The Entomology lab reports remarkably early emergence of insects this year. Winter moth has hatched and can be seen feeding on blueberry. Winter moth has been found on cranberry this past week at low levels. It would be wise to sweep bogs to check as soon as good weather prevails (next week hopefully). Tiny threadlike green spanworm and tiny false armyworm are also out. Cranberry weevil has even been found on the bog already! It is likely too early to be spraying for anything except winter moth at this point. Please see our fact sheet and photos below. Orthene, Avaunt, Intrepid, and Delegate are good choices for control; Sevin and Diazinon are NOT as spanworms are often resistant to these compounds.
I was remiss last week and in our newsletter to note that the Section 18 permit for the use of QuinStar expires July 31, the same as last year. We should be getting the labels and paperwork soon (available at the Station and through local Ag suppliers). EPA had a few additional questions for MDAR but should be releasing the forms soon. If you have any questions about using QuinStar, please call me at ext. 21 and/or contact your handler.
We are posting photos of buds that Carolyn has looked at for gauging frost tolerance on our web site’s home page. We anticipate that new photos will be posted every 3-5 days.
The rain and frost nights are making preemergence herbicide applications challenging. You should make your decision based on how advanced your buds are, along with the weather forecasts. It is hard because nights that are not frost threats usually have rain, so the bog is wet one way or the other. Just try to pick the best window and hope for the best.
We will be launching a revision of our web site, hopefully in the next week or so. We will keep you informed about the newest changes. We hope you will find the new design easier to navigate.
