Fruit IPM For 7/7/20

Spotted Lanternfly in apple orchards….

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth (OFM): We are at the end of the second generation. All OFM materials have been applied in southern counties, and the second treatment is due in northern counties now. OFM trap captures are very low. No OFM insecticides are needed in southern counties, and after this application, no additional insecticides are required in northern counties for the next 10+ days. See timings below:

Stink Bugs: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) activity is starting to increase in spotty locations. BMSB has many alternate hosts, and orchard populations always seem to be ‘local’. However, given the mild winter and healthy overwintering population, growers should be aware of maturing nymphs and adults starting to appear on mid-season peaches.

Apple:

Spotted Lanternfly (SLF): SLF nymphs are present in several orchards in northern Hunterdon and Warren Counties. It is highly unlikely that these will do any damage, but they need to be watched. We are more concerned with the later arrival of adults, which under high populations, may secrete enough honeydew to cause a sooty mold on fair to light skinned varieties.

Codling Moth (CM): Trap captures are very low, indicating very light insect pressure. Growers with “0” to very low trap captures could skip the CM insecticides for this week, stretching out the ‘middles’. Growers with 3-5 or more CM per trap should see the timings below:

Woolly Apple Aphid (WAA): Colonies are starting to appear in a number of orchards. Colonies will become larger as the insects move up the trunk, settle and reproduce on pruning wounds and other areas in the canopy. WAA can be a challenging insect to control. Diazinon and Movento have offered the best control. However, Diazinon comes with strict label restrictions of only 1 post bloom application permitted per year. Movento should be used soon, before the leaves get too tough to take it up. This is a systemic material and needs to be applied with a non-ionic surfactant, mineral oil, or a silicon wetting agent. It also needs to be applied with maximum coverage to penetrate the interiors of the trees and completely cover the leaf surfaces. The neonicotinoids, Sivanto and Beleaf can offer some suppressive control.

European Red Mite: Mite populations are increasing on a number of farms. Effective materials at this time of the year include Zeal (low populations only); Nealta; Portal; Fujimite; and Nexter. See the NJ Commercial Tree fruit Production Guide.

Dogwood Borer (DWB): DWB Adults have been emerging over the past several weeks, and should continue to emerge for the next several weeks. A Lorsban trunk spray can be used to control this insect, as long as the spray is directed towards the trunk and avoiding the fruit zone as much as possible.

Scouting Calendar Tree Fruit Southern Counties

The following table is intended as an aid for orchard scouting. It should not be used to time pesticide applications. Median dates for pest events and crop phenology are displayed. These dates are compiled from observations made since 1995 in Gloucester County. Events in northern New Jersey should occur 7-10 days later.

Tree  Fruit Trap Counts – Southern Counties

Tree  Fruit Trap Counts – Northern Counties

Blueberry:

Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD): This is still the main pest of concern for any ripening variety. Try to stay on a 7 day program if you are still picking. If you are picking Bluecrop, and neighboring fields still have Duke on the bushes, or piles of berries around the crowns, be aware that these areas can also serve as SWD breeding grounds.

Aphids: Average aphid infestation levels remained at similar levels as during the previous 2 weeks. We had an average of 3.4% of terminals infested with colonies, with a high of 40% on newly developing canes. If you have plenty of fertility and lush growth in the fields, remember that just because a field is completely picked, does NOT mean the aphids go away. We know that we have scorch present in numerous fields, so high aphid populations can move the disease around, creating more problems for next year. In addition, it is common that when aphid colonies get more dense (more aphids per colony), they start to produce winged forms. These winged forms are or course more motile and can help spread infestations to additional plants. Check your new cane growth for the presence of aphids. If more than 10% of the terminals have live aphids, then a post-harvest aphicide may be justified. It would probably be helpful to make such an application with a high volume ground sprayer with the spray directed towards the lower part of the plant.

Putnam Scale: Some scale crawlers are still present, but should decrease over the next week to 10 days. Growers concerned about this pest should target the second generation crawler stage in early to mid-August.

By the Numbers: