Category: Tree Fruit
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VT Apple IPM: Thinning, fire blight, scab
May 20, 2021 It’s looking pretty hot out there in more ways than one. Many orchards are at or near petal fall, but those with bloom should be keeping the streptomycin sprays on, with all this heat we’re having. Fire blight remains a concern statewide, and I would expect some infection in any orchard that…
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VT Apple IPM: Buds are moving fast
At the UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center orchards in South Burlington, buds rapidly moved toward and past the half inch green bud stage yesterday, depending on cultivar. Two more days in the 70s will just keep things moving. This is heading toward one of the earliest seasons in my recent memory. Good news: things…
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Good week for copper application in Vermont orchards
Most apple cultivars at the UVM Orchard in South Burlington were at the silver tip bud stage when I checked on Friday, with only the slightest but of green tissue showing on the earliest ones (Zestar). I call silver tip when the bud scales at the tip of fruit buds first separate, but green tissue…
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Happy Spring, and the 29th March Message
As promised, the apple season has begun today, April 1 with….cold and snow. No, we are not at green tip yet, but I have seen tiny bits of green tissue poking out from some early cultivars and received a report from an orchard in the southern part of the state the other day that they…
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Important changes to UVM Fruit website, and upcoming winter educational opportunities
As we shift into winter, I’d like to highlight some changes among the UVM Fruit program, and to present a number of opportunities for learning and networking this season. First, our website which has been operating since 2013 was retired on fairly short notice when the background sofytware was retired by . Thanks to the…
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Petal fall
By Terence Bradshaw I know that some orchards are still in bloom, so the thinning and insect management portions of this message may not pertain. Hopefully everyone with any hint of risk for fire blight has treated sometime during this heat spell. Cooler weather this weekend and rapidly dropping blossoms will decrease risk, but until…
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Petal fall and spraying this week
By Terence Bradshaw What an amazing weekend it’s been, weather-wise. I still need to check bud stages, my cider varieties here at 1500’ elevation in central Vermont are still at around half-inch green, and so are not an indicator of what things look like around the state in more typical orchards. However, I imagine many…
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Fire blight & streptomycin questions
By Terence Bradshaw I’ve received a few questions about the fire blight alert: If you are in an inland/upland site and no bloom or fresh pruning wounds, this alert does not apply. However, I bet most apples in the state, aside from some late cider varieties, will be in bloom before this disease alert is…
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Fire blight alert
By Terence Bradshaw I’ll keep this short and to the point. In spite of, or rather in keeping with, what I said the other day, fire blight risk is increasing in Vermont orchards. I’m seeing sustained warm, sunny, relatively windless, and dry conditions for the next 5-7 days, with increasing risk of rain as next…
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Bloom, apple IPM
By Terence Bradshaw Apple bloom has started in much of the state, and the weather looks about as good as it gets for pollination and fertilization. It’s been dry since last Friday, and, in most sites, that rain wasn’t even as much as expected. So, water if you can, trees in bloom and setting fruit…