Cooperative Extension: Maine Wild Blueberries

5.02.16 Mummy Berry Infection period, May 2 to May 3

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There  has been weather to cause an infection period in most blueberry growing areas.  The weather has been dry and many people report dried up pinheads in their fields, I think it is too early for the fungus to be gone yet.  I suspect most fields still have cups and would have experienced an infection period.

If you have applied fungicides after April 23 to April  (ten to seven days before this infection period), your plants were probably protected through this last infection period.  If you have not applied fungicides, you have up to 72 hours after the infection period start, which is the evening of Thursday, May 5th, to apply fungicides with kickback activity (fenbuconazole or propiconazole) to protect your plants.   If you are applying a second (or third) application of fungicide, it would be good to rotate to a fungicide with a different mode of action or at least a different chemical to avoid fungicide resistance developing in your field.

Please let me know what your mummy berry plot is doing since we are coming close to the end of the season.

Contact info: sannis@maine.edu or the Blueberry Hotline 800.897.0757 (in Maine)

Thank you, Seanna Annis