Passing this information on from Valent representative Jim Wargo. Keep in mind, the successful use of PGRs to offset frost damage is dependent on many factors, but ultimately hinges on sending a hormonal signal to receptive ovaries at the base of flower blossoms. Therefore application would be made later when trees are in early bloom. This gives time to assess any damage that may occur in the cold snap expected to come this Monday, April 20. =-TB

Managing Early-Season Frost Damage with Promalin® PGR

Freezing or near freezing temperatures are predicted for many parts of the northeast and mid Atlantic overnight on Monday April 20th. Depending on your location, apples may be in tight cluster or full bloom at that time. While apples are more cold-tolerant at the tight cluster to early pink stages than when fully open, temperatures of 27°F–28°F can still cause significant reproductive injury. Promalin Plant Growth Regulator can effectively rescue fruit set after such events, provided it is applied according to the tree’s natural phenology rather than immediately following the frost if trees are not yet in bloom.

Assessing Damage and Timing

Before treating, it is essential to determine if the injury threshold necessitates a rescue application. Remember, typically only one fruit per spur is needed for a full crop.

Some injury can act as a natural thinning event. Avoid overreacting to minor damage.

• Physical Inspection: Dissect flowers (opened or unopened) to inspect the reproductive parts. Brown discoloration indicates a dead pistil (the female organ), which prevents natural pollination and fertilization
• Limitation: If the vegetative receptacle tissue at the base of the flower is damaged or frozen, Promalin will be ineffective
• Patience is Key: Do not spray during the tight cluster or early pink stages. If trees are at full pink, wait until the first few king flowers open

The Science of Hormone Replacement

Promalin functions similarly to "hormone replacement therapy".

1. Natural Process: Normally, fertilized ovules develop into seeds that produce cytokinins and gibberellins. These signals tell the tree to nourish the fruit and it will then develop normally.
2. The Problem: If fertilization fails due to frost damage or poor pollination conditions (low bee activity) then no signals are sent, and the tree typically sheds the sterile flowers.
3. The Solution: Promalin provides these missing hormonal signals to sterile flowers. This allows the fruit to develop to a normal size, though it will have a low seed count or be entirely seedless.

Warm weather has substantially advanced bud stages on apples this week. In most of the production regions of the state, orchards are rapidly advancing through green tip and approaching or are at half-inch green. If you have any more than one “mouse ear” leaf showing from the developing buds, you should put the copper back on the shelf rather than risk fruit russeting.

The extended rains this week have led to an apple scab infection period across the state where there is susceptible tissue showing. Ascospore maturity is expected to pick up rapidly through the weekend which places us firmly in the primary scab season for most of the orchards in the state Orchards should be protected with a contact fungicide (e.g., mancozeb, captan, copper if still at silver tip or early green tip) before wetting events. For orchards with substantial tissue open that may have had poor or no fungicide coverage during these extended wetting periods, consider adding a single site material with some kickback potential in your next spray, especially if you had a history of scab last year. FRAC group 7 or 9 fungicides may be good options for this spray, and be sure to rotate the FRAC classes in your spray program as we move through the season. However, given the relatively low amount of tissue out there and fairly low ascospore maturity I do not suggest using kick-back materials except orchards in the warmest parts of the state.

We are expecting this showery weather through the weekend so I recommend getting coverage on orchards any time there is a break in the wind. We are expecting cooler weather next week so bud stages should slow down. I won’t say the f-word, but we should be keeping an eye on forecasts and keep in mind critical temperatures for fruit bud damage. Growers may consider a Promalin application to improve fruit set in cold-damaged trees, some details on that strategy are included in this bulletin from Amaya Atucha at University of Wisconsin. The window to treat is short, so a call to your chemical supply shop may be in order to prepare if needed.

Now is a good time to think about spring herbicides.

