Upcoming Events | Trap Catches | Pest Focus | Insects | General Info

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Upcoming Events | Trap Catches | Pest Focus | Insects | General Info

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Upcoming Events | Trap Catches | Pest Focus | Insects | General Info

Geneva: Apple maggot trap catch decreasing. Oriental fruit moth trap catch increasing.

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Upcoming Events | Trap Catches | Pest Focus | Insects | General Info

Geneva Predictions:
Codling Moth
Codling moth development as of August 6: 2nd generation adult emergence at 79% and 2nd generation egg hatch at 43%.
2nd generation 30% CM egg hatch: August 3 (= target date where one spray needed to control 2nd generation CM).

White Apple Leafhopper
2nd generation WALH found on apple foliage: August 3.

[NOTE: Consult our mini expert system for arthropod pest management, the
Apple Pest Degree Day Calculator:
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ipm/specware/newa/appledd.php
Find accumulated degree days between dates with the
Degree Day Calculator:
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ipm/specware/newa/
Powered by the NYS IPM Program’s NEWA weather data and the Baskerville-Emin formula]

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   Most of the season's pest control decisions are likely to be completed this week and next.  As you prepare to make what will possibly be your final turn through the orchard for crop protection purposes before starting to concentrate on harvest activities, try to keep alert to any late-breaking pest developments that might be expected during this most typical summer.  Last week's heat wave could still linger, so any additional heat will be very conducive to increased insect activity.  Here's a quick rundown of some of the more important midsummer pests to keep in mind during this homestretch.

Apple Maggot
   Adult numbers have been reasonably high in the orchard sites where we're catching them.  Some blocks don't have much of a population, but in historically high-pressure orchards, mid-August is still an active period for flies to be out and laying eggs.  This is yet another one of those seasons when localized trapping can pay off in the event that some blocks are under greater pressure than others, even on the same farm, so please continue to monitor traps in representative blocks. 

Internal Lepidoptera
   Once again, this complex of fruit-feeding larvae has been difficult to predict.  High numbers of first-generation OFM and CM moths have given rise in some areas to healthy second flights, so it pays to stay on top of the situation in your specific orchard.  Some spots with fruit damage are known, but in general, most orchards look to be in good shape.

   Conditions are still favorable for good August flights, particularly for codling moth.  We are currently in the middle of an appropriate window for management sprays of either species, so prudence would dictate a critical evaluation of your late-season fruit protection status, to be sure you are adequately covered until the PHI for the various respective varieties.

   For now, we're recommending that problem sites be kept covered with at least another spray, and we'll see what the tail end of the pre-harvest period looks like.  Options include Guthion, Imidan, Asana, Warrior or Proaxis in peaches.  In apples and pears, you can use Guthion, Imidan, Assail, Avaunt, Calypso, Asana, Warrior, Proaxis, or Danitol; the non-OP materials will additionally give control of white apple leafhopper.  This is additionally the suitable time for Cyd-X applications against codling moth.  For control of OFM, alternate row middle applications will not be as effective as whole orchard sprays in high pressure blocks.  Assess the pressure in your specific situations, check the pre-harvest intervals, and determine whether a full or border spray might be in order.

European Corn Borer
   Recall that these moths have a final flight that extends to the middle of September, and that the offspring can inflict last-minute fruit feeding damage to later varieties.  One or two late sprays of a B.t. product like Dipel can go a long ways toward minimizing this injury, and the 0-day PHI is compatible with any harvest schedule.  Also, SpinTor applied against late season leafrollers will provide incidental corn borer control (PHI = 7 days).

Mites
   It can't be said often enough in a season like this that mites are extremely good at exploiting high temps to pump out a few more generations before they call it quits for the winter; twospotted spider mites are also possible, including in peach plantings.  A frequent (weekly) perusal of your foliage can pay off big dividends if they happen to build rapidly before the crop is fully mature.

Obliquebanded Leafroller
   The second summer flight of OBLR is due to start any time now, which means that the first larvae will be out looking for a snack by the 2nd to 3rd week of August.  If you struggled to manage the 1st summer brood (and a number of growers did), you might also cast a judicious eye on your fruits while you're in there checking the leaves for mites, to determine whether a late application of SpinTor, Proclaim, or a B.t. material such as Dipel, Deliver or Biobit might be of use in heading off late-season feeding damage.

Upcoming Events | Trap Catches | Pest Focus | Insects | General Info

   The last in the series of extension demonstrations that have been organized on the use of sensor-controlled precision spray systems with tower orchard sprayers will take place at Circle R Farms, on Route 18 (between Wilson Rd. and Route 279, see map) on August 8 at 10:00 am.  Growers are encouraged to attend, to view the latest technology at work and to hear about the potential savings in pesticide used.

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This material is based upon work supported by Smith Lever funds from the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Scaffolds is published weekly from March to September by Cornell University -- NYS Agricultural Experiment Station (Geneva), and Ithaca -- with the assistance of Cornell Cooperative Extension. New York field reports welcomed. Send submissions by 3 p.m. Monday to:

Scaffolds Fruit Journal
Editors: A. Agnello, D. Kain
Dept. of Entomology, NYSAES
P.O. Box 462
Geneva, NY 14456-0462
Phone: 315-787-2341 FAX: 315-787-2326
E-mail: ama4@cornell.edu

Online at <http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/scaffolds/>