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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July 28, 2021

Chardonnay Wine Tasting and Evaluations Workshop

Wine Tasting and Evaluation of Chardonnay from New Jersey Wineries

August 18th (Wed): 9 am – Noon

@ William Heritage Winery, 480 Mullica Hill Road Mullica Hill, NJ 08062

Participants or Winemakers will be invited to bring their own wine release. Each wine tasting will be followed by discussions on harvest parameters, fermentation methods, materials and techniques, etc. Please read the recap of the past Chardonnay workshop at  https://njvines.rutgers.edu/chardonnay-tasting-workshop-recap/ to get an idea of overview of the program.

Pre-registration Required: Registration is $30 for each attendee. Space is limited to 35 participants.

RSVP to Joan Medany at jmedany@co.gloucester.nj.us or 856-224-8030. Checks can be made payable to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

If you have any question, please contact program organizer, Hemant Gohil at gohil@njaes.rutgers.edu

Program Coordinators: Hemant Gohil, Gary Pavlis, Megan Muehlbauer, and Daniel Ward.

Sponsored by the New Jersey Center for Wine Research and Education

Filed Under: Blueberry, Cranberry, Fruit, Strawberry, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape
July 27, 2021

Fruit IPM For 7/28/21

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth: The timing for third brood control is outlined below. In general, most populations are low and not causing problems.

 

OFM 3rd Generation Timing
    Insecticide Type
County/Region Degree Days by  7/27 base 45 Conventional

2100-2200, 2450-2500

 Diamide

2025-2150, 2375-2450
Gloucester – Southern 2436 1st – past

2nd – 7/27-7/30

 1st – past

2nd – 7/25-7/27
Hunterdon – Northern 2217

 

 1st – 7/23-26

2nd – 8/4-8/6

 1st – 7/21-25

2nd – 8/3-8/5

  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape
July 20, 2021

Fruit IPM for 7/21/21

Apple:

San Jose Scale (SJS): Some damage is being seen in northern county orchards where nymphs are active. Now is the time to the nymphal stage if you have problem populations. High volume applications are required for control since all twigs and surface areas where nymphs are active need to be covered. Esteem, Centaur, Venerate and Diazinon are choices for control. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Tree Fruit, Wine Grape
July 20, 2021

SLF Adults Are Here (again)

Right on time with last year’s observations, adult spotted lanternflies (SLF) were found in Pilesgrove (Salem County) NJ. In 2020 adults at the same location were found on July 23 so despite the earlier hatch observed in May, the phenology is right on track.

Adults were not the dominant life stage, mostly fourth instars were observed. Now is a critical time for management efforts as even these young adults will not become reproductive until September. Adults will congregate on trees, feeding in groups to access the phloem. At this time of year they prefer black walnut and tree of heaven and will gradually move towards red maples, willow, river birch, and sycamore. There are other hosts, these are just the ones we have consistently found high numbers of adults on in NJ.

 

In 2020, adults dispersed in large numbers to commercial vineyards around September 4. I think this dispersal is a combination of depletion of resources (they are literally sucking the sap out of trees) and density. As NJ populations of SLF increase, they are depleting food resources faster. I expect this movement from wooded areas to vineyards will happen earlier this year, likely mid August. There will be a few bugs here and there, but commercial vineyard managers should wait to apply insecticides until you see the larger influx. Across sites, the 10 adults/vine threshold was reached around the same time last year – although some vineyards had much larger numbers per vine – so this is a good threshold to use for now. I will post management recommendations for the adults soon!

Filed Under: Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,
July 18, 2021

Monitoring for the Cranberry Toad Bug

As we approach the end of July, growers need to start monitoring for the cranberry toad bug, Phylloscelis rubra (Figure 1). In a recent study,

Cranberry toad bug

Figure 1. Cranberry toad bug.

we showed that even relatively low densities of this insect can cause significant injury to cranberries (Rodriguez-Saona et al. 2020. Characterizing the Feeding Injury Caused by Phylloscelis rubra (Hemiptera: Dictyopharidae) to Cranberries, Journal of Insect Science, 20 (6), 37, https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieaa143). Thus, monitoring for this insect from the end of July through mid-August is critical.

Life cycle. Cranberry toad bugs feed only on cranberries. This insect 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) (Figure 2). Eggs are laid from end of August through October.

Damage. Feeding damage can be noticed in two stages. 1st-stage feeding damage on vines causes closing in (towards the branch) of the leaves on the new growth. 2nd-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 (Figure 3). Heavy infestation will result in dwarfed

Seasonal changes of the cranberry toad bug.

Figure 2. Seasonal changes of the cranberry toad bug.

berries.

Management. To determine infestation, lightly sweep problematic beds (bugs should be easy to catch in sweep nets as they are very active). Currently there is no threshold established for this pest. Thus, insecticide applications should be based on the relative number of bugs per sweep compared with other sites and previous history of infestation. If needed, growers can use the following control options: Sevin 4F (broad-spectrum carbamate), Diazinon, Imidan 70W (broad-spectrum organophosphates), Actara or Assail 30SG (neonicotinoid insecticides, effective against piercing-sucking insects). If infestation is high, treatments should be applied in early August for best control.

Injury caused by the cranberry toad bug.

Figure 3. Injury caused by the cranberry toad bug.

Filed Under: Cranberry, Fruit
July 16, 2021

From Straw-Figures to Lasers: What’s the Best Method to Scare Birds from Sweet Corn?

human-like figure with plaid shirt and straw hands, red bow tie, cloth face smiling, and straw hat

Image by Jacques Gaimard from Pixabay

by Julie Kikkert, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell Vegetable Program

(Reprinted with permission from Cornell VegEdge Newsletter Vol. 17 (14), July 14, 2021, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program, Canandaigua, NY.)

Scaring birds out of sweet corn and other crops is not new, based on the centuries-old placement of scarecrows dressed in old clothes (oftentimes filled with straw) in fields. However, there are many newer methods from chemical control to loud noises, to laser beams. There are pros and cons to each method and varied costs as well. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Fruit, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , , , ,