2026 Sweet Corn Pest Season Begins! Insect Pests Active in Early Corn The 2026 University of Maine Cooperative Extension Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program for sweet corn is getting underway. We have set up pheromone traps at volunteer farms to monitor the adult (moth) stages of European corn borer, corn earworm, fall armyworm and western […]
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Reducing Biennial Bearing in Honeycrisp Apples It is time for NAA (naphthaleneacetic acid) summer sprays to enhance repeat bloom in Honeycrisp and other varieties. NAA will no longer thin apples and can be applied at this time to stimulate flower bud formation for next year’s crop. Three applications at roughly two-week intervals will cause a […]
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Thrips numbers were up in Topsham and Washington this week, but down in Buxton and Monmouth, and all locations are below a 1 thrips per leaf threshold. These insect populations thrive in hot and dry conditions, so while this week’s weather may have encouraged their development, the next week of rain and cooler temperatures will […]
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Strawberry Harvest Begins in Southern Maine Pest Pressure Moderate; Look Out for Fruit Rots, Drosophila and Leafhoppers Situation Early varieties in southern Maine are showing some ripe fruit this week, and some growers will start spot picking for stand sales. It looks like the season may be a couple of days early in some spots, […]
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Scapes are beginning to emerge in southern Maine as high temperatures pushed plant development this week. Those same high temperatures paired with recent precipitation and lingering humidity favor the development of purple blotch and Stemphylium leaf blight, which we have seen evidence of at all scouting locations. Onion thrips were also observed in low numbers […]
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Thinning Outlook Signs of thinning from our carbaryl plus NAA (PoMaxa, Refine) application applied 7 days ago were evident today, but not enough considering the heavy crop this year. Less than 30% of the fruitlets came off today. It looks like we could be applying more thinning later this week. I plan to give it […]
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Thinning Outlook At the Highmoor Farm, fruitlet diameter has reached 12 to 14 mm for the king fruits and 8 to 12 mm for the side fruits, so there is still time to apply thinners again if the first application was not enough. We applied thinners 6 days ago, but it was not yet evident […]
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Tarnished Plant Bugs in Strawberry Fields Bacterial Angular Leaf Spot Found in Fields Irrigated for Frost Control Situation A few ripe berries were picked off of an early field in southern Maine this week that was under rowcovers this spring. Fields in the midcoast region should be ready for harvest in about two weeks. Overall, […]
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Much of Maine has enjoyed a nice stretch of warm and dry weather heading into the weekend. Garlic is developing nicely at all scouting locations. The NEWA onion disease forecast remains clear for Maine locations through June 9, but keep in mind that this updates with the weather forecasts, which have been erratic. Check these […]
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Thinning Outlook Most of our orchard blocks have excessive fruit set. Gala, McIntosh and Cortland have 4 to 5 fruitlets per cluster with almost no flowers dropping. Honeycrisp is showing signs of fruit set in most of the king blooms, but for side blooms, it’s too early to tell. In Macoun, it’s too early to […]
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