June 16 Berry Bulletin

In this bulletin:

• Crop & Pest Update
• Herbicide resistant weed testing
• Spotted wing drosophila monitoring
• Registrations for Spotted wing drosophila 2022

Strawberries:  Harvest is ramping up across the province as growers start picking fields that weren’t row covered and mid-season varieties. Pick-your-own is starting with more operations opening this weekend. The June-bearing crop is looking great.

Overwintered day-neutral strawberries are slowing down. Once spring planted day-neutrals are well-established leave the bloom. New plants are starting to produce runners, which should be removed. Apogee can be applied for runner suppression in day-neutrals where runners are not needed. Apply before runner formation; plants should have 4-6 leaves before the first application is made. If necessary, a second application can be made 3 weeks later. Tank-mix Apogee with a non-ionic surfactant.

Disease:  We are seeing some anthracnose in both June-bearing and day-neutral fields. In June-bearing fields make sure to protect any late varieties that are blooming now or approaching bloom, including Malwina. In day-neutrals plan to begin a regular fungicide program once the bloom is left on. Use group Ms as much as possible during bloom for broad spectrum disease control and resistance management. There is a 6-day REI for captan and maestro, so use these products before harvest.  During harvest rotate between Switch (group 12+9), Diplomat (19) and Quadris Top (11+3) for anthracnose control.  Do not rely on group 11s alone. 

Insects:

• Tarnished plant bugs (TPB): watch for TPB in new day-neutrals and later June-bearing varieties that are blooming or at the green fruit stage, including Valley Sunset and Malwina.
• Cyclamen mite:  are a challenge this year. As we move into harvest control for cyclamen mite should wait until after renovation. Pick in clean blocks first before moving to infested blocks or fields.
• Two-spotted spider mite (TSSM): Watch for TSSM in June-bearing and day-neutral fields. If mites are present on 25% of middle aged leaves in a 60 leaf sample, there are approximately 5 mites per leaf which should be watched closely. If mites are present on 55% of a 60 leaf sample of middle aged leaves, there are approx. 20 mites per leaf – and its definitely time for control.  Oberon and Nealta have short PHIs if a miticide is needed. Avoid applying Oberon during bloom.  
• New plantings: Watch for flea beetles, potato leafhoppers, aphids and cyclamen mites in new fields.  Remove flower buds and bloom in new fields.

Blueberries: are at green fruit.  This is an important time to control cranberry and cherry fruitworm. In Michigan egg laying is estimated to be underway. You will need 1-2 well timed insecticides for cranberry fruitworm and cherry fruitworm control.

Raspberries:  Raspberries are in bloom to green fruit. Watch for potato leafhoppers in raspberries, especially primocane fruiting raspberries. Monitor for nymphs on the underside of leaves in new fields and day neutrals. Check new growth for yellowing and leaf curl, and check the underside of the leaves for the nymphs, which are small, green, wedged-shaped insects. Spray when nymphs are present and symptoms are evident.

Funding Available to Test Herbicide Resistant Weeds- Funding is available for producers, agri-business, consultants and extension personnel to submit weed samples to be tested for herbicide resistance again this year.  Sample collection kits with sampling procedures can be obtained from kristen.obeid@ontario.ca.  These tests only require a small amount of leaf tissue from the suspected resistance weeds.  DNA is extracted from the leaf tissue to determine if there is a molecular change where the herbicide acts to kill the weed, making the weed resistant. 

Spotted Wing Drosophila Monitoring 2022- this year we are monitoring at a limited number of sites. Traps are set up in Oxford, Elgin, Norfolk, Brant, Hamilton, and Niagara. Traps were set up last week and NO SWD have been found so far this week. However, New York has reported a few catches, so now is a good time to plan ahead and prepare for SWD management. Watch the onfruit.ca blog for regular SWD updates. To monitor on your own farm you can use sticky cards to identify adults, or salt water tests or plastic baggie tests to monitor for larvae in fruit.

Spraying for SWD isn’t necessary until there is ripe fruit present + SWD is active in your area. Do not count on sprays alone– use as many of these tools as possible through the season to control SWD: 

• Keep your fruit picked regularly and clean!
• Cool fruit immediately after harvest.
• Keep alleys clean- either remove unmarketable fruit or crush it in the alley
• After unmarketable fruit is removed it should be destroyed (disposed of, or leave in plastic bags in the sun).
• Make the environment less favourable to SWD- prune the canopy and manage water to reduce humidity (repair leaking drop lines).
• Calibrate your sprayers now to ensure excellent coverage once you start to spray.
• Insecticides target SWD adults- make sure to spray when adults are active, in the morning and evening.
• Using Up-Cyde can lead to a mite outbreak. Reserve this product for fields that are in their final year of production.

Follow our ONfruit blog for regular updates and berry information.