The grape harvest will get started in the southern part of the state in the next couple of weeks. Most varieties are slightly behind normal this year. In Lafayette, early varieties are at the start of veraison and should be ready to harvest in four to five weeks. We generally harvest early varieties such as[Read More…]
Insect Management
This is the time of year to keep an eye out for the adult version of the Spotted Lanternfly. See a fact sheet at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/plant_health/2014/alert_spotted_lanternfly.pdf This is an extremely serious pest of a wide range of woody plants. It has caused serious damage in grapes, apples, peaches, plums, blueberries, etc.[Read More…]
At the Southwest Purdue Ag Center, we are studying annual strawberry production on plastic mulch. Our hope is to gather information for best production practices in our area. As we learn about insect and disease problems, we will pass this information on to producers. This article is about the insect pests we have observed in[Read More…]
Japanese beetles appear to be especially abundant this year. They started showing up a couple of weeks ago and are now numerous in many areas. This past year Japanese beetle populations were higher than they have been for a number of years and this year looks to be a repeat. We’ve seen severe damage to[Read More…]
Grapes across the state are post bloom a week or more. As berries reach 3 to 5 weeks post bloom they become naturally resistant to infection by black rot and powdery mildew fungi. So our spray program can relax a bit. Growers normally extend to a 14 to 21 day schedule supported by regular scouting.[Read More…]
Eastern flower thrips, an occasional pest of strawberries, have been reported in large numbers in central Indiana. They are attracted to and feed on flowers, with the result being leathery fruit or fruit that fail to ripen. This problem occurs every year at some level but has not been serious since 1994. Eastern flower thrips[Read More…]
Eastern flower thrips, an occasional pest of strawberries, have been reported in large numbers in central Indiana. They are attracted to and feed on flowers, with the result being leathery fruit or fruit that fail to ripen. This problem occurs every year at some level but has not been serious since 1994. Eastern flower thrips[Read More…]
There are some potential pest and disease problems that require early season sprays. Phomopsis is a major problem on many grape varieties in the Midwest. Mancozeb should be applied starting at 1-3 inch shoots and repeated each 7-10 days, especially prior to a predicted rain event. Evaluations of delayed-dormant fungicide applications for management of this[Read More…]
The severe cold weather we experienced in early January had a dramatic effect on the number of surviving fruit buds on crops such as peaches. The impact was highly variable depending on a number of factors, primarily location within the state. If you have less than a full crop of any of your fruit crops,[Read More…]
Insects and other arthropods are cold-blooded (or more technically, poikilothermic), which means that they don’t generate their own body heat like we do, but must rely on the environment for their heat. Each insect has its own developmental threshold, a temperature below which no development takes place. For many insects, such as codling moth, that[Read More…]