Reduction of Substrate Colonization by Botryosphaeria obtusa. Thomas E. Starkey, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens 30602. Floyd F. Hendrix, Jr., Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens 30602. Plant Dis. 64:292-294. Accepted for publication 26 November 1979. Copyright 1980 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-64-292.

Prunings left in the orchard are an important inoculum source for apple fruit rot fungi. The use of a flail mower immediately after a pruning operation is a suitable alternative to costly physical removal of the prunings. Chopped wood less than 3 cm long is rapidly decomposed by saprophytic organisms, thus reducing pathogen colonization.

Keyword(s): epidemiology, sanitation.