August 4, 2020 Grapes are at or near veraison in Vermont vineyards, which signals the start of fruit ripening. This is an important time of year for a few activities. First, bird damage can be expected to begin and increase as fruit ripen. Birds will harvest your berries just a day or two before you’re …
Tag Archives: IPM
Vineyard Management at Bloom
June 17, 2020 I’ve visited some vineyards from the higher-elevation interior of the state to the Champlain Valley in the past week. Champlain Valley grapes are entering or even well-into bloom, upland and inland are around 5” shoot growth stage. Bothe are at key management points, so it’s best to spend some time in the …
Early Summer Vineyard Management
June 29, 2020 July 1 brings a number of early summer vineyard tasks to think about. First, be sure to keep up with your disease management: sanitation, especially in organic vineyards, and sprays as needed. We’re still in that critical window where all or the main diseases (except maybe Phomopsis) are active. See our initial …
Vineyard Management
June 7, 2020 First, sorry about lumping the grape growers in with my last apple email. I do know that you’re (mostly) separate entities with separate needs. That said, the importance of staying on top of disease management now is just as much there. We’re entering the critical immediate prebloom period in vineyards, when they …
Vermont Orchard Rundown
June 7, 2020 I had a chance to visit some orchards late last week in Southern Vermont. We should remember that the lower Connecticut River Valley has traditionally been a major center of apple and peach production in the state. While there are fewer acres of trees than in the past, that’s true across the …
Orchard Considerations: Scab (yes…), Fire Blight, Insect Management
June 17, 2020 It’s dry, I know. If you have the ability to irrigate, you should be. At a minimum, newly planted trees should be watered regularly. This dry weather has been great for management of most diseases- apple scab, plus rusts and some of the other ‘minor’ diseases should be pretty low in abundance …
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Midsummer Orchard Activities
July 15, 2020 It’s been a while since our last check-in. One of the things I was surprised by when I started in orchard work was the relative slowdown in urgency after July 1. Having grown up on a dairy farm, where there’s no break, and summer means haying season on top of all the …
Webinar on Fungicide Resistance by Dr. Michelle Moyer, Extension Viticulturist, Washington State University, on June 24
June 22, 2020 Inviting everyone to this webinar on fungicide resistance management. While it’s tailored for grapes, this is just as important for apple growers. No VT pesticide recertification credits are available for this. From: Wine Grape Newsletter On Behalf Of psuwineandgrapes@psu.eduSent: Monday, June 22, 2020 11:07 AMTo: WINEGRAPE-L@LISTS.PSU.EDUSubject: [WINEGRAPE-L] Join us for a live …
Foliar Nutrient Analysis, Pest Management, and COVID-Related Items
July 29, 2020 As the calendar flips to August, it’s time to wrap up field activities in preparation for harvest in Vermont orchards. Foliar nutrient analysis – It is the time in the growing season to collect leaf samples for analysis. Samples are usually collected between July 15 – Aug. 15. The UVM Agriculture and …
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Apple Maggot Fly Traps Should go up; End of Scab??
By Terence Bradshaw June 25, 2020 Hopefully everyone had some fungicide coverage on for that last rain we got yesterday. It’s hard to tell without doing proper spore counts, but I feel pretty confident saying that primary scab season is done for this year. Scout your orchards for lesions and protect from secondary infections if …
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