Some of our readers may have small, backyard orchards, or even just a couple of fruit trees (or vines, canes, and bushes!), that you enjoy for the aesthetics and also the fruit! If you’re like me, you’re thinking that having just a few fruit trees to manage won’t be so hard, and the effort will[Read More…]
Elizabeth Yim Long
We all know that growing and protecting delicious fruit is a challenge! Whether you’re producing tree fruits, stone fruits, berries, or drupes, all kinds of insect pests are out to exploit the fruits of your labor. Despite our best efforts, sometimes a few insect pests slip under the radar and all you can do is[Read More…]
The plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) is a small “snout” beetle (also known as a weevil – one of my favorite beetle groups!) that will feed on apples, peaches, pears, plums, and cherries. Both adults and larvae have chewing mouthparts and can damage fruits; adults by feeding and laying eggs in newly set fruit and larvae[Read More…]
It’s that time of year to make sure you have all your fruit insect monitoring tools on hand and ready to place out in the orchard. Whether you’re already experienced, or just learning how to use insect monitoring tools, they can be big a help in detecting the presence and activity of important pest insects[Read More…]
Happy spring to everyone! I’m sure you are preparing your fruit systems for a productive season! I am looking forward to warmer weather and my favorite time of the year: when fruits and vegetables are fresh and abundant in the Hoosier heartland. Last year, I focused my fruit insect articles on what to look for[Read More…]
I hope the growing season is going well for all fruit producers! My team and several grower collaborators (thank you!) have been monitoring fruit insect pests this season in apple and blueberry, including codling moth, spotted-wing drosophila, and brown marmorated stink bugs. So, for this issue of Facts for Fancy Fruit I thought I would[Read More…]
For those growing delicious small fruits, including cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries, on a U-pick farm or even your backyard, now is the time to be on the lookout for spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), especially if your berries are ripe or in the ripening stage. Most of you are likely familiar with SWD (Figure 1),[Read More…]
Depending on where you are in the state, your fruit trees may be nearing the end of petal fall or already beginning fruit set! This is an important time to pay close attention to your pheromone-baited monitoring traps for captures of codling moth (Figure 1) that you are all likely familiar with. You’ve likely already[Read More…]
Time flies and now we’re in May! I’m guessing that most fruit trees throughout the state are somewhere between bloom and petal fall, so now is the time for tree fruit producers to use mating disruption strategies against tree fruit pests, like codling moth and dogwood borer, especially if you’ve had issues with these insects[Read More…]
Throughout the state, most of us are in some stage of tree fruit bloom and as fruit producers, you all know how important insect pollinators are for ensuring good fruit set and even quality! Whether you’re producing tree fruits, nuts, or small fruit (even grapes, although they aren’t dependent on insect pollinators), we know that[Read More…]