2019 Fruit Pest Update
September 18, 2019
2019 – 2020 Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide
Apple harvest has begun! Fruit are continuing to be about 6 – 8 days behind normal years due to the weather this season. Apple maturity reports will be published weekly on the Peninsular Agricultural Research Station website https://peninsular.ars.wisc.edu/apple-cherry-pest-update/.
As we approach harvest, make sure to double check the preharvest interval for any product you might use!
INSECT & DISEASE CONTROL
APPLE
Disease Pressure – A late season apple scab spray may be needed in blocks with active apple scab lesions due to the high amount of fog/mist we’ve had over the past week.
Insect Pressure – There is moderate apple maggot pressure in all scouted orchards and high pressure in blocks adjacent to abandoned orchards. Codling moth pressure is light as we are at the end of the second generation flight. There is still a bit more pressure farther north at this time. Adult plum cuculio beetles have been caught in two unsprayed orchards this past week. No brown marmorated stink bugs have been caught this year, but other types of stink bugs are active. There appears to be some stink bug or tarnished plant bug damage showing up on fruit in some blocks with heavy insect pressure. The feeding from both species looks very similar to bitterpit. If you are noticing higher amounts of what you think is bitterpit, it is worth checking the fruit closely to evaluate whether it is actually insect feeding damage.
When testing for apple maturity, it is important not to go by color alone this year, because color is developing faster than the apples are maturing. Make sure to use a variety of tests so that you ensure your apples are harvested at the optimal time.
CHERRY
The cherry season is basically complete. Any last hedging should be finished up this week so that the branches can heal over before the winter. Fall is also a good time to apply white latex paint to trunks to prevent southwest winter injury. Those wounds give borer insects an entry point which leads to early tree decline as larvae burrow under the bark.
GRAPE
Grape fruit maturity data are included in the most recent Fruit News and local data is posted on the PARS website. https://peninsular.ars.wisc.edu/apple-cherry-pest-update/
Wisconsin Fruit News:
Wisconsin Fruit News Volume 4, Issue 11
Fruit quality data Brix and TA from berries sampled from the West Madison Agricultural Research Station (WMARS) in Madison, WI, as of September 10th.
Reports have come in that low to large levels of codling moth and moderate levels of apple maggot were caught in monitoring traps this week.
As harvest time approaches, we have noticed a sudden shriveling of berries and wilting of clusters. Read more in Berry Shriveling in grapes: Late Bunch Stem Necrosis.
Updates from the UW-Madison, Division of Extension Insect Diagnostic Lab.
MSU is still collecting grape powdery mildew samples.
Peninsular Agricultural Research Station Vineyard Scouting Report.
Grape Scouting Report: Not much to report but be on the lookout for multicolored Asian lady beetles and wasps.
Door County Fruit Crop Pest Report, September 9, 2019.
Grape Variety Fruit Maturity Evaluation – September 4, 2019
Wisconsin Fruit News Volume 4, Issue 10
Grape variety developmental stages and fruit maturity evaluation
Tissue analysis to determine nutrient status of cold-hardy wine grapes
Grape scouting report: Japanese beetle and grape phylloxera continue to be present
Rainfastness characteristics of insecticides
Leaf tissue analysis for berry crops- Now is the time
New tool for predicting bitter pit in Honeycrisp apples
UW-Madison/Extension Insect Diagnostic Lab Update
UW-Madison/Extension Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic Update
Wisconsin Fruit News Vol. 4 Issue 7
- Plant Disease Diagnostic Update
Insect Diagnostic Lab Update
Apple Sooty Blotch and Flyspeck
Black Stem Borer
Strawberries Post-Harvest: Renovation or Rotation?
Grape Variety Developmental Stages
Grape Scouting Report: Grape Phylloxera or Grape Scale?
Door County Report
Links to individual Enviro-Weather stations:
Kewaunee/Stangelville Kewaunee/Casco
Southern Door/Nasewaupee Southern Door/Sturgeon Bay