The New England Apple Scab Control Practices Survey You are invited to participate in a research project about your scab management practices. This follow-up survey is part of a larger research project being conducted in New England with Dan Cooley, Arthur Tuttle, and Jon Clements at the University of Massachusetts, Cheryl Smith, Bill MacHardy, George […]

Hi Fruit Growers, Two inches of rain this past week washed off pesticides again, so it’s a good idea to reapply fungicides. Include an insecticide with the fungicide to control apple maggot fly. European red mite populations should be assessed and a miticide applied if you find more than 5 mites per leaf. Watch young […]

Hi Fruit Growers, The Massachusetts Fruit Growers meeting is Wednesday, July 9 from 10-2. The last day to pre-register was today, but if you show up on Wednesday you can still participate – there may not be enough food. WEDNESDAY, July 9, 2014 UMass Cold Spring Orchard Research & Education Center 391 Sabin Street, Belchertown, […]

Hi Fruit Growers, Dave Rosenberger, retired plant pathologist from Cornell, shared this information about spraying Cueva copper plus Double Nickel biofungicide against shoot blight. Here’s what Dave said: Fire blight is causing problems across a broad swath of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.  Dealing with fire blight at this time of year is always difficult.  Penn […]

Hi Fruit Growers, UMass sent out a fire blight alert today. Dan Cooley has done a nice job with this message so I’m copying it here for you. After his message I say a couple more things about fire blight.Fire Blight Alert Massachusetts   Dan Cooley   Widespread fire blight is being reported around the […]

Hi fruit growers, I saw fire blight in two more orchards today plus another grower sent me pictures. I’m worried that most orchards in Rhode Island have fire blight! I’ve been talking with Debbie Breth from Cornell Cooperative Extension. Debbie has been dealing with fire blight in New York for a couple of decades. I’ll […]

Hi Fruit Growers, The last three orchards I visited all had fire blight! This is bad news! Attached are several pictures of what this bacterial disease looks like now. You may see dead flower clusters, diseased new shoots with a typical shepherd’s crook tip, flower/fruit cluster leaves drying out with blackened leaf veins. I’ve heard […]

Hi Fruit Growers, Apple scab primary season probably ended with the May 22nd wetting period and lesions from this infection period should start appearing by June 4. Scout your orchard now and through June 4th. If you are scab free by June 4th, you will probably be all set for scab and can switch to […]

Hi Fruit Growers, I’m happy to report that Orchard Radar is up and running for Rhode Island. We have two weather sites – one in Greenville and one in Middletown. These two sites pretty well cover Rhode Island. You can link to either site from the Apple IPM website at https://web.uri.edu/ipm/ Orchard Radar is full […]

Hi Fruit Growers, Hope to see you at the twilight meeting Wednesday night at Dowse Orchards in Sherborn, MA. Please call if you have questions (401-256-7438). Here’s what Jon Clements sent out in his Healthy Fruit newsletter:14-May, 2014 (Wednesday) Fruit Twilight Meeting at Dowse Orchard, 98 North Main St., Sherborn, MA (www.dowseorchards.com) 5:30 to 7:30 PM. 1 […]

For those of you with young (<5 years old) apple trees, there is a maximum number of fruit you should allow to develop on your trees so you don’t over-crop and stunt your trees. This research was conducted in New York by Terence Robinson. For weaker cultivars, fewer fruit should be allowed to grow on […]

The second twilight meeting of the year will be in Sherborn, MA on May 14 at 5:30. Here is what Jon Clements said: 14-May, 2014 Fruit Twilight Meeting at Dowse Orchard, 98 North Main St., Sherborn, MA (www.dowseorchards.com) 5:30 to 7:30 PM. 1 pesticide credit will be offered. Refreshments/snack will be served. Orchard walk, current orchard management […]

I want to show you how I’m scouting for winter moth larvae. With my magnifying glass, I get real close to the bud and peel open the bud with a finger nail. Attached are some pictures – one showing how close I am to the bud using a 10x handlens one clean bud (no winter […]

Hi, All the winter moth eggs I was monitoring hatched by Thursday, April 24th. I was surprised to see 100% of the eggs hatched. Winter moth caterpillars can now be found inside blueberry buds, apple buds, and folded maple and cherry leaves. Supposedly they can be seen in some oak buds too, though the few […]

Hi Fruit Growers, I was hoping Orchard Radar would be up and running by now, but it’s not. We do have another tool for checking different apple models to predict what is happening in the orchard. That tool is NEWA from Cornell. There are two NEWA weather sites in RI – one at TF Green […]

Hi there, As expected, winter moth eggs started to hatch in Kingston. I found one empty egg shell yesterday afternoon and 7 empty egg shells this afternoon. I think it would be a good idea to spray apples and blueberries in winter moth areas with an insecticide by Monday, April 21st. The tiny caterpillars are […]

Hello, I found 7 blue eggs today out of the 200 or so that I have been watching. I’ve attached a picture, but it’s rather hard to see the blue eggs. I expect winter moth eggs to start hatching in a few days in Kingston. Growing degree days in Kingston is at 207.5 GDD base […]

Hi all, I checked the sentinel eggs this afternoon and the winter moth eggs are still orange. Once eggs turn blue it takes another few days for them to hatch. I will check the eggs daily until they turn blue and then hatch.

Hello, All the eggs I’m checking are still orange. Eggs turn blue a few days before they hatch, so I think we are still at least several days away from winter moth eggs hatching. According to Growing Degree Day model on The Weather Channel website: http://www.weather.com/outdoors/agriculture/growing-degree-days/02878 in Kingston, according to the Degree Day model, the […]

  Hello fruit growers and all those interested in winter moths, Winter moth eggs have not started to hatch. They also have not started to turn blue. They turn blue a few days before hatching. Winter moth eggs usually hatch around April 10, though I expect it will be later this year. It all depends […]