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We love apricots, but we hate them a little bit too.
That’s mainly because they get so many diseases. On top of that, they’re vulnerable to frost, and they can generally just be very fussy to grow.
In short, lots of bad things can happen to apricot trees.
Fungal diseases of apricot trees
Apricot trees are particularly vulnerable to fungal diseases, which we’ve seen firsthand on our farm many times.
Our wet, warm springs create the perfect conditions for fungal diseases like Blossom blight, Brown rot, Shot hole, and Freckle to take hold. Some diseases are mainly aesthetic, but some have the potential to ruin your crop.
Moisture from rain can linger on leaves, creating the perfect conditions for fungal outbreaks. We’re speaking from (frequent) experience when we say that infections can quickly turn a promising crop into a disappointment.
Staying proactive with prevention and early treatment is key to keeping your trees healthy and productive year after year.
Blossom blight
Of all the fungal diseases that affect apricot trees, Blossom blight is the worst. As the name suggests, the disease affects the blossoms, or flowers.
The fungus causes the flowers to die. Apricot trees only flower once each season. If a flower dies, it can’t turn into fruit, which means you lose the crop.
The infection then moves into the twigs and small laterals, causing dieback.
Brown rot
Brown rot is a very descriptive name for this disease of apricot (and other stone fruit) trees. This fungus causes fruit to rot, and the rotten spots are brown.
Brown rot is caused by the same fungus as Blossom blight. If you get Blossom blight in the tree in spring, there’s a good chance you’ll get Brown rot later in the season.
The good news is that it’s possible to prevent the spread of Brown rot with good monitoring and appropriate spraying.
Freckle
Freckle is pretty easy to spot. It develops as spots on the fruit that look like, well, freckles on the skin. This disease is also one of the many problems that can show up in your leaves.
A really bad case will definitely downgrade an apricot from a “first” to a “second” grade.
The good news is that this is usually just a cosmetic problem that affects the skin and leaves. The fruit itself will be perfectly good to eat and delicious.
Shot hole
Shot hole is another common fungal disease affecting apricot trees. It leaves their leaves riddled with small, round holes—almost as if they’ve been shot with tiny pellets.
Shot hole starts as reddish-brown spots on the leaves. They gradually dry out and fall away from the leaves. It doesn’t make much difference to the health of the tree, though it does reduce the photosynthetic potential of the tree a little bit.
In bad infections, symptoms may also be seen on the fruit. Like Freckle, it is only cosmetic and doesn’t affect the quality of the fruit.
Other problems with apricot trees
There’s another downside to apricots – they love to crack, as you can see in the photo of an Earlicot apricot at the top of this blog.
In our experience, the severity of the cracking differs a lot between varieties—some (like Earlicot and Poppicot, for example) are much more likely to crack than others.
Cracking is more likely in a wet year, but even in a relatively dry spring some varieties seem to always crack regardless. Does that mean you shouldn’t plant them in your garden?
We reckon they still deserve a place. As its name suggests, Earlicot is one of the earliest varieties to ripen, starting the fruit season weeks before other varieties.
Even if they crack the fruit will usually hang on the tree and ripen anyway. They’re still fine to eat if you don’t care what they look like. They’re also absolutely delicious made up as jam or preserved.
So yes, we think they still deserve a place in your garden (if you have the room).
Apricot trees and frost
Apricot trees are especially vulnerable to frost because they flower very early, when frost risk is at its highest. Frost can terminally damage the flowers, which can drastically reduce fruit production.
To protect your trees, consider planting them in a sheltered location, covering them with frost cloths on cold nights, and using water to help regulate soil temperature. If you’re planning to mulch your trees, put it off until after the frost risk has passed.
How to prevent and treat disease in apricot trees
Keeping your apricot trees healthy means staying ahead of potential diseases before they take hold. Here are four key strategies to reduce disease risk:
- Use Organic Sprays – The general principle of spraying to prevent fungal disease is the application of appropriate organic sprays in spring. Copper sprays are most effective but have a negative impact on the soil so should be used very sparingly. Wettable sulphur is a much “softer” alternative spray. For severe disease infections, consider an organic spray in winter. fungicides during the growing season to prevent infections like brown rot and shot hole.
- Prune for Airflow – Open up the canopy with regular pruning to improve air circulation and reduce moisture buildup.
- Maintain Good Orchard Hygiene – Remove fallen leaves, fruit, and pruned branches to prevent fungal spores from overwintering.
- Water Wisely – Avoid overhead watering, as wet leaves create the perfect environment for fungal diseases. Instead, use drip irrigation or water at the base.
Give us some good news about apricot trees…
Apricots are not all bad news!
One of the things we love about them is how resilient apricot trees can be. We’ve seen them recover from terrible disease outbreaks time and again, and go on to thrive.
You can see remnant evidence of Blossom blight on this shoot (above). First, the flowers rotted and died, and then the shoot also died back.
But the tree has managed to isolate the disease and stop it from spreading any further back towards the trunk, by isolating it with a blob of gum. Then it’s grown three magnificent new, strong shoots – healthy new growth to replace the old!
Apricots are fussy, but they’re also tough. Despite all the potential (and actual) problems, it’s worth persevering with your apricot trees.
This is particularly true because it’s so hard to buy good apricots! They are one of those fruits that suffer most from modern picking and storage techniques. It’s hard to find that “home-grown” deliciousness when you buy them off the shelf. Taking the time to upskill your apricot tree care and knowledge will definitely pay off in the long term!
Related Articles
Noticed any brown rot in your stone fruit?
Brown rot in your fruit can be devastating, but it is preventable with the right knowledge, understanding, and equipment.
Dieback and cankers on fruit trees
Die-back and cankers on your fruit tree may be a sign that it has root rot caused by Phytophthora infection.
