Healthy Fruit, Vol. 29, No. 18, August 31, 2021
Prepared by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Fruit Team
Contents
The way I see it…
Jon Clements
Boy, you could not ask for much worse apple coloring weather to date. Looks like that will improve soon though. I am still looking at apple harvest being on par with “average” but am noticing variable maturity too, probably a result of our extended and rather cool bloom period. It’s going to pay to assess maturity regularly. I suspect the McIntosh harvest will begin in earnest shortly after Labor Day, especially given the fact Labor Day is on the late side this year. Using the starch iodine test to help assess apple maturity is highly recommended. It is Painless and Efficient Maturity Testing. If you need some iodine solution, let me know. And with all the wet and warm weather we have been having I would keep fungicide coverage strong, the 7+11 FRAC group fungicides are particularly effective on rots, they include Luna Sensation, Pristine and Merivon. That’s about all I got other than my maturity report below. I hope you have been able to check in on my weekly apple maturity updates, Tuesday’s at noon, via Zoom: https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/91024255201 Here is a link to this week’s recording: https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/rec/share/YYvXPFOm1QCGeFyN2-rlMHZf-h_5awmb0zePjGNh4OoPw0jr_qvOrrdD4dYNU11U.w0eAm7ZsV0DHI7Ld?startTime=1630425224000
Apple Maturity Report
Jon Clements
All observations from UMass Orchard, Belchertown, MA unless otherwise noted. Target maturity numbers: red color, >50%; firmness, >14 lbs.; soluble solids, >12; DA, 0.60 to 0.40 for Honeycrisp, 0.65 for Gala, 1.00 for Golden Delicious, 1.15 to 1.00 for Red Delicious (higher DA = more "green"); starch index, 4-6.
2021 Date | Variety | Drop | Diameter | Color | Firmness | Brix | Starch Index | DA Meter | Comments | Picture |
8/30 | Zestar! | few | 3.2 | 60 | 12 | 14 | 6.5 | 0.27 | Flavor coming on nice, spot pick, leave what you can for another week | |
8/30 | Ginger Gold | none | 3.1 | NA | 15 | 10.8 | 3-4 | 0.85 | Heavy crop, still kind of “green” but go for it! | |
8/30 | Silken | nil | 3.2 | NA | 14 | 10.8 | 4 | 0.32 | Look nice, could be harvested now but will get better within a week | |
8/30 | Buckeye Gala | none | 2.8 | 85 dull | 17 | 10.9 | 3-7 | 0.95 | Green, need another week at least | |
8/30 | Akane | nil | 3.0 | 80 | 15 | 11.8 | 6-8 | 0.57 | Need to be picked | |
8/30 | MAIA-SM | none | 3.2 | 95 dark | 15 | 11.1 | 8 | 0.61 | Very sound, attractive apple, sweet/ | |
8/30 | Lindamac McIntosh | nil | 2.9 | 65 dull | 16 | 10.6 | 3.5 | NA | Still green, need another week at least | |
8/30 | Rubymac® McIntosh | none | 3.0 | 85+ | 14 | 9.1 | 4 | NA | Still green, need another week despite nice color! |
Insects
Jaime Piñero
Weekly report of insect pest captures in monitoring traps at UMass Cold Spring Orchard (Belchertown, MA)
Period: 8.24 - 8.30.2021
Insect | Average captures/trap | Notes |
Obliquebanded leafroller | 0 | Pheromone-baited delta trap (CSO) |
Codling moth | 1 | Pheromone-baited delta trap (CSO) |
Oriental fruit moth | 30 | Pheromone-baited delta trap (CSO) |
BMSB | 1.1 | Pheromone-baited clear sticky card (13 traps across MA) |
SWD | ---- | Traps were removed in mid-August |
SPOTTED LANTERNFLY ALERT! SLF is right at our door. About one week ago, there was a report of one SLF individual collected in the Conway, MA, area. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture was alerted on Aug. 19 that a live SLF was captured on a shipment delivered in Rutland. The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has added five additional counties to the SLF quarantine zone.
SLF is continuing its move through CT. It has just been found in Orange and Milford CT. The map below is courtesy of Mary Concklin.
General information about SLF of relevance for MA and New England can be found HERE
Codling moth (CM), obliquebanded leafroller (OBLR), and Oriental fruit moth (OFM). Weekly average CM captures at the Cold Spring Orchard show that adults of the second generation continue to be active, although in very low numbers. Second generation adult moths start emerging in late July and continue emerging through August. Eggs laid by this generation tend to cause more damage than the first generation. Regarding OBLR, our monitoring traps have not caught a single moth for the past 5 weeks. OFM populations are comparatively high, and the pattern of activity seems to be reaching peak captures for the third-generation moths.
Data collected by Jon Clements using SmartTraps.
Apple maggot fly (AMF). Something interesting is happening in MA. While most blocks show a decline in AMF captures (data collected from 6 orchards that are participating in the attract-and-kill study), a single location continues to show very high numbers of AMF. This particular orchard has received insecticide sprays based on thresholds.
The chart below shows the average number of AMF captured across all six MA orchards, including the ‘outlier’ orchard. Below that graph, I am inserting one chart that EXCLUDES the outlier orchard (i.e., the data correspond to FIVE MA orchards). Note how AMF numbers show a slight decline in numbers.
The bottom graph corresponds to AMF captures taking place in two orchards of NH*.
*Work in collaboration with Dr. Anna Wallingford, Heather Bryant, and Jeremy Delisle.
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB). For the last two weeks, BMSB activity has increased but numbers are very low, compared to populations recorded in 2020. In the next issue of Healthy Fruit I will provide an update on the trap crop / ghost trap study.
Horticulture
Jon Clements, Editor
Guest article
No Guest article this week...
Facebook Me
IFTA Board video update from WA
Useful links
UMass Fruit Advisor: http://umassfruit.com
UMass Extension Fruit Team YouTube Channel
Scaffolds Fruit Journal (1995-2020). With the retirement of Dr. Art Agnello from Cornell University, this publication has come to an end. See Peter Jentsch’s blog below.
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 (apple maturity report) will be published (maybe) on or about September 14, 2021. In the meantime, feel free to contact any of the UMass Fruit Team if you have any fruit-related production questions.
Thank you sponsors…
Orchard Equipment and Supply Company, Inc. Conway, Massachusetts
Nourse Farms
New England Vegetable & Berry Growers’ Association
Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ Association
