McIntosh trees in Greenville are at petal fall, but many other varieties are at full bloom. The mostly cool weather over the last week or so is really spreading out bloom this year. This makes applying insecticides tricky! Luckily, apple trees shouldn’t need an insecticide application until warmer weather is forecasted. Plum curculio may be present in orchards now, but they won’t become active until temperatures are in the 70’s. Right now the prediction is for temperatures to stay in the 60’s. I think the need to apply a petal fall insecticide is still a week away, or perhaps even later. Petal fall insecticide choices include Imidan, Avaunt, Calypso and Actara.

European red mites can be found on the underside of oldest leaves now if prebloom oil or miticides were not effective. Using a handlens, look on the underside of fruit cluster leaves of Red Delicious or other trees where you have had mite problems in the past. If you did not treat for mites perbloom, and you find more than 1 mite per fruit cluster leaf, consider applying Apollo, Savey, AgriMek, or Zeal at petal fall.

This week is when the earliest apple scab lesions should be appearing. The lesions will most likely be on the later fruit cluster leaves because these leaves were new when the infection period occurred 2 weeks ago. I didn’t spend time looking for lesions today, but I will start looking this week.

Some growers are using mating disruption to control greater peach tree borer and lesser peach tree borer. The time to set up the ties is this week or next week. Some later locations, like Little Compton, probably can wait to set up the ties in the last week of May.

Oriental fruit worm can be a huge problem for peach growers. The first insecticide spray to control Oriental fruit worm should be applied at peach petal fall.
Speaking of peaches, I hear reports of some peaches being damaged from the frost that occurred two weeks ago. Today I did see some dead peaches, but not many. You can check your peaches by cutting some of the fruit in half. Fruit killed by frost will be brown in the center.

Our next twilight meeting is next Thursday evening at Noquochoke Orchard in Westport, MA.

May 22 at 5:30 at Noquochoke Orchard, 594 Drift. Rd., Westport, MA. Our hosts say to come a little early for a ‘feed’.
To get Noquochoke Orchard from Providence:
Take I-195 East toward Cape Cod for 20.5 miles
Take Exit 10 to merge onto Route 88 South toward Horseneck Beach
Travel 5.3 miles then turn left onto Charlotte White Ext.
Drive .3 miles and then turn right onto Drift Road
Noquochoke Orchard is .4 miles in on Drift Road

June 19 at 5:30 at Sweet Berry Farm, 19 Third Beach Ave, Middletown, RI.
To get to Sweet Berry Farm from the Newport/ Pell Bridge:
Coming off the bridge, keep left at the fork and follow to traffic light.
At light, turn left on Admiral Kalbfus Rd./Route 138 East
At second light, continue onto Miantonomi Ave (don’t turn left with Rt. 138)
Miantonomi Ave. merges with Green End Ave.
Continue on Green End Ave. for 1.9 miles to Third Beach Road.
After .3 miles, turn left into Sweet Berry Farm

Two Pesticide Recertification Credits are available for each meeting.

The cost is $20 per learning individual.
Thanks for calling. Next message will be recorded Tuesday, May 20th.