By Terence Bradshaw As has been the general case this year with the drawn-out, cool weather, we have bloom (and p-bloom) bud stages all over the place depending on elevation, proximity to the lake, cultivar, and latitude. For growers in upland sites just entering bloom, see my posts from the past couple of weeks that …
Continue reading “Petal fall approaching for many; Bloom for others”
By Terence Bradshaw Buds have broken in most Vermont vineyards and many vines are at 1-3” shoot growth. This brings up a few pest management considerations for your vineyards. Most cold-climate cultivars will not need disease protection until 5-8” of shoot growth, but any vineyards with heavy disease pressure last year may wish to begin …
By Terence Bradshaw Sometimes you need to check the latest weather before hitting ‘send’… After I just sent that last missive, I double-checked conditions in western Vermont, specifically Shoreham and Bennington, and the weather prediction is indeed for warmer weather than when I last looked. NEWA is now calling for “Infection” on Monday for those …
By Terence Bradshaw Here’s a quick note to remind everyone that we’re in the middle of an extended wetting and apple scab infection period that is likely to peak on Monday. Every orchard in the state still has mature ascospores in the leaf litter from last year, so stay protected. We’re also still in rust …
Continue reading “Apple scab, what would we do without you?”
By Terence Bradshaw This is a very brief message to Vermont apple growers that we are in a dry and relatively windless slot between significant wetting events and it would be wise to make sure that your fungicide coverage is maintained. I wouldn’t worry about insects now, unless you are treating for scale, but a …
Continue reading “Apple scab infection period now… (May 13)”
By Terence Bradshaw The UVM Fruit Program will host a hands-on program on apple orchard Integrated Pest Management and scouting on May 16, 2019. The program will run 1:00 – 4:00 PM. In the event of rain, we will hold the meeting on May 17. We will contact attendees the day before if we need …
Continue reading “REGISTRATION for May 16 Apple Scouting/IPM meeting”
By Terence Bradshaw May 5, 2019 Buds are swelling in Vermont orchards. I haven’t looked at our vines in South Burlington since Friday, and they were fully swelled then, but I cleaned up my vines at home (1500’ elevation, Washington county) today and they were quite swelled up. I expect bud break any day now. …
By Terence Bradshaw First note, please remember that we will be hosting an Orchard Scouting Field Workshop at the UVM HREC on May 16, 1-4 PM to help growers with implementing scouting programs and to discuss upcoming management strategies. I’ll have a registration link ready later this week. The event will be free, but I’m …
Continue reading “Pest management in orchards this week, May 5”