All LW floods should be off your bogs by now (or if on the Cape, by the end of the month). Frost tolerance is 29.5 F once the flood is removed, no matter the appearance of the buds. Sweep for early season insects and CB weevil. Generally, no fertilizer is needed on LW bogs until bloom. Casoron for dodder control should be applied soon after the withdrawal but be sure the bog is dry, and the soil has drained.
After the super heat on May 21/22 weekend, any weevil coming out of the woods should be on the bogs now. During the week we had only fair windy sweeping days, but weevil numbers were found. Some control with Avaunt, better with Actara, and some growers tried the new compound, Fanfare, and had good luck cleaning up everything on the bog. Remember the handler restriction of 120 days PHI on export fruit so likely use option gone unless domestic fruit (45-day PHI).
Green spanworm numbers continue to be here and there but now generally full sized. Unless you have smaller ones and more than 10 on average per sweep set, a spray is not warranted. Cutworms have finally started to be found – false armyworm and blossomworm are out there, but generally very low numbers and small. A few reports of sawfly larvae – not a pest, don’t add into your cutworm numbers.
A few sparganothis have been swept. Generally small, and no raging populations reported. No black-headed fireworm reported.
Scale damage continues to be seen and reported. Collections show females are healthy but not producing eggs yet, so the crawler stage (and management time) is still weeks away. Contact Marty if you think you have an infestation. No casebearer beetles have been found on the bogs yet but we will keep looking.
Grass herbicides (Poast, Select, Intensity) can be applied at any time grasses are up and growing. All of these materials work best when applied BEFORE the grass flowers. You will still get some control after flowering, but it won’t be as good as applications made before flowering. Intensity One is the ONLY grass herbicide that can be chemigated. Be sure to get a copy of the SLN (or 24c) label to make a legal application. The SLN also allows applications throughout hook and fruit set, but again, this is only for Intensity One. Exercise caution when applying during roughneck. This is the stage at which we have seen petals fusing together.
The Kerb Section 18 is valid until June 30. If you have used it, I would love to hear how you think it is working and what you have done.
2 more WPS Handler Trainings, June 2nd and June 9th 8-9 AM on zoom. To attend a training or for more information please contact Marty at 508- 265-6921 or martys@umass.edu. Our next bogside will be Wednesday June 9 from 9-10 at the Station. 1 contact hour will be offered.
If you are using pheromone traps to monitor for Spag, girdler and/or black-headed fireworm, your traps should be out. Use 1 trap/10 acres and place them on the windward side of the bog. Check your traps weekly, recording the number of moths captured. Be sure you are counting the right moths as sometimes nontarget species can be caught.
