Tree Fruit IPM Report for June 1, 2022

Peach:

Bacterial Spot: Bacterial spot fruit symptoms started to appear last week statewide. These infections occurred during the mothers day storm. So far levels of fruit infection are very low however we have not yet seen the development of symptoms from recent rain events. Leaf symptoms appear after 1 week and fruit symptoms take 3 weeks to appear. Growers should continue to manage aggressively to suppress infection events. Fruit will become less susceptible to infection at pit hardening which should occur around the middle of June.

Oriental Fruit Moth: A biofix point for OFM was set on 4/11 in southern counties, and on 4/14 in northern counties. The first generation timings are updated below.

Plum Curculio; Tarnished Plant Bugs; and Other Catfacing Insects: Plum Curculio start to move into orchards at about 88-100 degree days base 50 after January 1. Applications for PC should be initiated once all petals are off, with a second application made with ovicidal materials at 379-402 DD. Growers can monitor degree day development at their site by finding the nearest weather station and using the degree day development tool at NEWA. PC activity should be past peak and decreasing excpet in high pressure orchards. Catfacing insect activity is increasing with the arrival of hot weather and are present at moderate to high levels in some orchards.

Scale Insects: White peach scale (WPS) crawlersshould be past peak emergence in southern counties. San Jose scale (SJS) crawlers began emergence last week and will continue until the first week of July. If you have scale infestations on your trees, 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, Venerate, and Diazinon. Esteem, Centaur, Venerate and Movento should be applied at the beginning of crawler emergence. Movento requires a penetrant as per the label. Venerate should be be applied at the low rate of 1 qt/A and may need more than one application. 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. 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. Belay and Assail are also effective against scale crawlers but may need more than one application during the emergence which typically lasts about 4 weeks for WPS and 6 weeks for SJS.

Lesser Peach Tree Borer and Peach Tree Borer: Lesser Borer adults are flying in all growing regions. Greater Peach tree borers are not being caught in traps yet. If you haven’t placed mating disruption dispensers yet there is still time to get them out before the greater peach tree borer flight which usually begins in June.

Apples and Pears:

Diseases: Fire blight and Scab are present at low levels in a few orchards. Fire Blight should be cut out using the ugly stub method. Summer scab, rots and sooty blotch and fly speck are the main targets at this stage. Where scab is present rely primarily on protectant fungicides. Last year Captan plus a phosphite like Prophyt was observed to slow scab development as well as provide good summer disease control.

Codling Moth (CM): The first codling moth flight has started. A biofix was set for CM on April 25^th in southern counties, and May 6 in Northern counties (Middlesex County). No biofix has yet been set for northern counties. Timings are updated below.

Tufted Apple Budmoth (TABM): Tufted Apple Budmoth (TABM): A biofix was set statewide on May 6. The first alternate middle applications for TABM will be on or about June 1 in all counties. This has been considered a minor pest in recent years. With the exception of Assail and and granulosis virus formulations (e.g. Madex), most materials used for Codling Moth will control TABM.

Grapes: Bloom is the critical time to protect against cluster infections from Downy and Powdery Mildew; Black rot; Botrytis; and ripe rot. Dr. Nita at Virginia Tech has a comprehensive summary of fungicide choices for bloom. Growers should also monitor wild grape bloom near thier vineyard and record the date the first wild grape bloom occurs. This is important for grape berry moth management using the NEWA Grape Berry Moth tool. Wild grape trace bloom was observed on May 25 in Gloucester County.

Tree  Fruit Trap Counts – Southern Counties

Tree  Fruit Trap Counts – Northern Counties