Hot Weather Hits

June 01, 2009

Cooler and much wetter weather has been the norm up to now. Last week showers continued over much of Alabama. In central Alabama we are now seeing sunshine and temperatures in the low 90's.

Growers are harvesting fruit but, some are seeing problems. Fruit with size are maturing and much of the fruit following the first or second harvest is not sizing. This might be a combination of crop load and cold injury from back in April. Some varieties have been slow to mature, however, this might speed up with the sunshine and higher temperatures.

On the pest front we are seeing moderate to high levels of bacterial spot infections. Considerable leaf shed in many varieties not normally affected and also fruit infections, especially more sensitive varieties. Stink bugs and leaffooted bugs are gearing up and numbers in blueberries and last remaining strawberries are high. Likely numbers will be gaining in peach orchards as well.

Plum curculio adult emergence has begun. While low numbers are coming out of the soil at this time I expect the numbers to accelerate during the week. Our third insecticide in research plots will be going out this Friday or next Monday. Remember that from emergence to egg deposition on fruit takes only about 10-14 days. This summer generation will produce larva infested fruit that will not drop, more prone to rot, and will turn away customers. One of the difficulties for plum curculio and stink bug control as we approach harvest is finding an effective material with a short pre-harvest interval.

Examples: Imidan 70W, pre-harvest interval is 14 days and reentry interval is 3 days; Asana 0.66EC has 14 day pre-harvest interval and 12 hr reentry interval; Proaxis 0.5Ec, Lambda-T, Silencer, Warrior, Tiaga Z have 14 day pre-harvest and 24 hr reentry interval; Baythroid XL, Baythroid 2EC, Mustang 1.5EC, Renounce 20WP, Tombstone 2EC are all pyrethroids with a 7 day pre-harvest interval and reentry period of 12 hrs.

ALWAYS CHECK PRODUCT LABEL BEFORE MAKING AN APPLICATION OF ANY INSECTICIDE FOR PROPER RATE AS WELL PRE-HARVEST AND WORKER REENTRY INTERVALS.