Fruit Crops Edition - Blueberry Section

Seasonal updates on diseases, insects, weeds impacting small fruit (blueberry, cranberry, and wine grape). Fruit Pest Alerts are also available via this category feed.
 
Subscription is through the general Fruit feed available via EMAIL and RSS.

August 18, 2025 and

Mid-August Peach and Nectarine Varieties for New Jersey – New and Standard

Gloria: Developed by the Rutgers Tree Fruit Breeding program. A large, globose to slightly ovate, 60-90% scarlet red over yellow ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone peach ripening from August 16-22. The flesh is very firm with low acid and good, very sweet and sub-acid flavor. The tree is vigorous, spreading, and very productive with low susceptibility to bacterial spot. A unique variety because of its very attractive color, low acidity, and lasting flesh firmness. The bloom is late and extended compared to other varieties; hence, in a frost year, Gloria is more likely to avoid full crop loss. It has a very firm flesh that is slow to soften. Fruit physical and chemical (taste) properties of standard and new peach varieties grown in mid-August are described in Table 1. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blueberry, Cranberry, Fruit, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, vegetable, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
August 12, 2025 , and

Fruit IPM Report August 12, 2025

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth: A biofix point for OFM was set on 4/2 in southern counties, and on 4/17 in northern counties. The third generation timings are over in all regions. Additional treatments should be made if trap captures are over 6 moths per trap.

Insecticide Type
County/Region Degree Days by  8/11 base 45 Conventional

2000-2100 2350-2450

 Diamide

2025-2150 2375-2450
Gloucester – Southern 3086 1st –past

2nd –Past

 1st –past

2nd –past
Middlesex – Northern 2885 1st –past

2nd –past

 1st –past

2nd –past

Scale Insects: Scale crawler emergence is past peak and declining. White Peach scale has a third generation in September and San Jose scale may have a third generation in October. Options at this point include Assail, Belay (Group 4A); and the bioinsecticide Venerate. These products may provide some late season suppression where fruit damage is observed. Venerate has a 0-day PHI, making it useful for blocks near or at harvest.

Apples and Pears:

Diseases: Summer scab, rots and sooty blotch and fly speck are the main targets at this time. Captan plus a phosphorous acid like Prophyt can slow scab development as well as provide good summer disease control. Merivon and Luna Sensation are effective materials for summer diseases to use close to harvest.

Figure 1. Brown marmorated stink bug first instar nymphs recently emerged from egg masses. Photo by Kaitlin Quinn.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs: Brown Marmorated Stink bugs are present at low to moderate levels in orchards statewide (Figure 1). See the NJ Tree Fruit Production guide for effective materials.

Codling Moth (CM): A biofix was set for CM on April 28th in southern counties, and April 30 in Northern counties. Second generation treatments according to the degree day model are now over. Additional treatments should be made if trap captures are over 5 moths/trap. Some orchards have had continuing trap captures above threshold.

Scale Insects: For San Jose scale see the peach section above.

Phenology Table: Based on annual observations made in Gloucester County.

Pest Event or Growth Stage Approximate Date 2025 Observed Date
 Bud Swell (Redhaven/PF-17)  March 23 +/- 15 Days March 30
1/4″ Green Tip Red Delicious March 31 +/- 13 Days March 30
Pink Peach (Redhaven/PF-17) April 4 +/- 15 Days April 1
Tight Cluster Red Delicious April 9 +/- 13 Days April 5
Full Bloom Peach (Redhaven/PF-17) April 9 +/- 14 Days April 10
Pink Apple (Red Delicious) April 14 +/- 12 Days April 16
Full Bloom Apple (Red Delicious) April 22 +/- 11 Days April 25
Petal Fall (Redhaven) April 22 +/- 10 Days April 19
Petal Fall (Red Delicious) April 27 +/- 13 Days May 2
Shuck Split (Redhaven) April 30 +/- 11 Days April 26
Pit Hardening June 15 +/- 9 Days June 15

Tree Fruit Trap Captures – Southern Counties

Week Ending STLM TABM-A CM BMSB OFM-A DWB OFM-P TABM-P LPTB PTB
4/5/2025 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4/12/2025 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0
4/21/2025 0 0 0 0 36 0 1 0 0 0
4/27/2025 25 0 0 0 24 0 5 0 1 0
5/2/2025 517 0 4 0 12 0 6 0 13 0
5/9/2025 159 4 10 0 3 16 5 4 46 0
5/16/2025 91 11 6 0 1 36 2 14 69 0
5/23/2025 299 21 3 0 1 23 1 26 23 0
5/30/2025 399 14 2 0 0 41 1 11 10 3
6/6/2025 733 13 1 0 0 36 2 12 29 1
6/13/2025 684 19 2 1 0 81 2 17 22 8
6/20/2025 724 24 2 0.5 1 60 1 23 19 12
6/27/2025 932 5 1 0.8 1 40 0 5 24 14
7/4/2025 643 0 0 0.75 1 17 0 0 6 16
7/11/2025 194 0 0 0.5 0 18 8 0 24 15
7/18/2025 190 0 0 1 0 16 2 1 5 12
7/25/2025 222 2 1 1.6 0 16 1 2 12 21
8/1/2025 450 1 0 2 1 24 2 1 21 18
8/8/2025 523 2 1 2 0 35 5 2 30 19

Tree Fruit Trap Captures – Northern Counties

Week Ending STLM TABM-A CM BMSB OFM-A DWB OFM-P TABM-P LPTB PTB AMBROSIA BEETLE
4/5/2025 387 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4/21/2025 435 0 0 0 0 0 1.3 0 0 0 0
4/27/2025 26 0 0 0 0 0 25 0 0 0 72
5/2/2025 86 0 0.33 0 72.5 0 47.2 0 0 0 136
5/9/2025 56 0 5.3 0 58.8 0 22.9 0 0 0 145
5/16/2025 13.75 2.6 7.3 0 4 0 5 0 0 0 50.5
5/23/2025 4.8 10.3 10.5 0 0.6 31.25 4.2 0 14.6 1 22.2
5/30/2025 2.2 4.8 1.8 0 0 12.4 9.6 0 9.6 1.9 22.1
6/6/2025 3 4.83 2.8 0.25 0 20 4.1 0 21.2 1.8 40.3
6/13/2025 65 20 11.4 0.6 0 12.3 4 0 10.5 1.5 59.2
6/20/2025 26 26 8 0.75 1 13 4.5 0 11 0.75 52
6/27/2025 145 19 6 1.3 6 35 5.4 0 16 1.6 38
7/4/2025 212 6 3 0.6 12.5 40 2 0 8.4 1.1 27
7/11/2025 125 2.5 0.5 0.14 5 41 3 0 20 4.5 48
7/18/2025 64 0.5 0.4 0.16 2 42 2 0 8.4 1.9 64
7/25/2025 110.5 0.4 2.3 0.24 7.5 44 4 0 6.8 12.2 69
8/1/2025 132 0.5 2.8 0.4 5.7 42.5 2.9 0 8 6.2 71.5
8/8/2025 157 1.9 0.6 0.41 6 27.8 8.3 0 10.8 5.5 78

Grapes:

Diseases: Grapes are beginning veraison in southern counties. Disease management continues to focus on downy mildew (Figure 2), and also powdery mildew, bunch rot, and black rot. Refer to the NJ Commercial Grape Production Guide for information on control.

Figure 2. Downy mildew on grape.

Grape Berry Moth: The timing for the third generation is past. In some hot summers a fourth generation may occur; however no further treatments should be needed, especially where insecticides are being applied for Spotted lanternfly.

Spotted Lanternfly: Spotted lantern fly adults are now appearing in vineyards. As we move into September adult migration will increase and at that point growers should apply materials with long residual efficacy. More information on biology and control can be found from Penn State.

