4.14.17 Mummy Berry 2017 Season is Fast Approaching

Blueberry flower buds scales opening
– notice green tissue exposed with opening bud scales
Blueberry swollen flower buds
– notice bud scales are separating but no green tissue is exposed

With the warm weather these last few days, mummy berry season will be starting soon. Flower and leaf buds have started to swell in fields in the midcoast and Downeast regions. In the midcoast region,  we have seen a few clones with the opened flower or leaf bud scales.

We have our weather stations up in Waldoboro, Appleton and West Rockport and will be putting out more weather stations next week.  If you have a mummy berry plot, I would like to hear from you to see if anything is happening.  We have had no reports of mummy berry cups in any fields as of today.

Please take a look at your fields and see how your plants are developing.   To get a good idea of how your field is developing, take a random sample of one stem from ten different clones across the field and see how far along the flower buds are.  The buds seen below are not yet susceptible to mummy berry.

– Seanna Annis