Pruning of grapevines will be in full swing soon and dropping fruit mummies to the ground can greatly aid in controlling black rot. Black rot is a potentially devastating fungal disease infecting leaves, shoots, berries and cluster stems. Susceptibility to black rot varies greatly by variety but can be a concern for many American, French…Continue Reading Clean It Up – Sanitation Key for Grape Black Rot
Eastward Ho!
Critters that did little damage before agriculture replaced natural ecosystems can prove tough customers when provided easy access to hundreds of thousands of acres of their favorite food. Even so, sometimes such pests are content to stay on their home turf until … until …. The western bean cutworm (WBC for short) is a High…Continue Reading Eastward Ho!
Weather Instrument Calibration
Accurate weather information — temperature, rainfall, wind speed — can improve farm decisions on crop inputs. IPM forecasts delivered via NEWA, the Network for Environment and Weather App’s, www.newa.cornell.edu, significantly improve plant disease and insect management results. Accuracy depends on instrument calibration and maintenance; as simple as checking a rain gauge and cleaning out debris….Continue Reading Weather Instrument Calibration
eNEWA for Grapes Beta Testing
Would you like to see the current weather and grape pest information found on the Network for Environment and Weather Applications (NEWA) without having to click through the website? Then eNEWA-grapes is for you. eNEWA-grapes is a daily email that contains current weather and grape pest-model information from a station (or stations) near you. The…Continue Reading eNEWA for Grapes Beta Testing
Greenhouse Growers: Be on Your Toes About TMV
Looked at your petunias lately? If you find mottled or distorted leaves on your petunias, don’t be surprised when the diagnosis comes in: it just might be tobacco mosaic virus (TMV for short). Researchers aren’t sure which TMV strain this is but TMV can infect bedding plants from calibrachoas and verbena to marigolds and mums….Continue Reading Greenhouse Growers: Be on Your Toes About TMV
Fruit Farmers! Your Help Needed: Take this Survey
The Southern and Northeastern spotted wing Drosophila IPM working groups developed the 2013 SWD Economic Impact Survey to assess the impact this invasive fruit fly is having on farmers and fruit production in the Eastern US. Survey results will inform funding agencies to support research and extension efforts on SWD. Participation is voluntary and anonymous—the…Continue Reading Fruit Farmers! Your Help Needed: Take this Survey
Life Finds a Way
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will stop Norway rats from finding a bite — to eat! With bitter cold and more than 55 inches of snow (and counting), winter in New York City has been memorable. More than ever, rats need to find a way — and their wayfinding signs…Continue Reading Life Finds a Way
Side by Side: “Strip-Trial” Techniques for On-Farm Research
Field corn is the king of crops in New York. This highest net-value and most widely grown crop occupies more than a million acres statewide. Some years it’s hammered by leaf blights that can cost considerably if not treated in time. Other years your fields get off almost unscathed. How to know which conditions tip…Continue Reading Side by Side: “Strip-Trial” Techniques for On-Farm Research
Count your growing degree days to help control white pine weevil
White pine weevils fly early to lay their eggs in the leaders of your pines, spruces and firs – often in March or April. Using growing degree days, a measure of how much heat we have had and therefore how developed the insects are, is a good way to tell when you should be looking…Continue Reading Count your growing degree days to help control white pine weevil
Got gypsy moths eggs? Check NOW
If you grow trees for a living — or just want your landscape looking buff come summer — now is the time to check for gypsy moth egg masses. True, we don’t hear about them often anymore, but it’s devastating when you get an infestation. Egg masses are buff colored, fuzzy looking, about the size of…Continue Reading Got gypsy moths eggs? Check NOW