__

Terence Bradshaw (he/him)
Associate Professor, Specialty Crops

Chair, Dept of Agriculture, Landscape, and Environment
(formerly Plant and Soil Science)
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

University of Vermont
117/210 – Jeffords Hall | 63 Carrigan Dr
Burlington, VT 05405

(802) 922-2591 | tbradsha
https://go.uvm.edu/alebradshaw

UVM Commercial Horticulture | UVM Fruit Blog
Horticulture Research and Education Center
Message me on Teams

UVM’s Our Common Ground Values:
Respect | Integrity | Innovation | Openness | Justice | Responsibility

UVM is subject to the Vermont Public Records Act and communications to and from this email address, including attachments, are subject to disclosure unless exempted under the Act or otherwise applicable law.

Introduction to FieldWatch Registries & DriftWatch Webinar
April 21, 2026 noon-1pm
Virtual via Zoom

Review of a new platform to strengthen communication, promote cooperation, and connect crop producers, beekeepers, and pesticide applicators.

Registration is FREE! Please pre-register at: https://go.uvm.edu/fieldwatch26

This program will provide pesticide recertification credits: 1.0 Vermont credit each (categories 1A,2,3A,3B,6,7B,10 & Private 1,2,3,4,5,6). In order to receive credits, you must be certified in one or more of the listed categories for the selected webinar and you must log in individually, with your Pesticide Applicator ID Number (entered at registration) by 11:50am. You will also have to stay logged in for the duration of the webinar and answer the poll questions that come up during and at the end of the webinar. If you are watching with someone else and both want credit, you will need to each have a device logged in and answer the poll questions separately.

Visit sarah.kingsley.

Sponsored by UVM Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program, Vermont Bee Lab, and Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Vermont Extension, Burlington, Vermont. University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status. Any reference to commercial products, trade names, or brand names is for information only, and no endorsement or approval is intended.

PSEP_FieldWatch26.pdf

With the warm weather coming in, we expect most Vermont orchards to be at green tip in the next few days if they have not gotten there yet. This is an ideal time to think about beginning your pest management season by applying a whole orchard copper spray. Copper should be applied to apples before the quarter inch green tip bud stage to reduce the likelihood of fruit russeting. Copper is a relatively weak fungicide, but can provide enough protection for the first one or two apple scab infection periods when ascospore maturity may be relatively low. The primary purpose for copper at this time of the season is to reduce the load of bacteria which may spread fire blight. Copper needs to be on the surface of the plant when bacterial ooze starts to exude from the tree around bloom. The specific type of copper is of less importance than the total amount of elemental copper that is on the surface of the plant after application. We generally recommend any of the main forms of powdered coppers including copper sulfate, copper hydroxide, or copper octanoate applied at label rates.

If you choose to get a jump on insect and mite management, you could consider applying spray oil at this time also. However, spray oil may be more effective if applied a little later in the season—say, between half inch green and no later than tight cluster. If applied at this point a 2% by volume mixture of spray oil in water could be used. Oil sprays should go on either at full dilute or at most a 2X concentration, so I would recommend most orchards be treated with at least 100 gallons of water when making that application. This makes oil sprays slow going and so it may be best to wait until a long window of agreeable application weather is available.

Speaking of weather, it looks like the best window to apply copper or any other spray material in the next few days is Sunday morning 4/12, as we will be between wind events at that time.

Separate from spraying, good orchard IPM practices include cultural and biological controls as well. One important practice to consider at this point which can be done even while the wind is blowing is flail mowing brush and especially leaves to help aid with decomposition and to reorient leaves now that ascospores have developed. Over the winter, the apple fungus develops pseudothecia in which ascospores are formed which result in the primary inoculum for the disease season. Pseudothecia develop facing the sunlight, and so even if 1/2 of leaves are flipped over during a mowing operation, those ascospores within them will eject into the ground rather than into the canopy during wedding events. Therefore, a careful mowing of foliage can have a significant impact on the potential inoculum as we head into the primary disease management season.

As always, check the New England Tree Fruit Management Guide or the Cornell Tree Fruit Management Guide and always follow the label for your specific materials.

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.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Vermont Extension, Burlington, Vermont. University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification, no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied. Always read the label before using any pesticide. The label is the legal document for the product use. Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the label.

