2022 Email Messages
Beech leaf disease treatment
Beech leaf disease treatment – June 2, 2022 Beech leaf disease is a new disease and there has not been time for extensive research. In Ohio, researchers have encouraging results treating American beech saplings (<4 inch diameter trees) with a phosphite product twice a year for five years. There are several Phosphite products available including […]
Beech leaf disease in RI
We are seeing a new disease of beech trees throughout Rhode Island – beech leaf disease (BLD). It’s caused by a foliar nematode and can kill American and European beech trees. The disease was first seen in Ohio in 2012 and quickly spread east. It was found in RI in 2020 in Ashaway. In 2020 […]
Twilight Meeting – in person!
Hi Fruit Growers, I’m sure you are all looking forward to the wind settling down. It’s been pretty crazy lately. I hope to see many of you at the in-person twilight meeting next Wednesday, May 18, at 5:30. The meeting is at Spencer Morris’s cider orchard at 71 Long Lane, Warren RI The UMass Fruit […]
Winter moth update April 16th
Winter moth update, April 16, 2022 Winter moth eggs finished hatching this past week. Now, and for the next week or two, is a good time to check your apple and blueberry buds for winter moth caterpillars. Caterpillar frass (insect poop) is much easier to find than actual caterpillars. I’ve seen one small apple orchard […]
Spring!
Spring is here ready or not! Some of the early varieties are showing green tissue, but McIntosh, the variety we use to measure how quickly the spring is approaching, is still at ‘silver tip’ bud stage. I expect McIntosh trees to reach ‘green tip’ within the week. McIntosh ‘green tip’ is when winter moth eggs […]
Winter moth update 3.18.22
Winter moth numbers had been decreasing for several years, but last year we saw a bit of an uptick in the population! According to the DEM June 2021 aerial survey, 150 acres were defoliated by winter moth caterpillars in 2021, and I saw many caterpillars causing damage to apple trees and blueberry bushes in southern […]