North Jersey Tree Fruit Twilight Meeting I

March 29, 2022
4:30 PM-7:30 PM

Rutgers University Snyder Research and Extension Farm Pittstown, NJ

4:30 PM – Registration / Light Refreshments

5:00 PM – Pesticide Safety, Compliance and the Proper Use of Personal Protective Equipment
Patricia Hastings, Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program Coordinator for Rutgers NJAES

5:30 PM – Begin to load into wagons for the farm tour and educational talks
Farm tour lead by Megan Muehlbauer PhD, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent III,
Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension of Hunterdon County

5:40 PM – Mating Disruption and Management for Internal Fruit Worms
Anne Nielsen PhD, Associate Extension Specialist in Entomology Rutgers NJAES

6:10 PM – Management of Early Season Disease on Apple and Peach
Norm Lalancette PhD, Associate Specialist in Tree Fruit Plant Pathology Rutgers NJAES

6:40 PM – New Jersey Tree Fruit Pest Updates and Observations
Dean Polk, State Wide Fruit IPM Agent, Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Dave Schmitt, South Jersey Fruit IPM Program Associate, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of
Gloucester County

Light refreshments will be served.

The following NJ Pesticide Recertification Credits will be awarded
1 Unit CORE,    4 Units 1A,    3 Units 10,    4 Units PP2

Please RSVP for the meetings with a call to Kim Crommelin at 908.788.1338 or
kfrey@co.hunterdon.nj.us

SAVE THE DATES!

North Jersey RCE Educational Meetings for Fruit and Vegetable Growers

 

North Jersey Tree Fruit Twilight Meeting I

March 29, 2022 4:30-7:30pm

Rutgers University Snyder Research Farm Pittstown, NJ

 

North Jersey Tree Fruit and Vegetable Twilight Meeting II

April 19, 2022 4:30-7:30pm

Alstede Farms Chester, NJ

 

North Jersey Tree Fruit and Vegetable Twilight Meeting III

May 24, 2022 4:30-7:30pm

Phillips Farm Milford, NJ

 

Meetings will include tours of both research plots and commercial farm operations, and presentations by extension faculty and staff on current pests, horticultural issues and management techniques.

Light refreshments will be served for each meeting.

 

NJ Pesticide Recertification Credits are anticipated for all meetings.

Please RSVP for the meetings with a call to Kim Crommelin at 908.788.1338 or kfrey@co.hunterdon.nj.us

Please click to see the Tree Fruit Meeting Programs below.

NJ_Tree Fruit_Meeting_2022_Program

In-person twilight meeting dates and locations for both North and South Jersey will be announced shortly!

New Jersey Commercial Tree Fruit Meetings

Meetings will be held in virtual formats and split over the course of two morning sessions.

Wednesday March 2, 2022 9 AM – 12 PM

Wednesday March 9, 2022 9 AM – 12 PM

Tune in for a number of topics including:

Pesticide safety updates,  peach disease updates, general apple and peach pest updates, apple nutrition management, peach, cherry and apple frost management strategies, soil fertility management, Rutgers University peach variety evaluations, Rutgers University apple maturity evaluation website, and more!

The full program will be sent out by the end of the week!

Pesticide credits are anticipated.

In-person twilight meeting dates and locations to be announced shortly!

A new Rutgers University website has just been launched, which provides weekly reports on the progression of apple maturity in Northern and Central New Jersey.  The data in these reports is intended to aid New Jersey apple growers in deciding the optimal time to harvest apples in their commercial orchards.  Please check out the website (see link below) and be sure to subscribe to receive the weekly reports in your inbox!

https://njapplematurity.rutgers.edu/

 

Now is the Time to Consider Applying…

Stop Drop PGRs for Early/Mid-Season Apples

As apples mature they produce the hormone ethylene.  Ethylene induces stem loosening which results in pre-harvest drop of apples.

Luckily there are several tools that when applied at optimal times can aid in the management of pre-harvest drop of apples.

*Prior to the application of any product though, remember to read and follow the product label, because the label is the law.

 

ReTain 

Active Ingredient: AVG (aminoethoxyvinylglycine)

This product slows starch disappearance, fruit softening, stem loosening and red color development.

These benefits result in:

Expansion of the harvest window by minimizing pre-harvest drop and retaining fruit firmness.

Enhancement of fruit size since fruit are given more time to hang onto the tree.

Color enhancement due to exposure to improved weather for fruit coloring (warm sunny days and cool nights).

Application Timing: For maximum efficacy ReTain must be applied 4 weeks prior to harvest.

Single Pick Varieties

For single pick early season varieties, establish the ‘usual’ harvest time for the variety, and if the season is running early adjust the date earlier (accordingly).  Once an accurate estimated harvest date is established count back four weeks.  This timepoint plus 7 days is the spray window for ReTain for that variety.

Calculate the spray timing for later season, single pick varieties in a similar way.  However, later varieties generally do not need harvest date adjustment due to seasonal variation in the same way early season varieties do.

Multiple Pick Varieties i.e. Gala and Honeycrisp

Spray timing for these varieties is 7 to 14 days prior to harvest/first pick.  Note that ReTain will not effect the first harvest/pick but will provide stop drop control for later season picks.

Variety Response to ReTain and Rate:

*When applying ReTain be sure to include 100% Organosilicate surfactant @ 12 ounces/100 gallons.

*Ensure there will be 6 hours of drying time after the application.

 

Harvista

Active Ingredient: 1-MCP (1-Methylcyclopropene)

Much like ReTain this product slows starch disappearance, fruit softening, red color development and pre-harvest drop.

It should be applied within 3 days prior to harvest, much closer to the time of harvest than a ReTain application.

This product is a bit more complicated to use in that it must be applied via a proprietary in-line injector system.

NAA (Multiple Formulations)

Active Ingredient: NAA (naphthaleneacetic acid)

This product provides what is considered a rescue treatment for control of fruit drop.

Application Timing: Optimum timing of spray is a couple days prior to harvest.

One application of 10 ppm NAA will provide 7-10 days of drop control.

A two part spray of 10 ppm, one a couple days prior to harvest and a second 5 days later will provide 10-14 days of drop control.

Keep it mind it takes ~2-3 days for the sprays to take effect.

*Apply with a nonionic or organosilicate surfactant.

*Spray when the temperatures are in the mid 70’s.  If the temperature is too hot, fruit ripening can be accelerated.

 

For additional details on utilizing plant growth regulators for harvest management read:

Apple PGRs – Prevention of Preharvest Drop in Apple Orchards – Production and Harvesting – Fruit – Forage and Food Crops (psu.edu)