June 14 Berry Bulletin

Strawberries

Cool and wet weather continued this past week, although it looks like there is a stretch of warm, drier weather ahead. Pick-your-own operations are opened, and early and mid-season varieties are being picked. Valley Sunset is beginning to ripen and there is bloom and green fruit in Malwina.

New June-bearing fields and spring planted day-neutrals are establishing well. Remove flower buds and bloom in new fields. In day-neutral fields, once there are 4-6 leaves you can leave the bloom on. Runners should be removed from these new fields. Apogee can be used for runner suppression in day-neutrals where runners aren’t needed. Apply before runner formation. Use an adjuvant where permitted for optimum control.   

Insects:  Continue to monitor for aphids, cyclamen mites, two-spotted spider mites, tarnished plant bug, thrips, and in new fields flea beetles and potato leafhoppers. If cyclamen mite control is needed plan to apply a miticide at renovation.

• New plantings: Aphid pressure has been low in new fields so far, but hopper burn is showing up in new and established fields. Watch for both flea beetles and potato leafhoppers.  Some of the insecticides applied for aphids will also provide some control of flea beetles, including Assail, Cygon or Lagon. Malathion may also provide some efficacy when applied for leafhoppers. Note that Admire can only be used post bloom or once bloom and blossom clusters have been removed.   

Disease management: Disease pressure is high this year with the regular rains, and botrytis, anthracnose, common leaf spot, leaf scorch, and leather are showing up. On late varieties an extra fungicide now may be worthwhile for anthracnose and botrytis. Switch/Button (9+12) or Miravis Prime (7+12) have 1-day pre-harvest intervals and may be a good choice where a fungicide is needed before harvest.  

• In day-neutrals, once bloom is left on begin a regular fungicide program for botrytis, anthracnose, and powdery mildew. Use group Ms as much as possible during bloom for broad spectrum disease control. Note there are multiple formulations of captan products available- SC (suspension) and WSP (water-soluble pouches). For SC formulations (Captan 480 SC, #34551; Sharda Captan 48 SC, #32300) apply 5.8 L/ha in 1000 L water/ha. For WSP formulations (Maestro 80 WSP, #33488; Supra Captan 80 WSP, #33641) apply 3.5 kg/ha in 1000 L water/ha. Note the 6-8 day PHI for captan products.  

Blueberries

Are at the green fruit stage, and some are beginning to colour. Continue to check for scale crawlers with black electrical tape. Movento can be used at this time when lecanium scale crawlers are present.  

Raspberries

Are at green fruit, and there are ripening berries in early areas.

Check new growth for potato leafhopper activity; leaves will curl and turn yellow, and nymphs will be on the underside of the leaves, which are small, green, wedged-shaped insects. Spray when nymphs are present and symptoms are evident- do not spray during bloom.

Spotted wing drosophila

Spotted wing drosophila monitoring: the Berry Growers of Ontario and OMAFA are supporting SWD monitoring this season. Traps went up last week and this week. So far, no SWD have been identified in traps checked in Norfolk, Elgin, and Oxford county.

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.

See the attached for a list of Registrations for Spotted Wing Drosophila, 2024.

AgRobotics Demo Days

AgRobotics Working Group Demo Day: Mark your calendars for in-field demonstrations of autonomous solutions, technology and more! Thursday, July 11, 2024, 9:30am- 3:00pm. To register visit: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/agrobotics-demo-day-at-simcoe-research-station-tickets-918884376907

NASGA Summer Tour

The North American Strawberry Growers Association Tour is scheduled for August 13-15 in Massachusetts. Check the NASGA website for more information and to register.