Why you should pick up fruit from the ground
Picking up your fruit from the ground is the first principle of organic orchard hygiene, and one of your best lines of defence against pests.
Just wondering if you have any ideas to stop dieback of leaves on my pear ,plum and apricot trees. Tips turn brown then whole leaf dies and falls.Its a major problem atm.
Hi Prim, there are lots of things that might be causing these symptoms, from nutritional problems, to over-watering, to various diseases, or even insects! I’d suggest you start with our e-book “What’s That Spot”, and see if you can find some photos that look similar to the symptoms you’re experiencing. This is also the exact sort of problem we help our Grow Great Fruit members with, so you might be interested to look at that program as well. Good luck with your trees!
hi,
Cant work out why my to apricots one of which is a moorpark the other Ive forgotten have been in two years and I have had probably 3 or 4 apricots from these trees.. They have been well,pruned not overwatered and sprayed at the right times..I’m very puzzled..
Hi Robbie, in the first couple of years the tree is busy putting its energy into growing the branches it needs rather than growing fruit – in fact we don’t usually let our trees have any fruit until they’re at least 3 years old, or until the “establishment pruning” phase is over, i.e. when you can look at the tree and see that all the framework branches are established in the right place. Once they’re in place you can ease back on the hard pruning, and let the tree settle down and start fruiting. If it’s flowering well but not fruiting then you need to do some detective work to figure out whether it’s frost, disease or lack of pollination that might be causing the problem.
I have yellow peach trees and I do early spraying but once the fruit starts to set
I get leaf curl all over the tree what else can I do to prevent this from happening
next season.
Hey Vincenzo, we have another blog about leaf curl and how to prevent it – here’s the link: https://growgreatfruit.com/how-to-prevent-leaf-curl/
Our Apricots as they ripen are rotting litggkke black bugs appear in the fruit
Hi Brenda, yes they will be carpophilus beetle, very annoying little bugs. We explain more about them and how to prevent them in this course – https://growgreatfruit.com/product/protect-fruit-from-pesky-pests/
Hi there, our fruit has been affected pretty heavily by freckly fungus this year and we are wanting to make an apricot jam out of it? Do you know if there are any issues with using very freckled fruit for a jam? Is it ok to eat?
Thanks!
Hi Joseph, it’s been a shocker of a year for freckle this year because it’s been so wet. Yes, they’re fine to use for apricot jam, the fruit is still completely fine to eat, you might just want to peel the skin first if they’re really ugly. Happy jam-making!
I have a 5 year old Apricot tree. It doesn’t produce a lot of fruit, but does produce some. This year it has a fuller crop but the foliage is not very robust. It seems to be lacking leaves
Any thoughts?
Hi Mike, if your tree is flowering adequately, then the two main reasons for the lack of crop in apricots are frost, and disease (mainly a nasty disease called blossom blight – we explain how to prevent it in this short course – https://growgreatfruit.com/product/keep-your-fruit-trees-free-from-disease/). However the poor foliage, and if the tree is not flowering well both point to nutritional issues, so we’d suggest giving it a good feed!
Hi
I have some sap leaks and occasionally a smaller branch dies off of my apricot. I don’t think it is borers because usually I can dig them out. What do you think it is and what would you suggest to do?
Thanks
Larry
Hi Larry, there’s a couple of possibilities – the main one is a disease called Blossom blight, which is fungal. Another is a bacterial disease called Bacterial spot. Both are described, with the appropriate treatments, in this short course – https://growgreatfruit.com/product/keep-your-fruit-trees-free-from-disease/
We have apricots that taste bitter. Raw, not so bad, but cooked or freeze dried bitter. What is happening to these apricots?
I have a what’s supposed to be miniature apricot tree in a pot I must admit it hasn’t been that well looked after It fruits well with a good crop but as they ripen they get these large dark spots, they don’t rot, they just shrivel up on the tree I don’t think it’s brown rot as it stays just on the skin and the fruit inside is delicious but they just shrivel as they ripen I’m not sure if they are ok to eat
Hi Yvonne, are there any other signs of disease on the tree? E.g. oozing sap, cankers, blossom blight? It’s probably fine to eat the fruit if they are delicious as you say, but definitely worth getting to the bottom of whatever is going on so that you can help your tree thrive. Thanks, Meg – GGF team.
Hi I’ve been in this house since 2014 and the apricot tree was all ready here. In the first few years I had over 100 kg and as time has gone buy I’m getting less every year.This year I will be lucky to get 5 kg some good size fruit have been dropping off and are totally green . I was told to give it a savage prune ie ( a chainsaw) not to the truck but the branches. I don’t want to do that until I’m sure it will work.
Hope you can help. Cheers Dale
Hi Dale,
There could be a few things going on – are there any signs of disease on the tree? Has anything changed in the garden ecosystem since 2014? And what sort of pruning regime have you had? I’d suggest starting with our pruning resources to see if that might help – renovation pruning, and general pruning advice. Make sure you read the renovation pruning info before you grab the chainsaw! Hope that helps, Meg – GGF team.
Hello, I’m hoping you might be able to help me. My apricot tree is 8 years old and it produces lots of apricots, however this year and last the fruit has a fine white vein ruining through its flesh. It comes groom the seed and ruins the fruit. It makes you gag when eating it. I have tried stewing it, jam and dehydrating but it is all uneatable. I am puzzled as to what this is and have no idea why it’s just started to happen? I would love any direction/ suggestions. Thanks, Kim
Can you grow a dwarf and also can you grow one in a pot in a glass enclosure
Hi Irene, Dwarfing trees are available for most types of fruti – you specifcially need to look them though. Our ebook on growing fruit trees in pots may be of interest. Cheers.