Fruit IPM Update for June 1, 2017

Peach:

Tufted Apple Budmoth (TABM): The first of 2 flights of tufted apple budmoth have started. Adults started to emerge in northern counties on 5/16 and in southern counties on 5/1. Although this has been a minor pest, timings are outlined below for anyone who had high populations last year.

Oriental Fruit Moth (OFM): We are between the 1^st and second generation flights in all areas of the state. Second generation adults should start emerging in the near future and mate and lay eggs, which produce the second brood. This is often the brood that 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. Timing for second brood OFM applications:

Clean Up Your Ground Cover – Plant Bugs and Native Stink Bugs: As we move into summer heat, catfacing insects become a primary target, especially in dry seasons. Many orchards have ground covers composed of flowering weeds and clover, which makes an ideal habitat for catfacing insects. These insects breed and multiply in the ground cover, and then find their way to the fruit. Wet springs that help make a healthy ground cover (especially if it’s weeds), followed by prolonged dry periods can often aggravate catfacing damage, since the insects often move from the weedy ground covers to the fruit in the trees. Damage may appear as water soaked areas, bleeding spots on the fruit, or depressed calloused tissue. Because there may be pit injury and bacterial spot symptoms present in some orchards, be sure to distinguish between those symptoms and catfacing. Fresh catfacing injury will appear as single or multiple bleeding sites on the fruit surface. Cutting into the bleeding area will reveal a shallow injury. Physiologically injured pits will appear similar to catfacing injury, however if the fruit is cut the injured area will appear as a “water-soaked“ area extending through to the pit. Bacterial spot often begins with multiple bleeding spots that will eventually heal over leaving blackened spots on areas with broken skin. Orchard blocks that are next to grain fields or wooded edges can be particularly susceptible to stink bug damage.

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.

San Jose Scale (SJS): Scale crawlers are starting to emerge in Cumberland County (RAREC). While this usually happens about the first week of June, we are slightly earlier this year. If you had known high populations of scale last year, it is important to note if crawlers are present, even if you treated with oil in the early spring. If crawlers are present then treatment options include Esteem, Movento, Centaur, and Diazinon. Esteem, Centaur and Movento should be applied at the beginning of crawler emergence. Diazinon is labeled for only one post bloom or foliar application on stone fruit (Rec = max. of 2 lb/acre of the 50W). The apple label allows up to 2 foliar applications per year as long as a prebloom application was not made. The peach label allows 1 foliar application per year. Foliar applications may cause russet on apples, but has worked in the field for scale crawlers as long as applications are made 1-2 weeks after the start of crawler emergence and again 2 weeks later.

Thrips: Thrips tend to start building up at this time of year in weedy groundcovers and in hedgerows with flowering shrubs. More on thrips in future newsletters

Brown Rot; Anthracnose: Thundershowers and overhead irrigation done around periods of warm temperatures and high humidity can provide good opportunities for brown rot infection, particularly in blocks with damaged fruit or blossom blight. An improved fungicide schedule should be initiated 2 to 3 weeks prior to the first picking. Pay attention to susceptible varieties such as white peaches. While cover sprays are important, the most important timings seem to be early preharvest sprays starting 4 weeks before harvest. Pristine has been very effective based on past experience. Merivon should be equally effective although data is lacking. Gem has not provided adequate control in the field. The QoI component of Luna Sensation has the same active ingredient as Gem, it is not known how effective Luna Sensation would be for anthracnose.

Bacterial Spot: Leaf symptoms have been seen in only a few locations and only on highly susceptible varieties, the current wet cycle may have initiated additional infections so look for leaf symptoms to appear this week, and fruit symptoms to appear in about 2 weeks. Fruit remains highly susceptible until pit hardening so management practices should be continued.

Rusty Spot: Symptoms are appearing in the field now in southern counties. Maintain control measures until about pit hardening. This is another area where having flowering weeds in your ground cover is a bad thing. DMI fungicides (Rally; difenaconazole) are the current standard rusty spot controls, but if combined with a neonicotinoid insecticide insect control, you have a toxic combination for bees. If you have a weedy ground cover and use a neonic, then consider using one of the biorationals (Armicarb; Kaligreen; Serenade) in place of Rally to minimize impact on bees.

Apple:

Codling Moth (CM): The first codling moth flight continues in orchards with high populations. A biofix was set for CM on April 26 in southern counties, and on May 2 in northern counties. In recent years both the 1^st and 2^nd generations can be stretched out, and egg laying can occur over a longer period of time. This is reflected in prolonged high trap counts that are above the treatment threshold of 5 males per trap. Some recent counts this past week have been above 20-40 moths per trap. When this happens, additional insecticides may be needed, even supplemented by applications of Madex, a naturally occurring virus that is effective against codling moth and oriental fruit moth larvae.

Tufted Apple Budmoth: See peach section above.

