Crop Update

Strawberries

Temperatures reached up to 33-36°C on Monday and Tuesday across the province, and growers are busy irrigating in this hot, dry weather. Make sure new and established fields are getting enough water- Using ET Data to Make Irrigation Decisions is a helpful article to make sure you are not underestimating how much water your crops needs.

Growers are picking mid-season June-bearing strawberries this week, and late varieties are ripening, with some ripe Valley Sunset and Kate showing up in southern Ontario. Once harvest is done in early and mid-season varieties renovate as soon possible. Do not wait for late blocks to be done harvest before mowing.

New June-bearing fields are establishing well and are beginning to runner. Growers are beginning to leave the bloom on day-neutral fields planted this spring. Make sure to remove runners from these day-neutral fields every few weeks.

Disease:

• Disease pressure is fairly low so far in picking fields. Make sure to apply fungicides on late June-bearing varieties that are in bloom like Malwina for anthracnose and botrytis before a rain.
• On new day-neutrals that are in bloom take advantage of fungicides with long preharvest intervals now for anthracnose and botrytis control, including group Ms. These products cannot be used once harvest begins (6-8 day PHI) and are important tools for disease and resistance management.
• Botrytis fungicide resistance to multiple active ingredients has been identified in Ontario. Continue to use broad spectrum fungicides when possible, rotate between multiple FRAC groups that are active on Botrytis, and use the Strawberry Disease Decision Support System to time fungicide applications.
• Keep an eye out for Neopestalotiopsis in June-bearing and day-neutral strawberries- this disease can cause leaf blight, fruit rot and crown rot, and is easy to confuse with other common diseases. For information on identifying the disease, management, and pictures check out the new CropIPM module for Neopestalotiopsis.

Insects:

• The pest management priority in established June-bearing strawberry fields is Malwina now, which are in bloom. Thrips and tarnished plant bug above threshold have been found in some Malwina fields.
• New day-neutral fields that are in bloom are also at risk of thrips and tarnished plant bug injury. The threshold for TPB is approximately 1 nymph in 4 clusters.
• In newly planted fields look at the new, folded leaves for aphids, and watch for leaf curling and potato leafhopper nymphs on the underside of expanded leaves. An insecticide is likely needed soon if one hasn’t been applied yet. Cygon, Lagon, Sivanto Prime, and Cormoran applied for aphids will have some activity on leafhoppers as well, so these products could be a good choice if both pests are present.
• Hot, dry weather like we are having is favourable for two-spotted spider mite; watch for mites on middle-aged leaves in day-neutral fields and new June-bearing fields. The threshold for TSSM is 5-20 mites per leaflet. There are multiple miticide options available for mite control listed here.

Raspberries

Raspberries are mostly at the green fruit stage and harvest will begin in the next week or two in southern Ontario. The crop is looking promising – make sure to irrigate raspberries well at the green fruit stage and as they begin to ripen. Raspberries will need 1-2 inches of water a week at this point. Watch for potato leafhoppers on new growth and two-spotted spider mites, especially in protected culture.

Blueberries

Blueberries are at the green fruit stage. If applying fertilizer in a split application plan to put another application on soon. Apply 6-12 g of nitrogen per plant.

Product Update

Buran (garlic powder, PCP# 30601, FRAC group NC, potentially organic) is now registered for fire blight control on raspberries, blackberries and Saskatoon berries. See the Hub for comments and more details: Raspberries, Blackberries, Saskatoon berries.

Gatten® (flutianil, PCP# 34297, FRAC group U13) is now registered for powdery mildew control on strawberries (outdoor). See the Hub for comments and more details.

Allegro ® (fluazinam, PCP# 27517, FRAC group 29) label expanded via Emergency Use Registration to manage Neopestalotiopsis on field strawberries. See this blog post for more information.

Spotted Wing Drosophila Monitoring

Traps are up for spotted wing drosophila at a few sites across the province- Norfolk, Elgin, Halton, Haldimand, and Hamilton. Watch the berry bulletin or the onfruit.ca blog for regular updates on traps catches.

SWD numbers increased this week at multiple sites. Ripe and ripening berry crops (strawberries, early raspberries, haskaps) are now at risk of SWD damage in southern Ontario. Pick strawberries early and as clean as possible and renovate as soon as possible after harvest.

Use salt water tests to evaluate fruit quality, and watch for soft, juicy fruit, as an early warning of SWD problems.

Trap collected period of:	County/region where SWD was trapped	# of traps with SWD	Total number of SWD trapped this week	# SWD/positive trap
May 26- June 1	0	0	0	0
June 2-June 8	Norfolk, Elgin	2	2	1
June 9- June 13	Halton	1	1	1
June 14- June 16	Norfolk	3	3	1
June 17-June 20	Elgin	5	9	1.8
June 21-June 23	Norfolk, Elgin, Halton, Hamilton	28	206	7.4

See Registrations for SWD and Monitoring Update June 13, 2025 for a list of products registered for SWD control or suppression.

• Apply an insecticide 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.
  • 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 alleys clean, and destroy unmarketable fruit
• Pick regularly and clean
• Cool fruit as quickly as possible after harvest
• Make the environment less favourable to SWD- prune the canopy and manage water to reduce humidity (repair leaking drop lines).
• Thank you to the consultants and OMAFA berry team for checking these traps!

Herbicide Resistance Testing

• No-cost Molecular Herbicide Resistance Testing Available for Ontario Growers. Check out onfruit for details on submitting samples for fast, accurate, resistance confirmation- for Free!

Upcoming events

Mark your calendars for these exciting events coming up for berry growers!

• July 8– AgRobotics Demo Day- Bradford Research Station (register here)
• July 22– AgRobotics Demo Day- Simcoe Research Station, 1283 Blueline Rd, Simcoe, ON (register here)
• August 12-13– NASGA Summer Tour, Nova Scotia
• September 3– Strawberry High Tunnel Grower Day, EZ Grow Farms (more details to come)
• September 4– BGO’s Annual Twilight Meeting, Howe Family Farms