Fruit twilight meeting, TUESDAY, June 8, 2021, 5:30 PM, Honey Pot Hill Orchards, 16 Boon Hill Road, Stow, MA Topics during orchard tour will include codling moth/apple maggot fly/brown marmorated stink bug/spotted wing drosophila management, NEWA weather station and models, Accede EUP thinning results, return bloom promotion using PGR’s. 1 Pesticide recertification credit will be […]

The UMass Extension Fruit Team will be holding its first-in-a-while IN PERSON Twilight Meeting, May 19, 2021 at the UMass Cold Spring Orchard, 4:00pm-5:30pm. Since this is the first in-person meeting in a while, please bear in mind there will be some new protocols in place. For example, there will be no food available, the University […]

I saw my first (and only) scab lesion of the season yesterday, May 11 – it was barely a lesion and not worth taking a picture. The lesion is probably from the apple scab infection period of April 25th. I expect more lesions to appear soon in orchards that were not protected with a fungicide […]

Happy Earth Day! Cold, windy, and a few snowflakes – Mother Nature’s joke for the day. Winter moth eggs finished hatching last week. Now, and for the next week or so, is a good time to check your apple and blueberry buds for winter moth caterpillars. I’ve looked at a few blueberry plantings in RI […]

Hi Fruit Growers, We had a successful RIFGA annual meeting last Thursday, though I wish more people joined us! Our officers are: President – Jim Steere Vice President – Spencer Morris Secretary – Kristen Castrataro Treasurer – Sandie Barden      Thank you, Al Fuoroli, for your service to RIFGA as VP these last few years! […]

Winter moth update, March 24, 2021 Winter moth populations have been decreasing for several years, though they can still be a problem for people growing apples, pears, and blueberries. Over the last decade, winter moth eggs started hatching anywhere from mid-March to mid-April, depending primarily on temperature. Last year they started hatching on March 20th. […]