Carrots may develop aster yellows or hairy root. Many flower species including petunias, marigolds, zinnia, coneflowers, and many other composites may develop aster yellows. Aster yellows may be expressed as a general yellowing of the leaves and in some cases the flowers may become reduced in size, greenish in color and somewhat leaf-like. Brown rot fruit mummies are beginning to appear on plum and apricot trees in the state. Brown rot is one of the big three diseases of stone fruits along with black knot and plum pockets.
Apricots are probably the most susceptible stone fruit species to brown rot.
Brown rot may cause branch tip dieback in a wet spring. As such it is important to remove the fallen fruit under stone fruit trees and remove the shriveled, dried, fruit mummies from the trees in the fall. These old fruits will serve as overwintering sites for the fungus to lead to disease next spring. The disease may also be managed with fungicide applications during the bloom stage. However, at this point in the season, sanitation is the most important control measure.