July 20 Berry Bulletin

Crop Update

Strawberries:  It has been a rainy week in some areas, along with moderate temperatures. Renovation is well underway in many June-bearing fields with mostly Malwina being harvested, and day-neutrals are also being picked.

Strawberry Aphids & Virus: If you have not applied an aphid spray in your new fields it is important to protect those fields now. Bearing fields will need an insecticide after mowing and new growth has emerged. In new strawberry plantings choose products that will control aphids and leafhoppers, such as Assail, Cormoran, Cygon or Lagon.

Cyclamen mite: Management after renovation may be needed- this is a good time to reach the mites in the crown and young, folded leaves that are typically harder to reach.

Day-Neutrals: Spring-planted day-neutrals and overwintered day-neutrals are being picked. Once harvest is underway your fungicide options are more limited for anthracnose control- use Switch or Miravis Prime when anthracnose pressure is high. Note there is a maximum of three applications of fludioxonil-containing products (Switch, Miravis Prime, Button, Scholar) to strawberries per year. Other options for anthracnose control are Diplomat and Quadris Top. The strawberry disease models may be helpful to time fungicide applications for botrytis and anthracnose control. Continue to scout for tarnished plant bug, two-spotted spider mites, and potato leafhoppers.  

Raspberries:   Raspberry harvest continues. Pick as clean as possible and spray regularly. The most rainfast SWD products for raspberries include Exirel, group 5s (Delegate, Entrust, Success), and group 3s.

Blueberries: blueberry harvest is ongoing across the province. Growers should be spraying for SWD regularly. Japanese beetles may also need to be controlled in blueberries- choose a product that will control Japanese beetle and SWD, like Exirel.  

Spotted wing drosophila monitoring:

Spotted wing drosophila is being monitored in Norfolk, Elgin, Middlesex, Oxford, Niagara, Waterloo, Wellington, Dundas, and Renfrew. It is important for growers to monitor on your own farm ; to monitor you can use sticky cards to identify adults, or salt water tests or plastic baggie tests to monitor for larvae. Numbers continue to increase this week and growers should be managing for SWD regularly now. Summary of SWD trap catches:

Week traps collected	County/region where SWD was found	Crops where SWD was trapped
June 17-23	0
June 24-30	0
July 1-7	Elgin, Oxford, Waterloo, Middlesex, Chatam-Kent	Wild hosts, currants, strawberries
July 8-14	Niagara, Oxford, Dundas, Wellington, Norfolk, Chatam-Kent	Strawberries, currants, wild hosts
July 15-19	Norfolk, Oxford, Dundas, Elgin, Middlesex, Niagara, Waterloo	Strawberries, currants, haskaps, wild hosts, raspberries

This monitoring is funded by the Berry Growers of Ontario. Thank you to the consultants and growers for help with this monitoring!

Berry crops with ripe fruit are now at risk and growers should begin a regular spray program if there is ripe fruit on your farm, including in late June-bearing strawberries, day-neutral strawberries, summer-fruiting raspberries, and blueberries. Do not count on sprays alone– use as many of these tools as possible through the season to control SWD: 

• Spray every 5-7 days.
  • Using the best products first will help knock the population back down at the beginning of the season. The most efficacious products include Exirel, Delegate, Success, Harvanta and Cormoran. (Note the 8 day PHI in blueberries for Cormoran)
  • Reapply after ½ inch of rain.
  • Use products from different groups.
  • Spray in the morning (6-10am) or in the evening (6-10 pm) when SWD is active.
  • Do not spray in temperatures above 25C.
  • Pyrethroid insecticides (Up-Cyde) will not work well in hot weather and will cause an increase in mites. Save these products for later when weather cools off and mite pressure is low.
• Keep your fruit picked regularly and clean- this can be very effective!
• 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.
• Renovate June-bearing strawberries as soon as possible.

Tissue Sampling:

• Late-July to early August is a good time for tissue sampling for a nutrient analysis in strawberries, raspberries and blueberries:

Calendar date	Crop	Plant part sampled	Approximate number to collect
Late July	Raspberry	Fully expanded leaves from fruiting cane	100 leaves throughout sampling area
Late July-early August	Blueberry	Mature mid-shoot leaves of current year growth	100 leaves throughout sampling area
Early August	Non-fruiting strawberry	Fully expanded, recently matured leaf -discard petiole immediately	50 leaves throughout sampling area

  A complete list of the foliar nutrient sufficiency range for fruit crops (apple, berry, grape, tender fruit) can be found at: Table 3. Nutrient Concentration Sufficiency Ranges for Fruit Crops

Where to Send Samples:

Several Ontario commercial testing laboratories can provide you with leaf analysis. Their contact information can be found on the OMAFRA website. For additional information assessing nutrient needs in fruit crops refer to Soil Management, Fertilizer Use, Crop Nutrition and Cover Crops for Fruit Production.  

Soilless Berry Study Group

Join us for this first study group meeting of the season to discuss table top strawberry and long cane raspberry production. At this meeting we’ll have a tour of the farm and table top system, followed by a roundtable discussion on soilless berry production. Growers are encouraged to come prepared with questions or issues they’d like to discuss as a group, and willingness to share from their own experiences growing table top strawberries or long cane raspberries.

When: Thursday, August 24, 2:00-4:00pm

Where: Harry’s Berries, 1230 Windham Road 10, Windham Centre

Cost: Free Bring your own lawn chairs!

Refreshments will be provided.

Please contact Victoria Eastman (victorialeastman@gmail.com) or Erica Pate (erica.pate@ontario.ca) to register.

Product Update

There have been recent label expansions or new fungicides registered for berry growers:

Product (group)	Crop	Pest	Notes
Miravis Prime (7+12)   PCP# 33207	Strawberry	Anthracnose	Do not make more than three applications of fludioxonil-containing products (e.g. Switch, Miravis Prime, Button, Scholar) on strawberries per year
Inspire Super (3+9)       PCP# 30827	Strawberry	Anthracnose (Suppression); botrytis	Do not apply more than 2 applications of Inspire Super or other Group 9 containing fungicide before alternating to a fungicide with a different mode of action. Maximum 1 application of a group 9 containing fungicide is recommended for botrytis control per 3 fungicide treatments.
Cevya (3)   PCP#33405	Strawberry	Botrytis (Suppression)
	Blueberry	Botrytis (Suppression); Mummy berry (Suppression); Septoria Leaf spot
	Currant	Septoria leaf spot