The main items right now are timing of fruitworm sprays and fungicides. The fruit set seems to be coming along slowly. We are just doing our first fruitworm on a piece of Stevens this weekend. Some growers have already done their 2 shots, so it’s very variable out there. Altacor is the best choice. Remember, fungicides can do their best work when applied to FLOWERS. That’s when and where the fungi penetrate the plant. You may need to shorten your spray interval to ensure you get all of your flowers covered.
Second generation weevils have been reported but please wait until bees are out before attempting to manage these populations.
In most locations, Mother Nature has been good with rainfall events, so providing supplemental irrigation hasn’t been needed so much this year (certainly much less than last year). Of course, this can change with an extended hot dry period.
The window is now open to apply grass herbicides to control Poverty grass in many locations. Plan on applying at least twice to get good management. It is a warm season perennial and should be starting to push with the warm weather we have been having. Remember to add an NIS (or COC) to any POST herbicide application.
