Rutgers Cooperative Extension
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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Oil for Pear Psylla and Scale Control: During the recent warm up pear psylla adults were active, however no egg laying has yet been observed. Growers with pears should be thinking about oil applications to deter egg laying. [Read more…]
There are two remaining farm food safety workshops scheduled for the 2014 growing season.
Wednesday March 19, 9:00 – 4:00
Introduction to Food Safety and Third Party Audits
Rutgers Snyder Research Farm, Pittstown
$40.00 includes materials and lunch
RSVP with 3/19/14 registration form
Wednesday March 26, 9:00 – 4:00
GAPs and Farm Food Safety Writing Workshop
Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County
$40.00 includes materials and lunch
RSVP with 3/26/14 registration form
This winter, especially January and February have been a bit cold, complete with ‘polar vortexes’ and lots of snow. There have been a couple of newspaper articles about how this will negatively impact insect pest populations, specifically brown marmorated stink bug. Is this true?
For BMSB, most likely NO. While insects do have something similar to antifreeze in their hemolymph (blood) there is a critical freezing temperature at which most species will die. Preliminary research by Dr. Tom Kuhar at Virginia Tech says the super cooling point – when the blood freezes – of BMSB is 5ºF. Populations in natural habitats may have suffered from the extreme cold weather. However, the majority of the BMSB population spends its winter with you, tucked inside the attic and under the eaves of houses, in boxes, under tarps etc. where it is warmer. They are in a reproductive diapause at this point, meaning that adult BMSB have physically prepared themselves to survive cold temperatures, and snow further acts to insulate the populations. There is a saying in Japan that lots of snow in the winter means lots of stink bugs (BMSB) in the summer! Research by Dr. K. Kiritani in Japan shows that BMSB is better adapted at surviving the winter than other stink bug species. There are many factors that contribute to winter mortality or survival and previous research suggests ~20% winter mortality for BMSB in any given year, regardless of weather.
So since the polar vortex may not keep the stink bugs at bay, keep monitoring your crops in the mid-late Spring for the initial dispersal.
The severity of the current winter weather has growers and ag agents questioning how to accurately assess vineyard damage and develop a plan for coping with the damage through cultural management.
Fruit Specialist Dan Ward supplies comprehensive answers.
Cross sections of grapevine compound buds showing the location of primary (P), secondary (S), and tertiary (T) buds.
P bud is dead, while S and T buds are alive.
Photo courtesy WSU Extension
The hardiness of grape buds and wood ranges widely among cultivars and different antecedent weather and physiological conditions. Any estimate of cold hardiness needs to be considered as specific to either the buds or the wood, given the cultivar, under the previous Fall’s conditions for the development of hardiness, given the weather conditions preceding the cold event in question. [Read more…]
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning from 7 pm Wednesday 12Feb to 1 pm Thursday 13Feb for Southeastern New Jersey and adjoining states. Snow accumulations of 3-6 inches are expected with significant amounts of sleet and ice. This will make travel very hazardous or impossible.
Given these forecasted weather conditions, the South Jersey Commercial Tree Fruit Grower Meeting, originally scheduled for Thursday Feb. 13 at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Bridgeton, has been postponed.
The meeting will take place one day later, on Friday Feb. 14th, at the same location and starting time of 8 am.
If anyone pre-registered for the original meeting time cannot make the new time, please contact Karen Holton at (856) 455-3100 ext. 4104 to cancel.
Date: Thursday, February 6, 2014 6:00 to 7:30pm
Location: Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 121 Northville Road, Bridgeton, NJ
Accurate self-assessment of bud viability and fruitfulness is sound vineyard management when dealing with the effects of the unusually cold temperatures experienced this winter.
Join the Outer Coastal Plain Vineyard Association (OCPVA) and Rutgers NJAES for a free mini-workshop to train winegrape growers on the details of accurate cold injury damage assessment. Bring your own hand lens or other magnifier and, if you wish, some pieces of grape cane to evaluate.