This is a joint announcement from the UVM Fruit Program and the Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association. We typically consider April 1 the ‘start’ of the apple growing season in Vermont, so here we are- trees still dormant, weather cold and damp, but green tip and the start of the 2026 crop right around the corner. We are partnering with VTFGA on our orchard monitoring program this year- they are sponsoring our collaboration with Farmable for collection of scouting data, we are providing traps to growers who agree to participate. Funds to provide traps are limited so we do ask limit this offer commercial growers (however you choose to define that). We’ll have regular trainings via email or online meeting to help implement scouting this year. Farms do not need to participate in the scouting program to receive our now roughly-weekly email bulletins, they will come through this list as usual. -Terry

Hi everyone,

We have been working to refine the 2026 UVM Fruit Program/VTFGA IPM Monitoring Program and seek to share some updates. This years efforts include launching a multi-year Program to support Vermont growers in tracking pest activity and sharing monitoring data with the UVM IPM Program. This information helps provide timely guidance on pest pressure and management decisions, strengthening and refining effective IPM practices across Vermont orchards.

Your participation is important. The more growers involved, the stronger our Vermont-specific data will be—supporting better recommendations, industry reporting, and research that directly benefits our state’s orchard industry.

We encourage all VTFGA members to please participate and help build a stronger, more informed pest management network for Vermont growers.

What’s new this year

We’ll be using the Farmable app to make it easier to record observations while you’re out in the orchard. You can log trap counts and notes directly into the app on your phone, rather than needing to go back and enter data later. The VTFGA will support a shared account that allows participating growers to easily share their scouting data to the UVM Fruit Program. UVM will use this data to provide membership timely guidance on pest pressure and management decisions as well as use the information for industry reporting and further Vermont orchard research.

This year will be a trial run as we explore how well the app works for growers. A free version of Farmable is available for mapping and note-taking (including trap counts). Growers will also have the option to upgrade to a Pro version at a discounted rate if they’re interested in additional features like calculating tank mixes, spray records, job creation and harvest tracking. Farmable Pro, a $399/ annual cost will be offered at $149 for VTFGA members for 2026.

If you’re interested in participating but are not comfortable using a phone-based app, please feel free to reach out—we’re happy to talk through other options to ensure your participation.

What’s expected

Growers who participate will:

· Set up and monitor provided traps throughout the season

· Conduct weekly scouting

· Share scouting observations with UVM (ideally through the Farmable app). ALL Farmable data is owned by the orchard. Orchards select what they share with UVM.

Farmable will provide how-to videos and technical support. The UVM IPM Monitoring Program will also be available for additional guidance and support.

Next steps

Please see the links the UVM Fruit Program/VTFGA IPM Monitoring Program interest form and Participation Agreement which outlines the program in more detail. If you would like to participate this season, please fill out both forms and return the Agreement by April 5th tovtappleinfo. With this information, we will coordinate to deliver traps to you and give you next steps in Farmable or otherwise to get you started.

https://go.uvm.edu/2026uvmapplescoutinterest

https://go.uvm.edu/2026uvmvtfgascoutagreement

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. Thank you and here is to a great kick off to the 2026 growing season!

Best Regards,

Jess Yates and the VTFGA Board

Terry Bradshaw and the UVM Fruit Program

Julie Callahan from the UVM Vegetable and Berry Team reached out to offer this opportunity to advertise your farms on their website. -TB

VVBGA Pick Your Own website- Please create or update your listing!

Last year, 723 people visited the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association Pick Your Own website with almost 2,000 views of individual farm listings. Please help us build on that success by adding more tree fruit farms! It takes 5 minutes to create a listing you can update whenever you want. Customers can find your farm at vermontpickyourown.org using a map or list.

How to set up a VVBGA member account to create a listing
1) If you are not a VVBGA member, go to https://vvbga.org/user/register/farm and create an account.
2) Click on the “Complete Online Membership Form” button to complete membership. Since you won’t be using most of the membership features, you can choose the $0 payment option under membership fee.
3) Click “Pick-Your-Own-Listing” on the left-hand menu.
4) Click the orange “Add Your Listing” button.
5) When you click on each section of the listing, a drop down will appear to fill in the details of your farm’s PYO operation.
6) Hit the "Save” button at the bottom of the page after you complete your listing.

