General Information Twig blight is a fungal disease which causes a dieback of fruit-bearing twigs on highbush and rabbiteye blueberry bushes. Symptoms Visible symptoms first occur in late February to early March in southeastern North Carolina, soon after the flower buds reach the green-tip stage. Individual buds turn brown and die, followed by browning and necrosis of bark around the bud as the fungus spreads from the blighted bud into the twig. The disease usually spreads down the twig until most or all of the flower buds on an individual twig are killed. Twig blight can continue to infect fruit-bearing twigs at all stages of development.
New infections occur continually as buds open, flower, and produce fruit.
The slender leaf-bearing buds which develop lower on the twig are not initial points of infection with this disease, but they may be killed as the infection spreads down from the flower buds. After the twig is killed, fruiting bodies called pycnidia are produced just under the surface of the bark. Pruning can be performed to remove infected twigs prior to spore release in the spring. This will decrease the amount of disease inoculum present at budbreak. While this technique may not be practical for large commercial operations, growers with less acreage and home gardeners should benefit from this sanitation method.