CORN EARWORM NUMBERS LOWER Fall Armyworm Moths and Larvae Found in Several Fields SITUATION Early planted corn is maturing quickly in southern Maine, with continued warm temperatures. Many fields have soils that are still wet from all the rain, and we continue to see nutrient deficiencies and weed control problems as a result. Insect pests […]
Read more
David Handley, Vegetable and Small Fruit Specialist; James Dill, Pest Management Specialist, Phil Fanning, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Entomology, Christina Howard, Maine New Farmer Project Manager We have found spotted wing drosophila fruit flies in raspberry plantings and blueberry fields in Maine over the past week. This compliments reports from other New England states indicating […]
Read more
CORN EARWORM NUMBERS LOWER Fall Armyworm Moths and Larvae Found in Several Fields SITUATION Early planted corn is now silking in much of southern Maine, while early-mid season corn is between whorl and pre-tassel. Many fields are showing signs of nitrogen and/or zinc deficiency, which is a result of the excessive rains leaching these nutrients […]
Read more
If you have leaf or soil samples to submit to the lab in Orono, you can bring them to the Summer Tour, and I will arrange for their transport to the lab. The website for UMaine soil and tissue testing is: Home – Analytical Lab and Maine Soil Testing Service – University of Maine (umaine.edu) […]
Read more
Cucurbit downy mildew (CDM) symptoms were identified and the CDM pathogen was isolated from cucumber plants in Cheshire County (southwestern NH) on Friday July 7, 2023. There are few other reports in the region (https://cdm.ipmpipe.org/), and the forecasts you may be used to seeing have been suspended due to lack of funding. With recent rainy […]
Read more
Measuring the Nutritional Status of Fruit Trees Leaf samples can be collected in a few weeks for assessing the nutrient status of your orchards. Mid to late July is ideal for an accurate measure of nitrogen status. Samples collected after this date will underestimate the nitrogen level and can lead to overfertilizing next spring. If […]
Read more
CORN EARWORM THREATENS EARLY SILKING CORN European Corn Borer, Corn Earworm & Fall Armyworm Moths Caught This Week SITUATION Early corn planted under plastic mulch or rowcovers is silking in southern Maine, while early-mid season corn is now between whorl and pre-tassel. Most fields are very wet from all the rain and we are seeing […]
Read more
2023 SWEET CORN PEST SEASON BEGINS! European Corn Borer Active in Early Fields, Earworm Reported in Massachusetts The 2023 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 […]
Read more
Fruit thinners have finally taken effect. Where we applied chemical thinners in late May and early June, fruit became easy to remove around June 15. Additional fruit have since dropped. If your Honeycrisp blocks have good fruit set, repeat bloom enhancement sprays should begin soon if this is part of your protocol for reducing the […]
Read more
HARVEST BEGINS IN SOUTHERN MAINE Prolonged Wet Weather Continues to Make Diseases a Concern Situation: Continued cool, wet weather has slowed strawberry development, but some fruit is being harvested from southern beds grown on black plastic mulch and under rowcovers. However, late varieties are still in bloom in northern matted row plantings. Insect counts have […]
Read more