Berry Bulletin June 15

June 15, 2018

Strawberries: June-bearing harvest is in full swing in southern and south-western Ontario, and close behind in the rest of the province; pick-your-own operations are open this weekend or opening next week. We seem to have caught up from the late spring.

Day-neutral harvest continues for overwintering fields. New plantings are starting to produce runners, which should be removed.

Cyclamen Mites: cyclamen mite damage is a common sight in June bearing fields this summer. Make sure you are checking your fields for damage and pinching out new, unexpanded leaves to look for mites and egg masses. The egg masses will look like piles of salt at the base of the leaflet. I have seen mites on the back of leaves in severe infestations. Check both first year bearing fields and older fields. If you are seeing:

• reduced growth and low vigour,
• short, stunted plants,
• small and bronzed fruit,
• Wrinkled, distorted and toughened leaves

This could be cyclamen mite damage. Prepare to control cyclamen mite after renovation, or later this summer in August or September. Agri-mek SC and Vegol Crop Oil are registered for cyclamen mite control. Check last week’s bulletin for more information on the life cycle and management of cyclamen mite. Remember to work and harvest in clean, new fields first before moving to older, infested fields.

Two spotted spider mites (TSSM):  TSSM prefer these hot and dry conditions, and continue to be a problem in some fields. Continue to monitor June-bearing and day-neutral fields by checking middle-aged leaves for mites. There are a number of products available for TSSM management at the green fruit stage. Check page 180 of Publication 360, Fruit Crop Protection Guide for a list of products. Agri-mek is available for 2 uses each season, so if you are hoping to use Agri-mek for both cyclamen mite and TSSM, wait until renovation for better efficacy on cyclamen mite.

Strawberry Aphids: populations are building up and winged aphids can be found in fields where an aphicide hasn’t been applied lately. This is the stage we are trying to control to prevent aphids from flying to new fields.

• Monitor for aphids during and after harvest.
• Don’t let populations build above 15 aphids on 60 leaves.
• Control aphids in new and fruiting fields.

Tarnished plant bugs (TPB): Continue to scout for TPB in late varieties like Valley Sunset and Malwina that are still susceptible. Remember the threshold for TPB is approximately 1 nymph per 4 flower clusters.

• Be careful using group 3s (Matador, Mako, Ripcord) as these may lead to a mite outbreak.

Potato leaf hopper (PLH): damage can be seen in a few strawberry fields. Check new leaves for leaf curl and yellowing, and the underside of the leaves for PLH nymphs.

Anthracnose and botrytis: Anthracnose and botrytis has started to show up in June-bearing fields, likely from the very hot weather we had a couple weeks ago.  Continue to include group M fungicides (captan, Maestro, Granuflo-T) and rotate between fungicide groups in your disease management program for botrytis and anthracnose.

Blueberries: Berries continue to ripen and the crop is looking good.

This is an important time to control cranberry and cherry fruitworm. Cranberry and cherry fruitworm sprays have been applied in some fields.  Re-apply in 7-14 days if trap capture continue.

Raspberries: summer-fruiting raspberries are setting fruit in southern Ontario. Bloom continues in central and eastern Ontario. Rust has been found on blackberries and black raspberries.

Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD):. Traps are set up at 15 sites across the province. Stay tuned to the blog and the berry bulletin for updates on what we are finding and different management practices.

• The first SWD was trapped the week of June 4, in a cherry orchard in Norfolk County.
• So far this week NO SWD has been trapped.

It is normal to find the first catch followed by a gap before finding an established population. Remember sprays are necessary when SWD is present in your area and there is ripe fruit. SWD will not infest unripe berries. Growers in southwestern Ontario and Niagara should monitor their strawberries closely, as these are one of the only crop hosts available at this time. If there is unpicked day-neutral fields make sure to remove the fruit if possible, to prevent an SWD population from establishing in the field.

Remember that managing SWD is a combination of strategies, which can begin before SWD becomes established. Pick as thoroughly as possible and cool fruit as quickly as possible post-harvest.

• Check out this blog post on managing SWD for the different management tools.

Emergency Use Registrations are in place this year for SWD management:

Mako (group 3), for suppression, and Malathion 85 E (group 1B) are registered for SWD, valid until November 2018.

Check the ONfruit blog and Ontario.ca/spottedwing for rates, PHI, REI and maximum applications.

New pest control products are available for berry growers. Check out this blog post for new products and uses this season. This post includes an update on products from October 2017 to April 2018. Use this in addition to the 2018-2019 version of Publication 360, Fruit Crop Protection Guide.

Twitter: Follow me on twitter @PateErica and our ONfruit blog for regular updates and berry information.