Management of European red mites is a continual process. Decisions made throughout the growing season will affect your mite populations. Outlined here are steps that can help with mite management. For a more complete explanation, please see the following publication: https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publications/E-258.pdf. Put on a timely Superior oil spray. See the article above. Conserver predator…Read more about Mite Management in Apples[Read More]
Tree Fruit
One of the first and most important parts of a good insect and mite management program is the application of an early season oil spray to control European red mites, San Jose scale, and several species of aphids. Scales overwinter on the tree as nymphs and European red mites and aphids overwinter as eggs. Because…Read more about Oil Sprays[Read More]
There has been some talk about the use of promalin to help overcome the damaging effects of freezing temperatures. Only a small amount of research has been conducted on this. Dr Steve McArtney showed that promalin applied after damaging freeze events could increase parthenocarpic (seedless) fruit development. Keep in mind this was only shown to…Read more about Frost Recovery Treatments[Read More]
What is the best way to assess bud damage from cold temperatures? Drs. Tara Baugher and Jim Schupp at Penn. State University have put together a nice page with some excellent photos explaining how to assess fruit bud survival: http://extension.psu.edu/plants/tree-fruit/news/2016/assessing-fruit-bud-survival-and-crop-potential I would add that unless you find that more than 90% of your buds have…Read more about Assessing Fruit Bud Survival and Crop Potential[Read More]
Frost and freeze damage was minor in small fruits and grapes. Below is a review of general guidelines for when we expect damage to buds, flowers and fruit. Developmental stage 10% kill (°F) 90% kill (°F) Apples Silver tip 15 2 Green tip 18 10 Half-inch green 23 15 Tight cluster 27 21 Pink 28…Read more about Frost and Freeze Damage Update[Read More]