Prefer visual or video instructions? A visual guide to creating your listing is posted here. First 4 minutes is of this webinar an intro to the PYO site. The next 5 minutes describes how to create your listing.

Thanks to the 47 farms and orchards who created listings to market a wide variety of PYO crops- apples, berries, flowers, pumpkins and more! This website is owned by VVBGA, so you can share feedback on how to make it better.

Please reach out if you have questions or need help creating a listing. Julie Callahan, julie.callahan, 518-944-7149

Julie Callahan (she/her), Farmer Engagement Specialist

Julie.callahan 518-944-7149

UVM Extension Commercial Horticulture Team

Information on Funding Opportunities https://go.uvm.edu/vegfundinglist

Passing on this webinar to anyone interested. These are great webinars that many may find useful. -TB

Link: https://extension.psu.edu/advancements-in-grapevine-nutrition

Description: Advancements in Grapevine Nutrition

This session brings together four members of the USDA/SCRI Hi-Res Vineyard Nutrition Project to share concise research updates and practical deliverables that support balanced grapevine nutrition in commercial vineyards. Presenters will address practitioner perspectives on nutrient needs across regions, best timing and tissues for macro- and micronutrient sampling, new outcomes from fertilization studies, and the use of spatial technologies to guide variable rate applications. The program will conclude with an open discussion and question-and-answer period to encourage applied learning and grower‐focused dialogue.

The Eastern Viticulture and Enology Forum (EVEF) Webinar Series is a collaborative initiative of the Penn State Extension Grape and Wine Team and partnering viticulture and enology extension programs from U.S. land-grant institutions. You will have the opportunity to submit questions prior to the webinar using the link contained in your registration confirmation email.

Cain Hickey, PhD

Assistant Teaching Professor of Viticulture

Department of Plant Science

Penn State

318A Tyson Building

University Park, PA 16802

viticulture

814-440-5534 (mobile)

Penn State Extension Grape and Wine Production Website (extension.psu.edu/grapes-and-wine)

PSU Wine and Grape Team Facebook Page

https://extension.psu.edu/grape-and-enology-team-sign-up

https://extension.psu.edu/cultivars-in-the-commonwealth

Thanks, everyone, who made it out to the 130th annual VTFGA / UVM Fruit Meeting yesterday in Middlebury, VT. We just avoided the snow until the end, and I’m sure at least a few including myself had dicey drives home. We appreciate the effort and participation. For those who attended on Zoom, I’m glad we could make that happen and hope the quality was at least passable. I am headed out of town for the week and just dumped all the gear in my office, but when I get back I hope to check the video and see if we have anything salvageable to put up on out YouTube channel. No promises there, as were weren’t producing with intent to make a good recording.

The slides from all talks are posted here:  20260220_VTFGA_UVM_Fruit_mtg

Please let me know if I promised any follow ups to questions or conversations we had.

Thanks again,

Terry

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.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Vermont Extension, Burlington, Vermont. University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification, no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied. Always read the label before using any pesticide. The label is the legal document for the product use. Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the label.

The Northeast Fruit Consortium is again hosting our winter webinar series (https://www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/fruit/news-events/northeast-extension-fruit-consortium) starting February 4. Please register here (https://go.uvm.edu/2026netfcwebinars).

There are six webinars planned that cover strawberry IPM, kiwiberry production, apple color and sunburn prevention, pest mating disruption, changes to the Endangered Species Act and implications on pesticide use, and drought management.

