June 9, 2017
Crop development: Day- neutral strawberry harvest continues. June bearing varieties that were under row covers have started harvest, and green fruit is present where row covers were not used. Raspberries are in bloom and green fruit is present in the earliest areas. Blueberry bloom is almost done and green fruit is present. Haskaps are turning colour but will take a couple weeks to reach the desired flavour.
Blueberries: The blueberry crop is looking promising as bloom ends. Active scale crawlers have been spotted- check bushes that have had scale infestations in the past for crawlers by using black sticky tape or flipping over hard scale shells for crawlers underneath. It is important to control scales at the crawler stage, when insecticides are most effective. Wait until after bloom to apply insecticides. New scale damage will be easiest to see on new growth and foliage.
Raspberries: Raspberries are in bloom and green fruit is present in early areas. With the low pest activity before bloom some growers waited to apply an insecticide in raspberries until post bloom; continue to monitor the foliage and buds during bloom for insect activity. Check new foliage for leaf shredding- raspberry sawfly damage has been seen. Check primocanes for raspberry can borer injury.
Strawberries: Tarnished plant bug and clipper weevil activity remains low. With the low populations we’ve seen so far they may continue to be a problem in strawberries later than usual. Continue to monitor for these insects on late varieties during bloom. Malwina is very late so far so keep an eye out for TPB and clipper weevil there.
We continue to see thrip damage in day neutrals and June bearings. If you are seeing bronzing on your fruit check blossoms and green fruit for thrips. To determine if the bronzing is caused by thrips look at the calyx and underside of the sepals for rusty discolouration. Scout both day neutrals and June bearing strawberries for thrips this week.
With the wet spring we’ve had so far strawberry fields have a higher risk of phytophthora crown rot and red stele appearing in the fields. Michael Celetti wrote an excellent article to help recognize and diagnose these diseases in your fields: https://onfruit.ca/2017/05/30/phytophthora-crown-rot-and-red-stele-of-strawberries/
Enjoy some sun this week!
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