Special Spotted Wing Drosophila Alert: SWD on All Small Fruit and Cherries: ANY GROWER with caneberries, strawberries, blueberries, other smooth thin skinned small fruit, and cherries, should be on an SWD program. Adults are laying eggs and internal larvae have already been seen in non-treated plantings and reported by growers in northern counties.

Peach:

Oriental Fruit Moth (OFM): Second generation adults are flying in southern and northern counties. Degree day spray timing predictions are updated since last week and are shown below. The second brood often causes the most damage on peaches, since larvae can enter both growing tips and young fruit. Particular attention should be paid to non-bearing orchards that may not be receiving regular insecticide applications. OFM can build up in non-bearing blocks and create pressure for production blocks. The timing for second brood OFM applications is NOW in southern counties where mating disruption is not being used. Growers in northern counties should plan of targeting OFM by the middle of next week.

Tufted Apple Budmoth (TABM): First flight TABM adults can be found in pheromone traps. These adults will mate and lay eggs throughout most of June. Trap counts are currently fairly low in southern counties, indicating low insect pressure. Most treatments applied for OFM will also target TABM. In northern counties the trap counts are telling us that the insect pressure is quite high. Trap counts in some areas total up to 158 males per trap per week. This is reminiscent of the days when TABM was a major pest in apples and could also be found on peaches. Sufficient spray volume is a key factor with any leafroller like TABM. Where trap counts are high, then repeated applications about 7 days apart are required.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB): Adults are occasionally seen during orchard scouting. Knock down materials will be required for the remainder of the season in orchards with BMSB populations. Some early season injury is present in scattered orchard blocks.

Section 18 Labels for BMSB Control: EPA Section 18 labels came through for Venom and Scorpion. These are the dinotefuran labels for applications up to 3 days PHI. The labels are good for the higher rates that are effective for BMSB control, and are in effect from June 8, 2018 through October 15, 2018. The Brigade/Bifenture section 18 paperwork is still at EPA since it was submitted late by the NJDEP. Based on my communication with EPA personnel, I am hoping that we will be able to use these products before the end of June.

San Jose Scale (SJS): See from last newsletter – Crawler emergence is still underway statewide. See last newsletter for specifics and treatment guidelines.

Peach Scab: Scab lesions should start appearing in inadequately sprayed orchards anytime now. There is nothing that can be done at this point for peach scab. What is starting to appear now will be more pronounced over the next couple of weeks.

Split Pits and Brown Rot: As in most years, the early varieties are showing a significant amount of pit splitting. Given frequent storms, growers should be off the sulfur only programs and using a rotating combination of good materials. Anything now ripening through mid to late July should be on the improved fungicide program. This means a rotation of DMI Group 3 materials (Indar, Orbit, Orius, Quash) with 7 (Fontelis), 11(Gem), and premix combinations. Please be aware that Quadris Top is a combination that includes the same AI as in Abound, so can be phytotoxic to apples. Inspire Super is a combination of a DMI (Group 3) and the AI in Vangard, and Vangard is not particularly effective for the fruit phase of brown rot.

Bacterial Spot: Leaf symptoms are present in a few areas in both southern and northern counties, and some infections are present on the fruit. Maintain protective copper or Mycoshield applications for the present time.

Rusty Spot: Pit hardening occurred on or about 6/12 in southern counties. No more rusty spot treatments should be needed this season in southern counties, but continued treatments can still help in northern counties.

Apple (and Pear):

Codling Moth (CM): All degree day timed treatments for the first generation are over statewide, while the second of 2 treatments is due in northern counties over the weekend. Exceptions to this rule would be if trap counts exceed 5 males per trap, and/or if the flight is stretched out and counts are high. This would indicate that females are still laying eggs in sufficient numbers to cause additional damage. As of this past week, many locations in both southern and northern counties still have trap counts above 5 moths per trap, and therefore need additional treatments. Use a different insecticide that was used for the previous 2 treatments. Please see the Madex alternative in the last newsletter. Tufted Apple Budmoth: See peach section above.