Spotted-Wing Drosophila: Trap counts continue to remain high in blueberries in southern counties. Monitoring efforts have shifted to grapes as veraison progresses and ripe fruit becomes vulnerable to infestation.

For weekly reports on blueberry pests and recommendations read the Rutgers Blueberry Bulletin.

Filed Under: Blueberry, Commercial Ag Updates, Fruit, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape
August 11, 2025 and

Early August Peach Varieties for New Jersey – New and Standard

August is National Peach Month! No wonder many high-quality peach varieties are ripening during this month. Understanding these varieties’ tree and fruit characteristics in New Jersey conditions can help make planting, replanting, and harvest-related decisions. Table 1 describes the physical and chemical properties of some new and standard, early August peach varieties evaluated at RAREC (Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center), Bridgeton. The ripening dates for central and northern New Jersey could be later by a few days.

Coralstar®  is a large, globose, 60-80% orange-scarlet red over orange-yellow ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone peach ripening August 4-7, approximately 9 days after Redhaven. The flesh is firm with a very sweet and mildly tangy flavor, with a pleasant aroma. The tree is moderately vigorous and productive, with low susceptibility to bacterial spot. It is a suitable replacement for Loring. Avoid overthinning, because Coralstar® can have many fruits bigger than 3” even in the first pick. Ideal for canning and sliced peaches.
Challenge: The fruit size is potentially very large with split pit tendencies in light crop years.
FlavrBurstTM is a large to very large, globose 50-80% scarlet red over a reddish yellow green ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone peach, ripening August 5-9, approximately 10 days after Redhaven. The coarse-textured, firm, melting, somewhat low-acid flesh has excellent sweet flavor. The tree is upright, spreading, and productive, with medium susceptibility to bacterial spot; however, the fruit has slight susceptibility to it. This high-quality variety has excellent size and flavor.
Challenge: The biggest concern with FlavrBurstTM is that it may get a zipper in some years— a slightly open suture that can create an opening point for the brown rot.

Flamin’ Fury® PF 17 is a medium-large to large, ovate to globose, 55-70% crimson red over yellow-green ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone peach ripening August 6-9, approximately 12 days after Redhaven. The melting flesh is firm with a very sweet and tangy flavor. The tree is vigorous. It is reliably productive, with low to medium susceptibility to bacterial spot and some fruit drop tendency. The size of the fruit improves as trees age, making it one of the most popular varieties in this season. This is an excellent peach for direct retail.
Challenges: It can have many split pits. In years with cloudy days during ripening, the background color change from green to yellow could be very slow; meanwhile, the fruit has ripened. For PF 17, a day’s delay can result in a lot more softening.

Scarlet Prince is a medium to large, globose, 80-90% scarlet red over greenish yellow ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone peach ripening August 6-9, approximately 12 days after Redhaven. The flesh has adequate to good firmness with very good flavor. The tree is vigorous and productive with low susceptibility to bacterial spot—an attractive peach with great firmness.

Bounty is a large to very large, globose, 40-70% crimson red over light greenish-yellow ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone peach, ripening August 6-9, approximately 12 days after Redhaven. The flesh is firm with a very sweet and sub-acid flavor and some split pit tendency. The tree is vigorous, spreading, and productive with medium susceptibility to bacterial spot. Fruits need good light exposure to develop a good red blush. This is the standard in this season because of its size and flavor.
Challenges:  Bounty can get soft fast, just like PF-17 and Messina. Look for the under-color, and as soon as it turns yellow from greenish yellow, pick it. If you wait for deep red color development from this point, the fruit will be too soft. Assess for picking every two days.

July Prince is a large to very large, globose to ovate, 60-90% attractive scarlet red over a yellow background, yellow melting flesh, freestone peach, ripening August 7-11, approximately 13 days after Redhaven. The flesh is very firm, with a very sweet, acidic, and tangy flavor, slightly fibrous around the pit. The trees are vigorous, upright, spreading, and productive.

