Crop Update

Strawberries

After a busy Canada Day long weekend growers are moving to late-season June-bearing strawberries this week. The hot weather last week led to some sunscald on ripe and ripening strawberries.  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. Continue to harvest day-neutral strawberries (field and table-top) every 2 days if possible.

Renovation:

• Renovate strawberries as soon as possible after harvest. This will help manage SWD.
• Renovation includes applying fertilizers (50 kg N/ha), narrowing rows, mowing, and herbicide applications.
• If there are broadleaf weeds plan to apply 2,4-D amine or clopyralid (Lontrel XC or Pyralid) before mowing.
  • 2,4-D will control dandelion, plantain, burdock, wild carrot, primrose, daisy fleabane and many annual seedlings. Mow the strawberry plants 2-3 days after applying 2,4-D.
  • Clopyralid will control legumes, composites, nightshades, and smartweeds. Mow the strawberry plants 7-10 days after applying clopyralid.
  • Post-emergent grass herbicides should be applied separately.
  • Sinbar can be applied following renovation to control germinating summer annuals and fall germinating weeds. Delay this application until germination of weeds is obvious. If 2,4-D was applied at renovation, delay Sinbar application until plants have recovered from any stress (approximately 2 weeks). Do not apply sinbar within 2 weeks before or after an application of a grass herbicide.
• Renovation is the best time to control cyclamen mite. Options for cyclamen mite control include Agri-mek and Magister.
  • Agri-mek: slow down and use sufficient water volume to get thorough coverage. Do not apply sinbar after applying Agri-mek® SC. Wait 5-7 days after Agri-mek® SC before applying sinbar.
  • Magister: is non-systemic and requires thorough coverage of the plants and crowns. 1000 L water/ha is the optimal volume; lower water volumes may reduce efficacy. Do not use less than 500 L water/ha.

New fields:

• New June-bearing fields are beginning to runner.
• Don’t forget about aphid management and virus control in new fields. Make sure to keep aphid pressure low, and apply an insecticide when aphid numbers increase again after an insecticide. An insecticide is likely needed every 3-4 weeks.
• Hopper-burn from potato leafhoppers is also beginning to show up in new fields (leaves curled downwards with a yellow edge). Look for potato leafhopper nymphs on the lower surface of the leaves. Choose a product that will control aphids and potato leafhoppers if nymphs and injury can be found.

Day-neutrals:

• As new fields begin to bloom monitor for tarnished plant bug and thrips and apply regular fungicides for anthracnose, botrytis, and powdery mildew.
• Bloom is a good time to apply broad spectrum fungicides for disease control, including Captan/Maestro products, as they cannot be used closer to harvest.
• Botrytis fungicide resistance to multiple active ingredients has been identified in Ontario and other regions. Rotate between multiple FRAC groups that are active on Botrytis.

Raspberries

Early raspberry harvest has begun across the province. Potato leafhopper nymphs and yellow, curled leaves can be found on primocanes- check new plantings and primocane fruiting raspberries for leafhoppers.  

SWD has been identified at multiple sites in southern Ontario, and growers should be managing for SWD. All growers should do regular salt water tests to monitor the fruit quality.  

Blueberries

Blueberries are ripening and bird netting is going up. Maintain regular insecticide coverage for SWD control, and encourage clean picking once harvest starts.  

Spotted Wing Drosophila Monitoring

Traps are up for spotted wing drosophila at a few sites across the province- Norfolk, Elgin, Halton, Haldimand, and Hamilton.

Ripe and ripening berry crops 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, 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
June 24- June 26	Norfolk, Elgin, Halton, Hamilton	45	391	8.6
June 27-June 30	Norfolk, Elgin, Halton, Hamilton, Haldimand	49	445	9.1

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