Don’t forget we are hosting two twilight meetings this week, please register here: Registration Link
Star Grazer Farm (Liberty Orchard)
2481 West St, Brookfield, VT 05036
Thursday May 7, 4:00 -6:30
and
Mad Tom Orchard
2615 Mad Tom Road, East Dorset VT 05253
Friday May 8, 4:00-6:30
The weather heading into bloom sure looks less-than desirable in many ways. McIntosh at the UVM orchards are at early pink bud stage today (5/4/26) and should advance a bit with warmer and maybe sunnier weather tomorrow. We are expecting a pretty significant apple scab infection period Tuesday through Thursday, but wind conditions are less than ideal for getting a fungicide application on. I suggest getting out whenever the wind allows, even if that means spraying in a rain (but not necessarily a downpour). Mancozeb has decent rainfastness, and I recommend applying another ‘heavy lifter’ fungicide in your tank mix to account for lapses in coverage, assuming that your material has decent kickback activity, and to cover for other diseases such as rusts and powdery mildew. Check the New England Tree Fruit Management Guide for apple fungicide characteristics to help with material selection.
The usual pests that we monitor for to decide whether or not to apply a pink bud stage insecticide spray, European apple sawfly (EAS) and tarnished plant bug (TPB), have been present in very low numbers in the UVM orchard which would not call for an application using the typical thresholds of an average of five to eight per white sticky trap. Given the cool weather conditions as we head into and, as far as the forecast shows, going well into what we can expect to be the bloom period, I recommend that all growers plan to be ultra cautious around pollinator protection this year. The cool weather may present an extended bloom period in which vulnerable buds will be susceptible to damage from EAS and TPB for a longer period, and other insects such as plum curculio can build up in the orchard. However, the weather that we are having and expecting to continue is less conducive to honeybee pollination than the ideal warm, sunny weather. Many native bees fly better than honeybees under these conditions, and a substantial amount of pollination can occur from them. While it is always best practice to minimize any practices that could impact pollinator health, I recommend doing everything you can this year in particular to help maintain pollinator populations. This is also in light of potential damage stemming from the April 20 freeze that some orchards may have seen. This is my long-winded way of saying that, despite the urge to protect flowers / potential fruitlets with an insecticide at pink, I still stand by my usual recommendation to hold off on insecticides until petal fall for most orchards.
The UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Program is supported by the University of Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station, UVM Extension, USDA NIFA E-IPM Program, and USDA Risk Management Agency.
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