July 2, 2010
Hi Fruit Growers,

I only made it to one orchard this week. I’m having a difficult time catching up from being gone last week.

I have heard that apple maggot flies have been caught in Massachusetts apple orchards, though not in great numbers. I think early maturing varieties should be protected with an insecticide at this time. Use half rates of Imidan or full rates of Avaunt, Assail, Calypso or Delegate. Assail and Calypso will also control Japanese beetles. Be sure to check your Honeycrisp trees for Japanese beetles. For some reason, Japanese beetles love Honeycrisp!

I haven’t had a chance to scout for obliquebanded leafroller. Now is the time when they would be relatively easy to find. Look between touching fruit or look for a leaf attached to a fruit for the small pale caterpillar. Insecticides for leafrollers include Proclaim, Altacor, Delegate, Dipel and others. Check your tree fruit guide for a complete list.

I’ve seen European red mites in several orchards over the last few weeks. The threshold for July is 5 mites per leaf or 77% of leaves with motile red mites. See the pest management guide on page 140 for a list of summer miticides. Do not use the same miticide twice in one season.

Use Orchard Radar to determine when your next fungicide application is needed. This dry weather is not conducive to fly speck and sooty blotch development. See Orchard Radar at https://www.uri.edu/research/ipm/

The summer meeting of the Massachusetts fruit growers is July 15 in Belchertown, MA. Here’s what Jon Clements wrote in his Healthy Fruit this week:

July 15, 2010: Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ Association Summer Meeting, UMass Cold Spring Orchard, Belchertown, MA.10 AM to 3 PM. Peter Jentsch from Cornell’s Hudson Valley Lab will be our guest speaker. Orchard tour in the morning followed by lunch and afternoon speaking program. BBQ lunch will be provided by Outlook Farm. The cost is $40 per person.

Here’s a link to their registration page:
http://www.massfruitgrowers.org/2010/summermeeting.html

Hope to see you at the meeting – it is always informative and enjoyable.

I hope to make it to several orchards next week!

Heather