2025 SWEET CORN PEST SEASON BEGINS! Insect Pests Active in Early Corn The 2025 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 and fall armyworm, and […]
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In this newsletter: SWD in cherry Preharvest intervals for cherry Fireblight spotted in Gala Summer tour agenda Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) in Cherry Cherries will become susceptible to SWD once about 20% of fruit begin to blush. Sweet cherries have reached this stage. Sour cherries are still green. Adult SWD flies will puncture the skin […]
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Thrips Thrip Pressure Still Low Onion thrips counts remain low despite dry, hot days and no scouting locations have yet reached the 1 thrips/leaf threshold. Warm temperatures drive development and the speed at which new generations arise. Nearly all Maine locations have accumulated enough growing degree days (140 GDD52.7ºF) for the overwintering generation to emerge. […]
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Irrigation Garlic, like many crop plants, needs about an inch of water per week. Even though the forecast has called for a good number of rainy days in the last few weeks, showers have been very scattered and some areas haven’t actually accumulated much rainfall. Portland, for instance, has only gotten about 1″ since June […]
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STRAWBERRY HARVEST STARTS IN SOUTHERN MAINE Be On the Lookout for Fruit Rots, Sap Beetles and Spotted Wing Drosophila Situation: Strawberry harvest is getting started in southern Maine, although the picking is light and mostly for stand sales at this point. A few warm sunny days are needed to push the ripening along and get […]
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In this newsletter: Thinning Window Closing Stone Fruit Fungicides Summer Tour Announcement Thinning Window Closing Thinners applied early last week should be showing signs of efficacy by now. For applications that went on midweek, they make take a few more days. We applied thinner last Wednesday and have only seen a few fruits that are […]
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Garlic can be categorized as either softneck and hardneck varieties. Hardneck garlic tends to be more cold hardy, so these varieties are more commonly grown in Maine than softnecks. They have larger but fewer cloves per bulb, and are usually easier to peel. The term “hardneck” refers to the false flowering stalks that these types […]
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MORE RAIN MAKES INCREASES FUNGAL DISEASE THREAT Fungicide Applications Bloom – Post-Bloom To Control Botrytis, Anthracnose, Powdery Mildew Situation: A few warm days can make quite a difference! Strawberry growers in southern Maine are starting to see some ripe berries on early varieties and plants grown under row covers. Later varieties are still showing some […]
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Onion thrips (Thrips tabaci) are fairly reliable pests of allium crops in Maine, unlike the last several insect pests highlighted in this newsletter. Despite their name, they actually feed on a wide range of plants but can be very damaging to alliums. Life Cycle Thrips overwinter in culls and residues, weedy patches, and nearby fields […]
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In this newsletter: Thinning Outlook Fruit Set in Different Varieties Poor Return Bloom Other Observations of No Concern Thinning Outlook Good temperatures for chemical thinning will occur this week and into next week. The warm temperatures will mean that fruit can rapidly grow to a size where they become resistant to chemical thinners. Most varieties […]
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