The recent spate of cool, wet weather has left one organism happy, Venturia inaequalis, the fungus that causes apple scab. Most of the state just underwent an extreme scab period, and unfortunately, few of us could do anything about it because of the combination of rain and wind. The revised Mill’s table (from http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/tfabp/revmills.htm )identifies…Read more about Venturia Inaequalis[Read More]
Crop Management
Grapes have grown quickly this past week and most varieties are now past bud burst. The earliest have 4 to 6 inch shoots at this time. Blackberries and raspberries are also growing rapidly, with new primocanes emerging from the ground and laterals on floricanes out to 4 inches or longer. Flower buds are visible on…Read more about Crop Conditions[Read More]
Upticks in powdery mildew last year, plus a mild winter (which allows the fungus to overwinter in buds) set the stage for powdery mildew (Fig.3). Early season rains kept things at bay, but the recent change to drier weather while leaves continue to grow sets the stage for this disease. Powdery mildew is active during…Read more about Powdery Mildew on Apple[Read More]
It isn’t every year we get our peach trees to produce, but when we do, we want to make sure we get them to harvest! One of the most important sprays to protect peaches from leaf curl (Fig. 1) should have gone in late fall (best time) or in late winter (by end of February),…Read more about Protecting Peaches[Read More]
The last few weeks has been a dark time for our industry. We have lost some of the stalwarts of the fruit and vegetable industries. We remember: George A. Adrian, 95, Indianapolis Thomas E. Roney, 70, Greenfield Gene M. Wild, 90, Zionsville John Hilger, Ft. Wayne Abner J. Horrall, 85, Bicknell While these folks came…Read more about Remembering our Fellow Growers[Read More]
We’re getting close to the time when growers need to make chemical thinning decisions – for many the most perplexing and risky decision they will make all year. This is usually a tricky call to make, even more so when we have had spring frosts. Luckily in most places the spring frosts have not been…Read more about Chemical Thinning[Read More]
Although we started off the spring extremely early, an extended cool period has delayed crop development, reduce risk of frost, and made many growers feel a lot more comfortable. As can be seen from Figure 1, we are still tracking early in terms of growing degree days, but not as early as 2012. We are…Read more about Spring Temperatures[Read More]
Uneven bud break is affecting some of the apple varieties at Meigs (Fig. 1). This is usually associated with apples that grow in areas with mild winters, like the one we just had. Apple trees in warmer climates often demonstrate uneven bud breaking and bloom times. With some trees exhibiting everything from silver tip to…Read more about Uneven Bud Break Affecting some Apple Varieties[Read More]
The temperature data shown in Figure 1 will come as no surprise to anyone. This spring we had a very early warm period, much earlier than anytime this decade and even earlier than 2012. This started in mid February and continued for a couple of weeks. Thankfully since the start of March, we returned to…Read more about Spring temperatures[Read More]