Apples
Disease Management Considerations
Various rots, but mostly bitter rot, are present in orchards throughout the state (Figure 1). Broad-spectrum fungicides, such as captan and ziram, are effective. Captan alone may not adequately suppress severe summer disease pressure. Adding single-site products such as Merivon, Luna Sensation, Pristine, Omega, and Aprovia may improve control. The addition of phosphonate products such as ProPhyt or Rampart to captan sprays can improve control of rots and other summer diseases, including sooty blotch and flyspeck. Time applications before rain events through the growing season according to the cover spray rule of applications every 2” of rain or 14 days, whichever comes first.

Figure 1. Diseases observed on developing apples a) white rot, b) bitter rot, and c) sooty blotch and fly speck.
Insect Update
Codling Moth (CM): Trap captures are increasing in some orchards, but on average, counts remain low for the second generation of codling moth. If you have applied your 2nd-generation insecticides and your trap counts are low (less than 5 moths per trap), additional treatments are not needed.
Scale: Crawlers are active and can be monitored by wrapping black electrical tape covered with double-sided sticky tape around branches with previous scale infestations. Use a hand lens to detect crawlers on the tape. Control options during crawler emergence include Esteem (2 applications/year; 45-day PHI); Centaur (1 application/year; 14-day PHI); Diazinon 50W (2 applications/year; 21-day PHI); and Venerate (0-day PHI; Make two applications 7 days apart starting a week after crawler emergence). Neonicotinoids will have some suppression.
Woolly Apple Aphid (WAA); Green Apple (Spirea) Aphids (GAA): Populations on average remain below treatment levels. A treatment threshold is set at 50% of the terminals infested with live colonies. Predation by lady beetles and other predators and parasitoids has been observed and can help to maintain pest populations below damaging thresholds. Scout in known hotspots for WAA colonies now. Minimize the use of pyrethroids to manage insect pests, as they can knock down beneficial organisms and predators. Research from Dr. Monique Rivera at Cornell University has demonstrated good control from Sefina for WAA in late summer.
Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs: Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs are being captured in orchards statewide. Both adults and nymphs are present (Figure 2). See the NJ Tree Fruit Production guide for effective materials on harvesting fruit.

Figure 2. Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is a pest of ripening fruit.
Dogwood borer: On average, moth captures in pheromone traps continue to decrease. If trap captures remain high in your orchard blocks, consider a coarse trunk application of Assail before August.
Traps
Average Trap Captures in Apple – Southern Counties
| Week | STLM | TABM | CM | OFM | DWB | AMBROSIA BEETLE | BMSB |
| 5/11/2026 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | 2 | – |
| 5/18/2026 | 16 | 21 | 3 | 10 | 54 | 13 | – |
| 5/25/2026 | 1.3 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 71 | 7 | – |
| 6/1/2026 | 378 | 33 | 3 | 2 | 49 | 6 | 0.4 |
| 6/8/2026 | 258 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 61 | 21 | 1.2 |
| 6/15/2026 | 355 | 4 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 57 | 13 | 0.8 |
| 6/22/2026 | 178 | 5 | 0.6 | 2 | 54 | 8 | 1.2 |
| 6/29/2026 | 504 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 27 | 12 | 0.8 |
| 7/6/2026 | 202 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 25 | 7.5 | 0.6 |
| 7/13/2026 | 226 | 0.9 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 1.6 |
| 7/20/2026 | 253 | 1.8 | 2 | 3 | 26 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
Average Trap Captures in Apple – Northern Counties
| Week | STLM | TABM | CM | DWB | AMBROSIA BEETLE | BMSB |
| 5/11/2026 | 13.7 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 12.8 | 1.1 | – |
| 5/18/2026 | 8.3 | 13.25 | 2.4 | 18.5 | 10.8 | – |
| 5/25/2026 | 2.2 | 13.75 | 1.2 | 24.5 | 5.1 | – |
| 6/1/2026 | 25.1 | 24.3 | 3.4 | 23.8 | 9.4 | 0.3 |
| 6/8/2026 | 94 | 22.3 | 0.3 | 24.6 | 18 | 1.4 |
| 6/15/2026 | 68 | 22.3 | 1 | 22.6 | 14 | 1.1 |
| 6/22/2026 | 105.9 | 35 | 0.7 | 27.2 | 8.2 | 0.5 |
| 6/29/2026 | 100 | 11.5 | 0.3 | 28.9 | 5.3 | 0.3 |
| 7/6/2026 | 50.2 | 7.3 | 0.6 | 26.4 | 5.2 | 0.2 |
| 7/13/2026 | 52.4 | 7 | 0.5 | 24.8 | 5.3 | 0.2 |
| 7/20/2026 | 69.7 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 27.4 | 4.3 | 0.1 |


















Figure 1. Fire blight strike in apple. Photo by Karlton Raines-Neidigh.
Figure 2. Frogeye leaf spot on apple.


