Fruit Crops Edition

Seasonal updates on diseases, insects, weeds impacting tree fruit and small fruit (blueberry, cranberry, and wine grape). Fruit Pest Alerts are also available via this category feed.
 
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Fruit IPM for August 4, 2019

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth: Treatments for the 3rd generation OFM are timed for now in northern counties. [Read more…]

American Cranberry Growers Association: 2019 Summer Field Day

Date: Thursday August 15, 2019
Location: Rutgers University, P.E. Marucci Center for Blueberry & Cranberry Research & Extension, Chatsworth, NJ

AGENDA

CRANBERRY BOGS

8:00–8:30 Refreshments

8:30–8:45 Opening Remarks
Shawn Cutts, President, American Cranberry Growers Association

8:45–9:10 Weed Control in Newly Planted Cranberry Beds (Lower Bogs)
Thierry Besancon and Baylee L. Carr, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ

9:10–9:25 Cranberry Germplasm Collection: Fuel for Breeding Future Varieties (Bog 1)
Nicholi Vorsa, Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, and Susan Vancho, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ

9:25–9:40 Liming to Mitigate pH Lowering Properties of Liquid Fertilizer Applications (Bog 5)
Nicholi Vorsa and Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ

9:40–10:05 Managing Fruit Quality (Bog 6)
Peter Oudemans, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ

10:05–10:20 Effects of Reduced Winter Flooding (Bog 9)
Nicholi Vorsa and Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ

10:20–10:35 2018 Haines Planting: Buggy Sanding to Aid Establishment (Bog 19)
Nicholi Vorsa and Jennifer Johnson-Cicalese, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ

10:35–11:00 On-going Research on Sucking Insect Pests (Bog 19)
Cesar Rodriguez-Saona, Vera Kyryczenko-Roth, and Robert Holdcraft, P.E. Marucci Center, Chatsworth, NJ

CONFERENCE ROOM

11:20–11:30 Cranberry Statistics
Bruce A Eklund, State Statistician, U.S. Department of Agriculture | National Agricultural Statistics Service

11:30–11:55 Markers for Disease Resistance
James Polashock, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS

12:00–1:00 LUNCH

Imported Fresh Basil Cyclospora Outbreak

A multistate Cyclospora outbreak linked to fresh imported basil was announced by the FDA late yesterday.    For more information on the outbreak visit the FDA outbreak webpage. The New Jersey Department of Agriculture is closely monitoring the situation and will be communicating the latest updates.

Fruit IPM for July 26, 2019

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth: Treatments for the 3rd generation OFM are timed for now in northern counties. Treatments are done in southern counties. [Read more…]

Fruit IPM for 7/17/19

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth: Treatments for the 3rd generation OFM are timed for now and over the next week, depending on which county you are in. [Read more…]

Managing Cranberry Toad Bug

Toad bugs, Phylloscelis atra, are an occasional pest of cranberries in New Jersey that can cause economic injury. This insect feeds only on

Seasonal number of toad bug nymphs and adults per sweep net sample

Fig. 1. Seasonal number of toad bug nymphs and adults per sweep net sample

cranberries and has a single generation per year. It overwinters as eggs. The nymphs appear by the end of June through early September, and the adults from end of July through October (harvest) (see Figure 1). Eggs are laid from end of August through October.

Damage. Feeding damage can be noticed in two stages. First stage feeding damage on vines causes closing in (towards the branch) of the leaves on the new growth. Second stage feeding causes changed in color (reddish to brown) of new growth. The damage can be seen from July until harvest. This damage will cause dying of the branch and the berries to shrivel up. Heavy infestation will result in dwarfed berries.

Management. To determine infestation, lightly sweep problematic beds (bugs should be easy to catch in sweep nets as they are very active). Because this is a new pest there is no threshold established yet. Thus, insecticide applications should be based on the relative number of bugs per sweep compared with other sites and previous history of infestation. Currently, growers can use the following control options: Sevin 4F (broad-spectrum carbamate), Diazinon (broad-spectrum organophosphate), or Actara or Assail 30SG (neonicotinoid insecticides, effective against piercing-sucking insects) (see Figure 2). If infestation is high, treatments should be applied when the nymphs are present (i.e., mid- to late-July; see Figure 1).

Chemical control options for toad bugs

Fig. 2. Chemical control options for toad bugs

For more information, please see “The Cranberry Toad-Bug” by F.A. Sirrine and B.B. Fulton. 1914. New York Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin No. 377. Department of Agriculture, Geneva, NY.