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APSnet Image of the Week
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Choanephora fruit rot on yellow straight neck squash (Cucurbita pepo) caused by Choanephora cucurbitarum. This disease, also known as "wet rot" and "blossom end rot" can destroy many blossoms and fruit during extended periods of damp weather.
Photograph courtesy Gerald J. Holmes
Dept. Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University
Box 7616, Raleigh, NC 27695
Choanephora fruit rot is favored by warm (>25C), wet weather. Both blossoms and fruit are affected and fruit nearest the ground are more likely to become diseased. It is not unusual to find 30-40% of blossoms and/or fruit infected with the fungus. While the disease is destructive, it is also as short-lived as the conditions which promote it. Subsequent fruit sets are usually not affected unless conducive conditions reoccur. The fungus resembles Rhizopus stolonifer, but spore-bearing heads are branched; a feature that can be seen with a 20X hand lens.
Under optimum conditions, squash fruit can develop from flower to marketable fruit in 1 to 2 days. Rapid fruit development, the ephemeral nature of the disease and the conditions which promote it make control measures impractical. The disease is also common on pumpkin, okra, snap bean, and southern pea. This photograph was taken in Fall, 1997 in Johnston County, North Carolina (GPS coordinates: 35°16.06N 078°23.64W).
APS publication number: IW00007
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