Scale Insects: See the scale discussion under the peach section, but add Sivanto to the list of materials that can be used for crawler control on applies.

Grape:

Grape Berry Moth (GBM): A biofix (wild grape bloom) was set for May 28 in Gloucester County, using the MSU/Penn State/Cornell model. As of June 19, we had 490 degree days accumulated since Biofix. We need a total of 810 DD before treatment with an insect growth regulator (Intrepid) or a diamide like Altacor. This will likely fall about June 28 in southern counties. However, to decide if you have a population that is worth treating, you can monitor the berries a few days before the potential treatment date. Check especially on edge rows near the woods. A threshold from 1^st generation damage is if 6% of clusters show damage then 2^nd generation treatment is justified. However, this is for juice grapes, and a wine grape threshold would be considerably lower. More on GBM as we get closer to the critical date.

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:

The following data is from monitor 215 sites from Atlantic and Burlington Counties.

Plum Curculio (PC): Numbers of PC infested fruit decreased over the past week, some due to fruit drop. The average count was 0.005 per bush, with a high of 0.5 infested fruit per bush. Trap counts during this week have decreased as well, with none found in the traps in either county. Some residual infestations are present in pockets of plants around wooded edges. Both Duke and Bluecrop can be found with up to .5% of injured fruit with live larvae. Make sure you know what condition your fruit is in before picking, especially around the woods.

Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD): This past week was our first capture of a male SWD. First male fly captures were on June 20^th in both Atlantic and Burlington Counties. We continue to get more positive trap sites since first capture. Therefore all susceptible fruit should be on an SWD program. This means all Duke, Draper, and Bluecrop and anything else with color.

SWD male on red sticky trap. Photo – Carrie Denson

Blueberry Maggot (BBM): No BBM has been captured in either Atlantic or Burlington Counties.

Leps: Total numbers of ‘worm’ larvae have decreased on lower shoots as well as injury to infested fruit. Average percentage of lower infested shoot was 0.205 per infested shoot with a high of 18% of Leps on shoots. Fruit injury is very low and averaged 0.018 per bush with a high of 0.6 infested fruit per bush. Fall webworm is present in isolated areas, especially on end bushes and near the woods. Webs will often involve the entire terminal or more than 1 terminal. Most materials used for SWD will control webworm, or if you simply cut out the affected parts of the plant and burn.

Fall webworm on bush terminals. Photo – McKenna Moore

Aphids: Overall aphid populations increased slightly over the past week, with 5.9% shoots infested, and a high of 48%. Colony sizes on average are 6 to 10 Aphids per shoot. At this time, we are moving into a Spotted Wing Drosophila program, so the only way to get aphid populations down at this point will be to use 2 separate applications, one for SWD and the other for aphids.

Oriental Beetle (OB): As expected, OB adult trap captures have increased as adults continue to emerge. When you consider that Admire has a 7 day PHI and the fact that all treatments must be applied prior to mid July to be effective, then the window for effective applications is fast closing. Many growers who had high populations last year, still have not treated this year. This is why we have continued to suggest mating disruption as a viable alternative. However the window for that application is closed, since adults are now in their third week of emergence.

Cranberry Fruitworm (CBFW): CBFW adult are still being found in traps, but the timing for treatments is well over. Some infested fruit is present, but mostly in untreated fields. Our average count was 0.012 infested fruit per bush, with a high of 1. As for trap counts, Atlantic County trap count high was 1 per trap, Burlington County high was 2 per trap.

Sharpnosed Leafhopper (SNLH): SNLH nymphs are starting to mature, and adults are starting to be found in yellow sticky traps. This is the first of 2 generations we will be. Most of the treatments applied for SWD will also control SNLH, so we usually don’t worry too much about the 1^st generation. SNLH is the vector for blueberry stunt disease, but since the adults that have wings are much more motile, that is the stage we target for control. We captured only 2 adults in one trap in Atlantic County.

Summary of insect counts seen during the week of June 10th – 16^th

Blueberry Trap Captures – Atlantic County

Blueberry Trap Captures – Burlington County