Berry “To Do” List
All Crops:
- Last chance for early season weed management! Southern farms are likely too far along for some of the herbicides to safely be applied, but central and northern growers might have the opportunity before inclement weather mid-week. Read the Early Season Weed Control article later in this newsletter.
- Scout for Vole activity – Lots of vole damage particularly in fields where weed control was less than desired. Vole control is most effective in the spring before they start breeding. Snapback traps are very effective but time-consuming. Here is a link to a helpful video about building a PVC bait station for field rodents. https://youtu.be/gPqplWC7jZI
- Think about Bird Management – Understand the species that are your biggest problems. Great resources exist at the website for the Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage: http://pcwd.info/birds/.
Strawberries:
- All straw should be off berries in all locations – delaying straw mulch removal can decrease yield nearly 30%. The slight delay in bloom time will not make up for the loss of flower buds in the crown as the plants start deteriorating under the mulch.
- Plan for frost protection – inspect irrigation equipment and row cover. Make sure you have some type of adequate temperature detection system at the field level. Please see detailed information about frost protection in this article: https://www.ontario.ca/page/irrigation-frost-protection-strawberries
- Phytophthora control – Wet fields all last fall may mean root infection in your field. If your
fields were wet last fall, and if plants are showing the classic burnt orangey coloring in the crown and down into the root, it could be helpful to apply either Ridomil or a phosphorus acid product. Apply when the plants are showing green growth. A low rate of nitrogen may also help – keep it between 10 and 20 pounds of actual N per acre –not more because too much vegetation will result at the expense of the fruit yield. - Spray early for best leaf spot control – If leaf spot incidence in your fields has been climbing, spring is the time to spray plants.
- Apply early-season herbicides – Late winter or early spring after winter annual broadleaf weeds have broken dormancy, but before strawberries begin to grow, is a key time for herbicide application.
Blueberries
- Prune blueberries before buds break – Northern locations still have a pruning window. Most plantings are at bud break and tight cluster.
- Look for evidence of canker. Shoot dieback that goes down the entire cane and looks like the death that happened last season could indicate canker. After bud break use Quilt Xcel, Quash, Kocide, Cuprofix, or Pristine to control canker. Consider using lime-sulfur in late fall or early spring next year.
- Green tip sprays for Mummyberry – if you have this disease – that’s the timing for control. Abound, Captan 50WP, QuiltXcel, Captevate – read labels.
- Prepare for nutrient applications in early May and again in early June. Review foliar tests. More on blueberry nutrition next issue.
- Apply early season herbicides – Casuron 4G must be applied before May 1st. If you are applying it in April, make sure to apply before soil temperatures exceed 45 degree F and before any annual weed seeds germinate. Casoron CS can be applied a bit later but still needs to be incorporated by rainfall before weed germination; it is labeled for 1 year old blueberries. Casoron controls annual grasses and broadleaves, as well as some perennial grasses. Follow Casuron with a post-emergent such as paraquat to kill pre emerged weeds or apply glyphosate when weeds are actively growing. Princep, Devrinol, Axxe, Solicam or Sinbar can all be applied for pre-emergent weed control. If you have a nutsedge problem, consider using Sandea.
- Apply sulfur if soil pH is higher than 5.2 – 200#/A is the maintenance rate that should be applied 1-2 times annually to prevent soil pH from creeping up. Remember that the target pH is 4.5.
Brambles:
- Brambles are breaking dormancy in all but most northern locations
- Complete the necessary Pruning: keep cane density at no more than 4 canes per square foot. There may be some winter injury so look for that and prune it out.
- Bud Break is the trigger for sprays to control Anthracnose, spur blight, and Cane blight.
- Apply early-season herbicides – Casuron 4G (granular) can be used in caneberries. The same caveats listed in the blueberry section of this ‘To Do’ list apply. Casoron CS can be applied a bit later but still needs to be incorporated by rainfall before weed germination; it is labeled for blackberry and raspberries if applied before new shoot emergence. Another pre-emergent is Surflan. Again there are two formulations. Surflan AS can be used in non-bearing and bearing brambles at a rate of 20-40 gallons per acre. To broaden the spectrum of weed control, tank mix Gramaxone, Princep, or Solicam. Irrigate the product in to activate the material. Surflan XL 2G can only be applied to non-bearing brambles.
Early Season Weed Control in Berry Crops
First, make sure to understand the nomenclature when reading herbicide labels. Bushberries include blueberries, currants, gooseberries – all those multi-stem shrubs. Caneberries are brambles. Elderberries are usually in the category of bushberry, as are Juneberries.
Bushberries and Caneberries
One of the earliest herbicides that can be used is Casoron. Casuron has two different formulations: Casuron 4G (granular) can be used in bushberries, caneberries, and cranberries. The granular material should be applied before May 1st but the earlier the better. If you are applying it in April, make sure to apply before soil temperatures exceed 45 degree F and before any annual weed seeds germinate. Casoron CS (not labeled for Ribes) can be applied a bit later but still needs to be incorporated by rainfall before weed germination; it is labeled for 1-year-old blueberries, as well as blackberries and raspberries if applied before new shoot emergence. Casoron controls annual grasses and broadleaves, as well as some perennial grasses. Follow Casuron with a post-emergent such as paraquat to kill pre-emerged weeds or apply glyphosate when weeds are actively growing.
Another pre-emergent is Surflan. Again there are two formulations. Surflan AS can be used in non-bearing and bearing brambles at 20-40 gallons per acre. To broaden the spectrum of weed control, tank mix Gramaxone, Princep, or Solicam. Irrigate the product in to activate the material. Surflan XL 2G can only be applied to non-bearing brambles.
Princep, Devrinol, Axxe, Solicam, or Sinbar can all be applied for pre-emergent weed control in brambles and blueberries. These herbicides generally do not do a great job on all weeds and need to be evaluated as to your weed population and which tool makes the most sense.
Sandea and Velpar are two products that are only labeled for blueberries. They can both be applied in early spring although Sandea’s real strength is that it controls nutsedge. This can only be accomplished as a post-emergent directed spray.
Velpar can be applied to bushes that are 3 years or older. It should be applied before the foliage on the lower limbs breaks bud. Effects of Velpar L vary from one soil type to another. I’ve seen growers use Velpar to control annual weeds, but it also seems to have some effect on perennial weeds.
Strawberries
Late winter or early spring after winter annual broadleaf weeds have broken dormancy, but before strawberries begin to grow, is a key time for herbicide application. Apply 2,4-D amine, Formula 40 or other labeled 2,4-D formulations, in late winter or early spring to control emerged winter annual broadleaf weeds.
Add Chateau to provide residual annual broadleaf weed control. Use 1 quart of Formula 40 per acre and 3 dry ounces of Chateau after the soil in no longer frozen but before strawberries break dormancy and begin to grow. Chateau can be used once in each calend
ar year. If Chateau was used in the late fall of 2023, Chateau can be reapplied in March or early April but not used again in the calendar year. The crop will “out-grow” small application injury that may occur, but do NOT apply after the crop has broken dormancy and begun to grow or lasting injury may result.
Note the pre-harvest interval (PHI) for Sinbar use in strawberries is 110 days. This effectively eliminates late winter and early spring applications of Sinbar to strawberries before harvest. A typical strawberry field grown using the matted row system begins to bloom about May 1st and harvest begins in late May or early June. The cut-off date for the 110-day PHI would be sometime in February and has already passed.
Check 2024 Berry Pest Management Guidelines for details of material applications.
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