Category: Apple IPM

I’m going to steal and repeat a line that one of our own growers shared recently: I hope everyone has all the equipment working flawlessly, all the mowing done, most of the spraying completed and is able to sit on the porch waiting for harvest to start unaided. With that said, there area few things…

One item that’s at top of mind is the heat we are expecting early this week could provide substantial stress to trees, not to mention farmers and farm workers. Plan ahead and take care of yourselves. If you have irrigation, is should absolutely be running this week. Even with drip irrigation, well-watered trees will have…

The time has come (and I’m actually a little late on this notice, so this shouldn’t be delayed) to hang apple maggot fly (AMF) traps in Vermont orchards. These are some of the easiest pests to manage using an IPM strategy, so there’s really no excuse. The idea is to assess the population in the…

We have a video up on YouTube this week if folks want to see what’s going on in our orchard. -TB We are settling into summer mode in Vermont orchards. For most of us, the weekly disease management treadmill is behind us, as all overwintering apple scab ascospores have long been released, so as long…

We caught our first codling moth in pheromone-baited Traps on May 20th, which set our biofix date for the degree day model used to track egg hatch and larval development. As of today we have reached the threshold for treatment in South Burlington, and will be treating our orchards tomorrow morning. It is important for…

Apple scab ascospore maturity models for essentially every weather station in the state indicates that we are at the end of the primary scab infection season. That means spores that could cause apple scab have matured and either has or likely will release after the next good wetting event. However, growers should maintain protective fungicide…

Given the long stretches of cool-to-cold weather, bloom has been stretched out all over the place in Vermont orchards. In warmer sites, apples are at petal fall, yet many trees in most sites are holding on to significant blossoms. Don’t jump the gun on applying insecticides to your orchards, wait until petals are gone and…

Apple scab: With the rain that has started today and is expected to continue through Friday, I don’t need to tell this audience that we are starting a significant apple scab infection period for orchards across the state. Please keep covered before and, if coverage was questionable, after extended wetting events. In addition to mancozeb…

This cool weather is certainly holding bud stages back from substantial development in Vermont. At the UVM horticulture research and Education Center, our zest stars are in full bloom, yet most all other varieties are at lake pink with only a few king blossoms showing. This bud stage has held for about 5 days with…

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…