Healthy Fruit, Vol. 27, No. 11, June 18, 2019
Jon Clements, Author (unless otherwise noted) and Editor
CONTENTS
Current degree day accumulations
New England Tree Fruit Management Guide
CURRENT DEGREE DAY ACCUMULATIONS
UMass Cold Spring Orchard, Belchertown, MA | 17-June |
Base 43 (NEWA, since March 1) | 1001 |
Base 50 (NEWA, since March 1) | 556 |
UPCOMING PEST EVENTS
Coming events | Degree days (Base 43) |
Black stem borer 1st flight subsides | 832 to 1214 |
Cherry fruit fly 1st catch | 755 to 1289 |
Dogwood borer 1st catch | 751 to 1215 |
Obliquebanded leafroller 1st catch | 796 to 978 |
Oriental fruit moth 1st flight subsides | 826 to 1098 |
Peachtree borer 1st catch | 781 to 1313 |
White apple leafhopper 1st brood adults 1st catch | 679 to 1041 |
UPCOMING MEETINGS
June 20 (Thursday). SARE Grower Grant Twilight Meeting - June 20, 2019. 5:30-8:00. Red Fire Farm, 184 Meadow Rd., Montague MA. Red Fire Farm received a NE-SARE Grower Grant to look at some innovative weed management systems for organic strawberry production. Come see what was learned through this project. Meeting is free but bring $10 if you would like to purchase a simple supper. RSVP to umassfruit@umass.edu is required for planning purposes. More info at: https://ag.umass.edu/fruit/events/umasssare-organic-strawberry-twilight-meeting.
July 10 (Wednesday). Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ Association Summer Meeting. Sholan Farms, 1125 Pleasant Street, Leominster, MA. Details and registration coming soon…
July 21-24, 2019. International Fruit Tree Association Summer Study Tour, Ontario, Canada. Details and registration here...
THE WAY I SEE IT
We are sad to note the untimely passing of Tyler Hardy of Brookdale Fruit Farm in Hollis New Hampshire. The fruit growing community has suffered a loss, and our condolences go out to the Hardy Family.
June drop, or whatever you want to call it, has kicked in. Let’s hope it ends up being a very manageable and high quality crop of apples. If you need to do hand thinning, do it ASAP. Or, spray Ethephon, carbaryl, and Maxcel and they will ALL fall off! See Horticulture.
Wet weather means fungicide applications should be ongoing. Summer disease issues will kick in soon. In fact, according to NEWA many orchards have reached the 190 hours of accumulated wetting when sooty blotch and flyspeck becomes a concern. Fungicide sprays should start now and continue at no less than 14 to 21 day intervals, the 21 days only if it gets dry. (Fat chance that will happen I am thinking.) Let’s not have a repeat of last year where a lot of fruit rots took their toll. See the updated summer disease fungicide table in Diseases for control and rotation options.
Oblique-banded leafroller adults have (barely) started flying. Will let you know as soon as we see sustained trap catch which will start the degree-day model for treatment (where necessary). First potato leafhopper showing up. Alarm! Alarm! Little buggers can cause serious stunting of new foliage which can stop growth of young trees. I’d be out there with some insecticide on young trees (ideally scout first for PLH). See NETFMG for insecticide options: http://netreefruit.org/apples/spray-table/9-summer-apple And this just in from the Jentsch Lab: Potato Leafhopper Management: Reducing Fireblight Risk & Maintaining Growth on Young Apple Trees. June 18th
Rumor/report of first fire blight strikes. Right on time. We’d like to know about it if you see any suspect fire blight.
