It turns out our lovely little tree has Coryneum Blight – a nasty fungal disease that effects both fruit and foliage. Once blight has found the tree, it will overwinter and continue to re-infect the tree. The best strategy is typically to spray the tree with a copper application or other fungicide in the fall and perhaps again in early spring before it blooms.
But what can I do now? The answer is not much. Pests and disease will go after weaker plants, so I can try to give the apricot tree a boost with some organic fruit tree fertilizer. I will have to baby it this summer though, as the fertilizer will encourage new, tender growth right as we approach the hot season.
Another strategy: remove the tree and start over with something hardier. Obviously I don’t like this idea. The apricot has been a gorgeous addition to our backyard with early spring flowers, a lovely vase-shape and has quickly grown into the homestead.
I will continue my quest for finding a solution, but spraying our trees every year is a level of maintenance I would rather avoid. I am trying to enjoy the tree as much as possible this season as I mull over our options. Our apricot friend may not be around next year.
Oh no! I hope you can nurse it back to health. It would be a shame to lose it.
Thankyou, that was very helpful, we have a peach tree aswell w blight, we have sprayed copper sulfate fungicide on the peach tree, well wait and see if peach tree gets through it, otherwise we will b replanting new ones. Thanks again for the tip 👍
An update many years later for you: I spray my apricot every winter now about three times while dormant, about two weeks apart. I do not spray after flower buds form. It is the only way I can minimize the blight. Some years it still affects the tree, despite the spray, but it definitely makes a difference in minimizing the affects of blight. The fruit is so delicious that it’s worth the effort for me!