First catch was obtained on July 8, 2019 in Herkimer County. Nine SWD — 3 females and 6 males, distributed both within and on the edge of the planting. Numbers of SWD being caught are starting to escalate.
It's time to get an insecticide program geared up for ripening and ripe fruit. This season will be demanding and all tactics should be brought to bear on SWD to keep it in check!
Refer to the quick reference guides for:
Other tactics that can help are:
- Sanitation – pick off and remove all cull fruit from the planting.
- Mowing – keep the environment hot, sunny, and dry.
- Weed management – keep the environment hot, sunny and dry, and provide no alternate hosts.
- Pruning – keep the environment hot, sunny, and dry, and improve spray penetration and deposition.
- Cold storage – immediately after harvest, place harvested fruit into a cooler at 32°-34° F and hold it there, to kill larvae and eggs, until sold.