This post a is text digest of the new Scaffolds Podcast. To listen to the original, visit the following link: Scaffolds Podcast  

Entomology Update with Monique Rivera 

 Let’s jump right in and talk about the idea of bulletproofing IPM programs. This is a topic of conversation probably everywhere in agriculture over the past couple of years, and especially in light of the loss of chemicals. That has probably been a more strongly felt impact to IPM programs than invasives, because most of them have been established here for a while. So thinking of examples like brown marmorated stink bugs, this has already upended IPM programs. And now, in addition to that, we have the loss of chemicals within the toolbox, which will very likely continue to happen.  

So I’m not suggesting you dive right in, spending $500 an acre on mating disruption, but I do think it’s time to start considering what your program may look like if some of your key tools are eliminated. What are those secondary options and how might you address finding alternatives? And I think that with this, it’s important to consider things that are maybe not sprayable.  

For mating disruption, we’re hoping to figure out more of this in New York State and be able to develop better recommendations. But certainly if you’re thinking of other alternatives, now is the time to play around with them just to make sure you have some ideas for potential issues that we will run into inevitably with the banning of chemistries.  

So now let’s talk a little bit about San Jose scale. The best time to treat for these populations is between silver tip and half inch green, and this targets the overwintering immature stages. As you start to get past this, I think that the key to managing this pest is timing. And this is true for a lot of insects. Being in an environment where we have these very dramatic changes in seasons, it’s important to really nail down timing.  

 So again, between silver tip and half inch green is the perfect time to target the overwintering stages. And how might you do that? With the horticultural oils, this is a good treatment at 2% if you are still dormant. And then as you hit green tip, sliding that percentage down to 1%. Esteem 35 WP can be applied with or without the oil.  

Continuing on the topic of loss of chemistries, the loss of Lorsban has eliminated that particular tool that was used around this time of the year to control many different pests, including dogwood borer. Esteem can also target bores, but will need to be re-applied two or three times in the midsummer in order to be effective. Now, there is mating disruption for dogwood borer, and from what I hear from folks who have established it, it does work very effectively. And it’s certainly important to consider this if you’re having a consistent issue with dogwood bores.  

 Speaking of borers, let’s get into discussing ambrosia beetles. The Hudson Valley is far enough along that they are very likely to be in their first flight of ambrosia beetles. And this will pick up even more over the next two to four weeks in other portions of New York. We are running a trap comparison study, and we’ll be placing traps next week.  

This is another pest where it was thought that Lorsban was playing an important role in managing it and now cannot be used against ambrosia beetles. They’re attracted to stress trees, and interestingly, biologically, they are thought mostly of as detritivores that attack only dead or dying trees. Typically this is happening in the forest as trees decline and die, and that’s really their ecological purpose. I think as we have moved to high density plantings, this has caused stress and less root establishment to the trees. I think this is also driving their attraction into orchards.  

So on my trip to western New York last week, I saw a lot of standing water. I would make to pay attention to those areas if they do not dry up fairly quickly.  

So that’s all for my update for this week. And we are quickly building degree days with this week’s temperatures at the end of the week hitting mid to high 70s. So certainly time to make sure that you’re ready to meet those timings for our initial pests of the season. 

Pathology Update with Kerik Cox and Liga Astra Kalnina 

Okay, this is the week of warming. Well, we’re going to start out with the Hudson Valley. Looks like trees are well on their way to bloom. They’ve got a bunch of ascospores out there, probably around 30% or more. But it’s going to be a sunny, dry week. We’ve got little to no risk of infection. The releases are going to be really low. Just maintain your coverage as needed.  

The Capital District, Finger Lakes, Wayne County should all be at Green Tip. Very little ascospore maturity, 2% to 5% at most. It’s going to ramp up with the heat, but there’s not going to be a lot of releases unless we really get some rain. And I think the closest rain is going to be Sunday at best. So you’ve got all week long to keep something protecting and watch those weekend infection events.  

Now what about Lake Champlain area or Niagara County? Not even at green tip yet. They might be if you have an early groing cultivar. You either could be about 25 to 50 degrees away, closer to 25 for Niagara. You’re probably going to hit it, especially as it gets hot towards the end of the week. Just make sure you got those copper silver tip applications. It’s probably your last window to get that early copper on before you get a lot of green tissue. And you still have time to make your spring urea applications, so just get them on when you can.  

State of the State with Anna Wallis 

And now for the State of the State. This is your weekly roundup of Degree Day accumulations and phenology from the major fruit productions of the state. As always, the information I’ll be sharing has been aggregated from regional specialists including Mike Basdow, Janet Van Zoeren, Mario Miranda Sazo, Craig Kalke, and Dan Donahue. It also includes my own observations and information collected from NEWA.  

As a reminder, degree days are a measure of heat accumulation and a good indicator of pest activity and tree phenology early in the season. Historically, for phenological predictions we’ve used Degree Day based 43 Fahrenheit accumulation from the beginning of the year, meaning we account for temperatures over 43. 

The warm temperatures across the state this week are contributing to fairly rapid accumulation of degree days. Especially important this week, the low temperatures are staying fairly warm. In western New York, lows are staying in the upper 50s. In the Hudson Valley, McIntosh at the Hudson Valley Research Lab were at 50% half inch green and 50% quarter inch green on Monday afternoon. Warm temperatures this week will accelerate green development. 

In the Lake Ontario region varieties are currently at about Green Tip. Lake sites are a day or two behind inland sites, which is normal. Sites closer to the water tend to be more moderated and slightly delayed. In Geneva this week, we’re at Green Tip now in Gala and Honeycrisp, and in the next couple of days we’ll be moving quickly toward quarter inch green.  

In Saratoga County, green tip was reported on April 8 in McIntosh, and we can expect tight cluster next week with warm temperatures in the forecast.  

 In the Champlain Valley, some trees are in silver tip in McIntosh, Cortland, and Zestar as of Monday morning. Honeycrisp and Gala are showing some budswell as well. Expect quarter inch to half inch green early next week.  

 These observations correspond well with Degree Day accumulations on average in McIntosh, which have been monitored historically. Green tip usually occurs for Degree Day base 43 at 99 to 144 and half inch green at 150 to 201. As of the end of the day, Tuesday, April 11, degree Day accumulations were Highland at the Hudson Valley Lab, 239, Clifton Park 122, Peru, 73, Medina, 99, Appleton North, 86, Williamson Mason (an Inland site) 105, and Williamson DeMarree (Lakeside) 112.