Dogwood Borer (DWB): Frass and other feeding signs from DWB larvae have been seen in northern counties. These signs are from larger larvae, which should pupate and emerge as adults in the near future. Growers have traditionally applied a trunk spray of Lorsban at the start of adult emergence. This kills adults and newly hatching larvae. Alternatively, growers can also use mating disruption for control dogwood borer. Isomate^® DWB can be applied at the rate of 100-200 dispensers per acre before adults emerge. For initial applications and high populations, 150 dispensers/A are suggested. DWB has become a significant pest in high density, dwarf apple plantings. Establishment costs in these orchards is high, making any loss of young trees a hardship. The Isomate product should be available from most AgChemical suppliers in NJ and can also be ordered from Great Lakes IPM in Michigan.

Summer Diseases and Apple Scab: In addition to controlling the summer diseases listed below, secondary scab will soon need control where primary infection symptoms are visible. Primary scab lesions were noted in 2 southern and 1 northern orchard this past week. If your orchard appears free of scab then the primary diseases of concern are the Rots, Sooty Blotch and Fly Speck. Anthracnose (Bitter Rot) has been troublesome in wet seasons especially on Empire and Honeycrisp. If you are using the extended EBDC schedule, control should be good on most cultivars. However, remember that when using the extended schedule the label limits applications to 21# per season, or 77 days prior to harvest. Where anthracnose control has been difficult consider using a program that rotates any of the following Pristine, Merivon, Captan, or Ziram in your summer program.

Fire Blight: We are now in the shoot blight phase of the epidemic. Sanitation is important both to remove inoculum and to help prevent bitter rot inoculum buildup. Instructions for deciding when and how to cut out fire blight strikes can be found on page 7 of the UMASS bulletin, “An Annual Program for Fire blight Management”.

Pear Psylla : Pear Psylla nymphs have begun to hatch and adults are still laying eggs for the second generation of nymphs. Control of this generation is important to avoid overlapping generations throughout the summer. Scout the growing tips for eggs. Eggs are usually laid along the center leaf rib mostly on the leaf underside. Applications of 1 % summer oil in early cover sprays have shown to be of benefit. Use oils and adjuvants with caution on Asian varieties. When applying insecticides for psylla control timing is important as materials such as Movento and Agrimek should be applied when the first eggs hatch. In the case of Movento application a few days before hatch is better, since this material takes some time to move into the tissue. Add penetrants as per label instructions. Delegate and Neonicotinoids may also applied when the first eggs hatch. The addition of 1 qt. summer oil or a non-ionic surfactant will improve control with these materials. Finally Sivanto, a chemistry closely related to neonicotinoids is effective but should be used with oil as per label instructions. Some miticides such as Portal and Nexter are effective, but should be applied when most eggs have hatched but before any nymphs begin to form wings.

Scouting Calendar Tree Fruit Southern Counties

The following table is intended as an aid for orchard scouting. I t 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.

Blueberry:

We are now entering the time to control SWD as our primary pest, so hopefully aphids and PC have been ‘mopped up.’

Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD): SWD adults are being captured in scattered traps that we place during the week of 5/22-26. Populations are low, and are being found in the single digits. Nevertheless, this is 5 weeks earlier than when the first adults were found last year, and in some locations SWD adults have been found throughout the winter. The mild winter may have helped give SWD survive and produce and early start to our in-season population. As ‘Duke’ starts to gain some blue color, the berries will be susceptible to SWD egg laying. Therefore, SWD now becomes the primary insect pest of concern. Other later varieties may not be susceptible yet, but as the SWD population grows, the infestation pressure will become more intense.

Plum curculio (PC): Very little PC injury is being seen, and very few PC adults are being found in beating tray samples. However, PC adults are still being found in PC traps. This means that the insect is still active and has the potential to cause damage where significant populations are still present. When choosing a material to control SWD, it would be wise if that material were also effective against PC. Unfortunately this limits you to Imidan and high rates of pyrethroids, neither of which are aphid materials.

Aphids: Aphid populations average about 2.1% infested shoots, with a maximum of 24% infested shoots. This means that overall populations are low, or below our action threshold of 10% infested shoots. However some growers still need to ‘mop up’ the higher populations before concentrating on SWD. For these growers Assail would be the product of choice, since it will also control low populations of SWD. If your market does not permit the use of Assail, then Lannate is also a choice. Both of these products will also control the last of the cranberry fruitworm (CBFW), if you already targeted CBFW earlier.

Cranberry Fruitworm (CBFW): Trap counts have increased over the past week, and indicate that CBFW is still a primary insect target on some farms. Eggs are being laid on the calyx end of the fruit (for about the past 10 days). Insecticides applied during this time will kill young larvae as they hatch, but before they establish themselves in the fruit. If you already applied a material targeted for CBFW, then additional sprays can be targeted for SWD and other pests. Materials that control SWD and CBFW include: Imidan, Delegate, Assail (low SWD populations), Lannate, the pyrethroids (Bifenture, Brigade, Danitol, Hero, Mustang), and Exirel.

Tree Fruit Trap Counts – Southern Counties

Tree Fruit Trap Counts – Northern Counties

Blueberry Trap Counts

Atlantic County

Burlington County