Flamin’ Fury® PF 19-007 is a large to very large, slightly ovate to globose, uniformly shaped, 60-90% scarlet red over yellow ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone peach ripening from August 8-11, approximately 15 days after Redhaven. The flesh is firm with very good flavor, but mealy if overripe. The tree is vigorous and productive with low susceptibility to bacterial spot.
Challenge: Fruit is prone to split pits.

Loring is a large to very large, ovate to globose, 40-60% scarlet red over yellow ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone peach ripening August 7-10, approximately 13 days after Redhaven. The flesh is firm with very good flavor.
 Challenge: Though the tree is very vigorous and moderately productive, it has medium susceptibility to bacterial spot. This variety is more suited for direct marketing because of its relatively short shelf life.

Articles on Previous Season Peach and Nectarine Varieties:

Filed Under: Blueberry, Cranberry, Fruit, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
August 10, 2025 and

Early August Nectarine Varieties for New Jersey – Summer Beaut, Sunglo, and Flavortop.

Summer Beaut – A medium to medium-large, ovate, 90-100% scarlet-red over yellow ground color, yellow-fleshed, semi-freestone, nectarine ripening from July 29-Aug 1. The flesh is firm with a good acidic flavor. The tree is moderately vigorous, moderately productive, and seems to fruit more heavily when planted near another variety. It has medium susceptibility to bacterial spot. Summer Beaut always has a few split pits. Table 1 summarizes the physical and chemical properties of nectarine varieties – Summer Beaut, Sunglo, and Flavortop.

 

Sunglo – A medium-large to large, globose to slightly ovate, 80-90% orange-scarlet-red, over yellow-orange ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone nectarine ripening from August 6-9, or approximately 12 days after Redhaven. The flesh is very firm with a very good to excellent acidic flavor. The tree is moderately vigorous and moderately productive, with high susceptibility to bacterial spot.

Flavortop – A medium to large, ovate to globose, 90-100% crimson-red over greenish-yellow ground color, yellow-fleshed, freestone nectarine ripening from August 4-7, or approximately 10 days after Redhaven. The flesh is firm with a very good acidic flavor. The tree is moderately vigorous and productive, with high susceptibility to bacterial spot.

Articles on peach and nectarine varieties in the previous seasons:

Filed Under: Blueberry, Cranberry, Fruit, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Uncategorized, vegetable, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , , , ,
July 31, 2025 and

Late July Peach Varieties for New Jersey – New and Standard

EVELYNN is a new, excellent, semi-free stone with a firm, yellow-fleshed peach variety. It is a low-acid, sweet to very sweet peach that ripens with Redhaven. Fruit is large, uniform, and has attractive, complete scarlet coloring, with smooth, low pubescence skin. It retains firmness on trees and during storage for longer than Redhaven, giving extra days for marketing the fruit. This variety is consistently productive and exhibits a low susceptibility to bacterial spot and split pits. Fruit skin doesn’t develop ‘inking’ even when it turns dark red.  Bloom is generally delayed and extended, and, as a result, it produces a normal crop even in the frost years. Few varieties tick as many boxes as Evelynn. The fruit characteristics of Evelynn and other popular varieties in this season are compared in Table 1. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blueberry, Cranberry, Fruit, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
July 31, 2025 and

Late-July Nectarine Varieties for New Jersey – New and Standard

BRIGANTINE is a new yellow-fleshed nectarine with semi-freestone, ripening July 20-25, just before ‘Summer Beaut’ and ‘Redhaven’. It has a full, glossy scarlet coloring with a slight golden-yellow background. Fruit skin is consistently free from blemishes. It has a nice, sweet, and acidic flavor, and firm, melting flesh. Flesh has traces of red. This is a very productive tree with low susceptibility to bacterial spot, while the fruit has slight to moderate susceptibility to bacterial spot. Fruit hangs well. Fruit characteristics of Brigantine and other late-July nectarines are listed below in Table 1. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blueberry, Cranberry, Fruit, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, vegetable, Vegetable Crops, Wine Grape Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,