the same fruit cluster. Initially the gall is green in color but changes to red as it develops.Make sure there isn't any infested fruit left lying on the ground at the end of the season
in which the insect might overwinter and re-infest your fruit next
season. Based on the consistently poor performance of the chemicals,no insecticides are registered for chokecherry midge control. https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/insects/chokecherry-gall-midge.html https://bugguide.net/node/view/205477
https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/chiwonlee/plsc368/student/papers99/mbjerke/index.htm
What appears to be plum pockets on your chokecherry tree may be a gall made by a fly like insect called the chokecherry midge. Cut the gall open and look for their orange larvae inside.
https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/chiwonlee/plsc368/student/papers99/mbjerke/index.htm Plum pocket is an unusual disease that causes unripe plums to grow abnormally large within a month or two after bloom. It is caused by the fungus Taphrina communis.
Manage this disease by removing infected fruit from trees before they produce spores. https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/diseases/plum_pockets https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/plum-pockets
Chokecherry Gall Midge adult has a Bright orange larvae that feed in infested chokecherry fruit and causes the seeds to abort.The gall is the enlarged fruit, which is pear-shaped and hollow. There may be a combination of normal berries and galls on the same fruit cluster. Initially the gall is green in color but changes to red as it develops.Make sure there isn't any infested fruit left lying on the ground at the end of the season
in which the insect might overwinter and re-infest your fruit next
season. Based on the consistently poor performance of the chemicals,no insecticides are registered for chokecherry midge control. https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/insects/chokecherry-gall-midge.html https://bugguide.net/node/view/205477
https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/chiwonlee/plsc368/student/papers99/mbjerke/index.htm
