May 7, 2010
I believe we are past the threat of fire blight in Rhode Island for this season – provided we don’t get hail, but let’s not talk about that!

We are nearing the end of primary scab season. I think orchards should not take any chances at this time. Stay protected with a fungicide. I have seen scab in a couple more orchards, but not too much. This season has been stressful, but I think it has been easier to control scab this year than most seasons.

I’ve heard reports of plum curculio scars in neighboring states. Warm, humid weather this week was perfect for plum curculio activity but I did not see any plum curculio scars. I expect them to be out in force once the temperature gets above 70 degrees again. If you still haven’t applied a petal fall insecticide and you don’t see damage, your trees will probably be relatively safe from plum curculio until warm weather returns. Insecticides effective against plum curculio include Imidan, Actara, Avaunt, and Calypso.

I’ve seen some egglaying of European apple sawfly near the calyx end of small developing fruit. Petal fall insecticide applications will control this pest as well. European apple sawfly may be a reason to apply an insecticide even if plum curculios aren’t active.

Some orchards do have high numbers of European red mites. High numbers early in the season can be a big problem. Check the underside of leaves now. There is a large choice for miticides – Apollo, Savey, Acramite, Zeal, Nexter. Take a look in the 2010 Tree Fruit Guide.

Thinning the fruit may be a bigger challenge than ever this year. And Fruitone, NAA, is not labeled in RI as of two years ago. Duane Green and Jon Clements from UMass recommend RI growers use Maxcel instead of NAA. Ken Ayars is working on getting it registered in RI, but I’m afraid we won’t have it for this year. Amvac, the company that makes Fruitone, thinks they never sold any Fruitone in RI. I told them that RI growers buy their chemicals from CT or MA – so it only looks like we don’t buy any. This isn’t the only stumbling block to getting it registered. I wanted to let you know there is a problem getting Fruitone (and Amid-Thin as well). What I’d like to know is who usually uses Fruitone to thin fruit. Please let me know if you do use it. It would be good to have facts about how much it is used in RI.

The next twilight meeting will be May 20 at Noquochoke Orchard, Westport, MA. The meeting starts at 5:30, but come earlier for the clambake!! http://www.noqorchards.com/
Noquochoke Orchards, Inc.
594 Drift Road
Westport, MA 02790-1232