Sweet cherry pests and diseases: how to recognise them

At a glance

How to grow sweet cherry · All pests and diseases

Pests

• Cherry fruit flyA brownish, soft patch on the cherry near the stalk.Also called: European cherry fruit flyPhoto: Holger Krisp, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
• San José scaleA red or reddish-purple ring around each scale on young twigs and fruit.Photo: Zihao Wang, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
• Scale insectsSticky honeydew on leaves or on surfaces below the plant, often with black sooty mould.Photo: BARAKAT2011, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
• Leaf rollersThe bound leaves dry up and turn brown; foliage looks ragged.Also called: tortrix moths, leafroller mothsPhoto: Patrick Clement, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
• Pear slug sawflySlimy, slug-like dark larvae up to about 10 mm long on the upper side of the leaves.Photo: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Diseases

• Brown rot and blossom wiltA soft brown rot spreads over the fruit, with buff pustules often in concentric rings.Photo: Rasbak, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
• Honey fungusPeel back the bark at the base — a creamy-white, paper-thin sheet of fungus between bark and wood that smells strongly of mushrooms confirms it; the bark at the base may crack and bleed.Photo: Stu's Images, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
• Cherry leaf spotSmall reddish to purple round spots on the upper side of the leaves.Photo: Glen R. Stanosz, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Mary L. Torsello, USDA Forest Service, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
• Cytospora cankerSunken dead patches of bark that stretch along the branch more than across it and grow year after year.Photo: Curtis Swift, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
• Shot holeSpot centres turn brown and drop out, leaving small round holes.Photo: Tigerente, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Growing conditions

• Fruit crackingCracks in ripening fruit, either radiating out from the stalk or in rings around the shoulders of the fruit.Photo: Fructibus, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
• GummosisClear gum usually points to a non-living cause such as a wound, frost, sunburn, compacted or waterlogged soil, or planting too deep.Photo: Rosser1954 Roger Griffith, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
• Frost cracks and winter sunscaldLong vertical splits in the trunk, usually on the south or south-west side.Photo: Roger Griffith, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Which sweet cherry problems need quick action?

These spread or do lasting harm fast; check the plants and start treatment the day you see them.

• Brown rot and blossom wilt: Rotted fruit dries into shrivelled mummies that stay on the tree.
• Honey fungus: Black or brown root-like cords ("bootlaces") on the roots and in the soil, mostly in the top 15 cm.

Plants with many of the same problems

• Sour cherry (11)
• Peach (9)
• Plum (9)
• Apple (7)
• Pear (5)
• Walnut (4)
• Quince (3)
• Rose (3)

Which plants each problem affects: sources

The links between these problems and the plant were checked against these pages.

1. ages.at/en/plant/plant-health/pests-from-a-to-z/european-cherry-fruit-fly
2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhagoletis_cerasi
3. ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/INVERT/sanjosescale.html
4. ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/apple/san-jose-scale/
5. extension.umd.edu/resource/scale-insects-indoor-plants
6. ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7408.html
7. ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7473.html
8. rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/tortrix-moth-caterpillars
9. rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/pear-and-cherry-slugworm
10. ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/PESTS/pearslug.html
11. superagronom.com/shkidniki-peretinchastokrili-hymenoptera/vishneviy-slizistiy-pilschik-id1
12. rhs.org.uk/disease/brown-rot
13. rhs.org.uk/disease/blossom-wilt
14. rhs.org.uk/disease/honey-fungus
15. rhs.org.uk/advice/pdfs/honey-fungus-host-list.pdf
16. extension.unh.edu/resource/cherry-leaf-spot
17. uaex.uada.edu/yard-garden/plant-health-clinic/disease-notes/posts/cherry-leaf-spot.aspx
18. extension.psu.edu/cytospora-canker-of-stone-fruits-in-the-home-fruit-planting
19. pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/apple-malus-spp-cytospora-canker
20. ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/shot-hole-or-coryneum-blight/
21. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_hole_disease
22. rhs.org.uk/problems/tomatoes-fruit-splitting-and-cracking
23. aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/watermelon/fruit-diseases/splitting/
24. ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/cultural-tips-for-growing-cantaloupe/
25. rhs.org.uk/fruit/cherries/grow-your-own
26. extension.usu.edu/planthealth/ipm/notes_ag/fruit-gummosis
27. henderson.ces.ncsu.edu/news/pest-alert-gummosis-in-cherries-peaches-and-plums/
28. extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2026-01-30-exploding-trees-closer-look-frost-cra
29. extension.usu.edu/forestry/publications/utah-forest-facts/021-sunscald-injury-or-southwest