Monilinia fructicola has two spore types. The ascospores, which are produced sexually, are stored over the winter in mummified (rotted and dried) fruits and in twig and branch cankers. They are released in the spring and carried by the wind to unopened blossoms and young shoots. If conditions are warm and wet, the spores will germinate. The summer spores, conidia, are produced vegetatively (self-cloning) and are carried by the wind and insects to other parts of the tree where they can infect the maturing fruit.