NEW ENGLAND TREE FRUIT MANAGEMENT GUIDE
The New England Extension tree fruit specialists -- which include myself, Dan Cooley, Jaime Pinero, and Elizabeth Garofalo at UMass. Mary Concklin at UConn, Heather Faubert at URI, Terry Bradshaw at UVM, George Hamilton and Anna Wallingford at UNH, and Glen Koehler and Renae Moran at UMaine -- have officially launched, and updated for 2019 -- an online edition of the New England Tree Fruit Management Guide. Note that is it easy to print any of the sections, if you want to have old-school reference, for example, to hang on your spray shed wall. Also, it is quite mobile-friendly so make a home screen shortcut to here: http://netreefruit.org. Finally, if you really, really want a printed version, order here: https://www.umassextensionbookstore.com/products/29.
INSECTS
Jaime Pinero
Potato leafhoppers are active!
Potato leafhoppers have been found in some orchards. Refer to the New England Tree Fruit Management Guide (https://netreefruit.org/apples/spray-table/9-summer) for a number of optional materials against high populations of leafhoppers. The table below shows the most important characteristics of the potato leafhopper and of a relative, the white apple leafhopper.
PICTURES TAKEN AT THE UMASS COLD SPRING ORCHARD (photo credit: Jon Clements)
Potato leafhopper at UMass Orchard, 18-June | Potato leafhopper “burn” (and yellowing and curling) of young apple foliage at UMass Orchard, 18-June |
Is it time to spray against oblique-banded leafrollers (OBLR)?
In Belchertown, sustained catches (BIOFIX) of OBLR took place ca. June 13th 2019. Because OBLR females have been laying eggs, then (1) set this date as a BIOFIX and, (2) use degree-day model to determine when OBLR eggs are hatching and most susceptible to insecticides.
Using the NEWA Degree Day Calculator (http://newa.cornell.edu/index.php?page=degree-day-calculator), use June 13 as the accumulation start date. Choose Belchertown station 2 (in our case), and select 43 degrees for the “Degree Day Type”. Below is the output of the NEWA DD Calculator:
Apply insecticide starting at 360DD (base 43°F) after BIOFIX. May need 2-3 sprays 10-14 days apart.
Note: OBLR has a propensity to develop resistance to some insecticides. A good long-term strategy for OBLR control us to rotate among several chemical classes. Bt is a good, inexpensive option, especially if the late afternoon temperatures climb above 70°F.
Below is additional information on OBLR and on red-banded leafrollers (RBLF):
Dan Cooley and Liz Garofalo
Last summer’s southern weather pattern created a lot of rot problems in apples. In part, this was because specifically managing summer apple rots has not been necessary. If the warm wet weather, particularly the warm nights, return, then there’s a good chance that black rot and bitter rot will be back. Plan to use effective fungicides if it does.
It can make a difference which rot you have. Bitter rot has small dots of pinkish spores in the rotted circle. Black rot has bands of lighter and darker rot, but no pink spots. In the pictures below, bitter rot is shown first (Keith Yoder, Virginia Tech) and black rot is below it (Dave Rosenberger, Cornell).
HORTICULTURE
No particular updates this week, but see below… :-)
What happens app. one week later when you spray Golden Delicious with Ethephon, Vydate, and Maxcel. Apples on ground are one inch plus and still raining down. Achieved objective of no hand thinning and return bloom enhancement. Don’t do this at home! Waiting for similarly treated Suncrisp and Goldrush to come off...fingers crossed.
SMALL FRUIT UPDATE
Sonia Schloemann
2019-2020 New England Small Fruit Management Guide: available online at - http://ag.umass.edu/fruit/ne-small-fruit-management-guide. Print copies are also available $15 plus shipping by ordering from your state’s Extension Office or by going to https://www.umassextensionbookstore.com/products/108.
SARE Grower Grant Twilight Meeting - June 20, 2019. 5:30-8:00. Red Fire Farm, 184 Meadow Rd., Montague MA. Red Fire Farm received a NE-SARE Grower Grant to look at some innovative weed management systems for organic strawberry production. Come see what was learned through this project. Meeting is free but bring $10 if you would like to purchase a simple supper. RSVP to umassfruit@umass.edu is required for planning purposes. More info at: https://ag.umass.edu/fruit/events/umasssare-organic-strawberry-twilight-meeting.
Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) - Trap captures for SWD around the region have continued over the last week, albeit in very small numbers. Still this is very significant as it is over 2 weeks earlier than last year. This means that earlier ripening fruit (Cherries, Strawberries) are vulnerable and later ripening fruit (Raspberries, Blueberries), will likely face higher pressure from this invasive pest than in past years. No new pesticides have been registered for controlling SWD since last year, so the management charts remain the same.
See them at:
Small Fruit: http://ag.umass.edu/sites/ag.umass.edu/files/pdf-doc-ppt/2018_swd_insecticides_for_small_fruit.pdf
Stone Fruit: http://ag.umass.edu/sites/ag.umass.edu/files/pdf-doc-ppt/2018_swd_insecticides_for_stone_fruit.pdf
Other recommendations include 1) create an open canopy that allows good sunlight penetration and air circulation, 2) monitor with traps, 3) pick frequently and thoroughly, 4) spray recommended materials on a 7± day basis in fruit that is ripening through harvest (see links for recommended adjuvants and additives), 5) perform a salt flotation test twice a week in harvested fruit to check for infestation.
CROP CONDITIONS: Strawberries: Harvest continues. Yield and quality seem good. Some fields have leaf spot appearing on susceptible varieties. New plantings are in and growing well. A Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) larva (1) has been reported in one strawberry field in Southeastern MA. This is a wake-up call for growers to monitor their later varieties with traps to determine if a spray program is needed and by checking fruit for infestation using the salt flotation test. See the link above for the most current list of labeled pesticides (conventional and organic) for strawberries and other small fruit. Spittle Bug have been reported in some fields. They do little damage to the plants or fruit and are mainly an esthetic pest. No management measures should be needed now. Just a little explaining to the PYO customers. Potato Leafhopper arrived last week. Damage isn’t widespread yet but will be most apparent on newly planted fields. See the NE Small Fruit Management Guide for recommended materials and rates for managing all of these problems. Brambles: Floricane raspberry varieties are setting fruit with late varieties still blooming. We’re still a week or more away from much ripening. Botrytis Gray Mold can still be a problem now, especially if the weather stays wet. Potato Leafhopper (PLN) is here. Check the link to see what hopper burn looks like on raspberries. Blueberries: Fruit is sizing well. Bushes that had a lot of shoot strikes from Mummy Berry are looking better now as they grow new foliage. We’re not out of the woods yet, though, because the fruit infection stage isn’t visible yet. We should know in another week or so how bad the fruit infections are. There are some reports in NY of Cherry/Cranberry Fruitworm (CBFW/CFW) hatch. Scout fields for clusters where a single berry turns blue. This is the first sign of infestation. Later you will see frass and some webbing together of the fruit. See the NE Small Fruit Management Guide for recommended materials and rates for managing all of these problems. Other Fruit: Elderberries are in bloom.
Berry Growth Stages: A) Ripe strawberries, B) Strawberries under low tunnel, C) Blueberries sizing up, D) Elderberries blooming, E) Gooseberries sizing up, F) Rovada Red Currant starting to color.
Some shots from an excellent twilight meeting last week at Tougas Family Farm in Northboro, MA. Thanks André, Mo, Phyllis and crew.
HAWKEYE’S CORNER (notes from the field)
Liz Garofalo
Liz is on annual leave this week, therefore no notes from the field...
GUEST ARTICLE
No GUEST ARTICLE this week...
FACEBOOK ME
USEFUL LINKS
27th Annual March Message (2019) to Tree Fruit Growers (Google Doc)
UMass Fruit Advisor: http://umassfruit.com
Scaffolds Fruit Journal: http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/scafolds/
Network for Environment and Weather Applications (NEWA): http://newa.cornell.edu
Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/jmcextman) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/jmcextman)
The next Healthy Fruit will be published on or about June 25, 2019. In the meantime, feel free to contact any of the UMass Fruit Team if you have any fruit-related production questions.
