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.
 
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June 10, 2015

Fruit IPM Report 6-9-2015

Peach

Clean Up Your Ground Cover – Plant Bugs and Native Stink Bugs: As we move into summer heat, catfacing insects become a primary target, especially in dry seasons.

Many orchards have ground covers composed of flowering weeds and clover, which makes an ideal habitat for catfacing insects. These insects breed and multiply in the ground cover, and then find their way to the fruit. Wet springs that help make a healthy ground cover (especially if it’s weeds), followed by prolonged dry periods can often aggravate catfacing damage, since the insects often move from the weedy ground covers to the fruit in the trees.
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Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Tree Fruit
June 2, 2015

Fruit IPM Report 6-2-2015

Peach

Bacterial Spot: Leaf symptoms have been seen in only a few locations and only on highly susceptible varieties. Bacterial spot has not been troublesome this spring probably due to mostly dry conditions during petal fall and early covers. Fruit remains highly susceptible until pit hardening so management practices should be continued.

San Jose Scale Crawler

San Jose Scale Crawler (yellow)

San Jose Scale (SJS): Scale crawlers have not yet been seen but are usually active by now. The best materials include Esteem, Centaur, and Movento. Esteem and Centaur can both be applied at the start of crawler emergence. Movento may take up to a week become fully systemic. It should also be applied with a spreader. Spray volume is the name of the game when achieving good scale control. Diazinon can also be used with a maximum of 1 in-season application per year. The sprayer should be calibrated to soak all wood surfaces where there is known scale activity.

Green Peach Aphids (GPA): GPA colonies are present in northern peach orchards at up to 3 colonies per tree and over 1 colony per tree in nectarines. For peaches these levels can be tolerated, but not on nectarines where GPA damage is present on the fruit.

Plum Curculio (PC): PC activity is over in southern counties but still active in northern counties. Fresh eggs were recently deposited on peaches late last week. Activity should not last too much longer, so one additional cover of a PC effective insecticide should be all that is needed.

Tufted Apple Budmoth (TABM): Tufted apple budmoth started to emerge on 5/12 in southern counties and on 5/17 in Hunterdon County. While this insect has not been an issue over the last 6-8 years, locally high levels of moths have been captured in some pheromone traps this past week. TABM is a leafroller that can web a leaf to the surface of the fruit, and feed between the leaf and the fruit. On peaches this damage can lead to unmarketable and rotten fruit. Young larvae may get established in the stem end. When this is the case, the larva can ‘fall’ into the fruit interior in varieties where the flesh easily separates from the pit, or in split pit fruit. Degree day modeling for timing sprays dictates that the first alternate middle treatments should be timed for around 6/1-2 in southern counties, and by about 6/11-12 in Hunterdon County and northern farms. This is for conventional materials, including Delegate, Altacor, Belt and other diamide mixtures. Timings for TABM control are outlined below. If you are a grower who did have TABM damage last year, you are advised to use the timings that follow:

Conventional,
Diamides		 Conventional,
Diamides		 Intrepid,
Rimon		 Bt
County Area AM – 4 Alt Mid Sprays EM – 2 Complete Sprays EM – 2 Complete Sprays EM – 2 Complete Sprays
Southern 1st 6/1-2, 2nd 6/6-8 1st 6/3-6 1st 6/2-8 1st 6/6-8
Northern 1st 6/9-10 1st 6/11-14 1st 6/10-13 1st About 6/14-18

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Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape
May 27, 2015

Fruit IPM Report 5-26-2015

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Peach

Tufted Apple Budmoth (TABM)
Timings for TABM control are outlined below. This is now a minor pest, due to its increased control in recent years. TABM adults started to emerge in northern counties on 5/17. If you are a grower who did have TABM damage last year, you are advised to use the timings that follow:

Conventional,
Diamides		 Conventional,
Diamides		 Intrepid,
Rimon		 Bt
County Area AM EM EM EM
Southern About 5/31 About 6/3 About 6/2 1st 6/6-8
Northern About 2 weeks away

 
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Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Tree Fruit
May 19, 2015

Fruit IPM Report 5-19-2015

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Peach

Green Peach Aphid:

Do Not use Actara, Assail, Belay or Admire, any generics or any combination containing them, if you have flowering weeds in your orchard. The presence of flowering weeds means that you will also have foraging bees present, and applying neonicotinoids when foraging bees are present is against the label.

Some individual farms have populations above treatment thresholds. Any registered neonicotinoid insecticide (Actara, Assail, Belay, Admire Pro (IRAC 4A), or premixes – Leverage, Voliam-Flexi) will control these populations. Admire Pro will control aphids only. Closer (IRAC 4C) acts like a neonicotinoid, so it is very effective against aphids, but is bee safe. Beleaf (IRAC 9C) will also target aphids and control tarnished plant bug. Movento (IRAC 23) will control aphids and scale insects.

Plum Curculio (PC): We are the peak of PC activity in all areas of the state. Moderate levels of injury were seen in both stone and pome fruit over the past week, even where effective insecticides were applied. If significant rains follow insecticide applications, then re-apply with effective materials after an inch or more of precipitation.

Oriental Fruit Moth (OFM): All 1st generation eggs have been laid in southern counties, and the second application is due in northern counties. If your trap counts exceed 6-8 males per trap 7 to 10 days after the second spray, then additional controls may be required.
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Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Tree Fruit
May 13, 2015

Fruit IPM Report 5-13-2015

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Peach

Oriental Fruit Moth (OFM): The flight captures really jumped this past week, especially in northern counties where some farms are seeing over 100 moths per trap. This is a reference point for 2 factors: First, OFM treatments should be ongoing during this time – see table below; and the first generation flight is usually the highest, and the most important to control. For those growers using the diamide insecticides (Altacor, Belt, Voliam mixes, and Tourismo), the timing for the second application in southern counties is now. Insecticides are required according to the degree day timings in the table below. These timings should be used for most farms. If you have high insect pressure, then additional sprays may be needed. If your trap counts exceed 6-8 males per trap 7 to 10 days after the second spray, then additional controls may be required.
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Filed Under: Blueberry, Tree Fruit
May 7, 2015

Fruit IPM Report 5-7-2015

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Peach

Thrips including western flower thrips: Thrips are being found in southern peach and nectarine blocks. This is common in years when we have warm dry weather during and shortly after bloom. Delegate is the best material to use, followed by Lannate. Entrust can also be used but will be more expensive. Both Delegate and Lannate will control OFM, but neither does a good job on PC. Closer is labeled for thrips suppression, but it’s use is discouraged if high thrips populations are present.

Oriental Fruit Moth (OFM): As of 5/7 we have accumulated 229 DD in southern counties. In northern counties the biofix was set for 4/28. We have had 140 DD accumulate since then.  The first of two applications for OFM should be going on now in southern counties, and about 5/10-12 in northern counties (using Snyder Farm as our degree day point).
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Filed Under: Blueberry, Tree Fruit