February 4, 2026 noon -1:00pm
Title: Management of Up and Coming Strawberry Diseases in the Northeastern United States (pesticide credits approved)

February 11, 2026 noon – 1:00pm
Title: Kiwiberry Production in the Northeast (no pesticide credits)

February 18, 2026 noon – 1:00pm
Title: Heat Mitigation: Sunburn and Fruit Coloring (no pesticide credits)

February 25, 2026 noon – 1:00pm
Title: The Dating Game; Updates in Lepidopteran Mating Disruption (credits approved)
March 4, 2026 noon – 1:00pm
Title: USEPA Endangered Species Act Strategies and Pesticide Use (credits approved)

March 11, 2026 noon – 1:00pm
Title: Practical Drought Management for Fruit Growers (no pesticide credits)

We are charging a nominal fee for webinar access to help support the annual meeting of the Northeast Tree Fruit IPM Working Group which facilitates shared programming and collaborative research and Extension projects among IPM professionals across the region. If you would like a discount code for free registration, please email madeline.baughman before registering Extension activities are available to all growers regardless of ability or interest to pay. Registration for all webinars should be completed at the same time, and the links you receive in your confirmation email should be saved for use on the day of the webinar.

__

Terence Bradshaw (he/him)
Associate Professor, Specialty Crops

Chair, Dept of Agriculture, Landscape, and Environment
(formerly Plant and Soil Science)
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

University of Vermont
117/210 – Jeffords Hall | 63 Carrigan Dr
Burlington, VT 05405

(802) 922-2591 | tbradsha
https://go.uvm.edu/alebradshaw

UVM Commercial Horticulture | UVM Fruit Blog
Horticulture Research and Education Center
Message me on Teams

UVM’s Our Common Ground Values:
Respect | Integrity | Innovation | Openness | Justice | Responsibility

UVM is subject to the Vermont Public Records Act and communications to and from this email address, including attachments, are subject to disclosure unless exempted under the Act or otherwise applicable law.

Good morning:

I hope everyone’s holidays have been good ones and wish you all the best as the calendar prepares to turn over yet again. As winter is the time for meetings and learning opportunities, I wanted to highlight a few activities that are coming up:

1. The Northeast Fruit Consortium is again planning to host our winter webinar series (https://www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/fruit/news-events/northeast-extension-fruit-consortium) starting February 4. Please register here (https://go.uvm.edu/2026netfcwebinars).

   There are six webinars planned that cover strawberry IPM, kiwiberry production, apple color and sunburn prevention, pest mating disruption, changes to the Endangered Species Act and implications on pesticide use, and drought management.

   We are charging a nominal fee for webinar access to help support the annual meeting of the Northeast Tree Fruit IPM Working Group which facilitates shared programming and collaborative research and Extension projects among IPM professionals across the region. If you would like a discount code for free registration, please email madeline.baughman before registering Extension activities are available to all growers regardless of ability or interest to pay. Registration for all webinars should be completed at the same time, and the links you receive in your confirmation email should be saved for use on the day of the webinar.

2. The 130th annual Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association and UVM Fruit Program Annual Meeting will be held February 20, 2026 in at the American Legion Middlebury, VT. The agenda is here (https://go.uvm.edu/26uvmvtfgaagenda) and the registration link is here (https://go.uvm.edu/26uvmvtfgamtg).

While I have you, I’d like to introduce our ‘new’ program support technician Madeline Baughman who will be providing me support for extension and research projects, maintaining the UVM orchard and vineyard, and working with undergraduate students at UVM Catamount Educational Farm. Madeline has worked with me for the past three seasons and graduated last May with a B.S. in Agroecology and Landscape Design from UVM. Many of you have met her already, those that haven’t feel free to say hello when you see her at the meeting in Middlebury.

Thanks for doing all you do for Vermont agriculture and I’ll see you soon,

Best,

Terry

__

Terence Bradshaw (he/him)
Associate Professor, Specialty Crops

Chair, Dept of Agriculture, Landscape, and Environment
(formerly Plant and Soil Science)
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

University of Vermont
117/210 – Jeffords Hall | 63 Carrigan Dr
Burlington, VT 05405

(802) 922-2591 | tbradsha
https://go.uvm.edu/alebradshaw

UVM Commercial Horticulture | UVM Fruit Blog
Horticulture Research and Education Center
Message me on Teams

UVM’s Our Common Ground Values:
Respect | Integrity | Innovation | Openness | Justice | Responsibility

UVM is subject to the Vermont Public Records Act and communications to and from this email address, including attachments, are subject to disclosure unless exempted under the Act or otherwise applicable law.