Since some fungicide treatments for rot control may need to be applied early in the season assessment of orchard factors needs to be done initially pre-bloom and repeated nearer harvest. Near harvest assessments of inoculum are particularly important for rots such as brown rot, the incidence of which can change very rapidly as the fruit matures.
- Do a general walk through the orchard examining trees for canker, low hanging fruit, rot incidence etc.
- Make more formal assessments on at least 20 trees selected at random following a W pattern across the orchard.
- Follow procedures for assessment of orchard factors affecting rotting in store in the table below.