Fire blight infections will cause the flower cluster to wilt and then turn brown or black.
Fruit
When thrips feed inside the flower, the fruitlet is injured. As it grows, the fruit cracks and oozes gumming.
Orange delta traps with CM-DA Combo lures should be used with mating disruption.
Puffers can be used in orchards greater than 30 acres.
There are many different brands of mating disruption dispensers.
Fire blight infections happen through flowers. Bacteria are spread from flower to flower by wind-driven rain, and by pollinating insects.
The TRAPs website provides site-specific fire blight forecasts.
An optimal timing for powdery mildew fungicides is pink to open cluster stage.
Comparison of flower cluster affected by powdery mildew next to a healthy cluster.
San Jose scale overwinters as a mix of nymphs and adults on apple trees. Nymphs have “black caps”. Use oil alone or with pyriproxyfen (Esteem, for commercial...
Peach twig borer overwinters as larvae in crevices in the tree canopy on peach/nectarine. Use oil alone or mix with an insecticide. Good coverage is important.
Pear psylla eggs. Adults lay eggs near buds in early spring. If this was a problem last year, apply oil twice, spaced about 7 days apart.
Peach leaf curl is only treated by applying a dormant spray of copper, either in fall or spring. Fungal infections occur during leaf expansion in spring when...
For fire blight, apply copper to apple/pear between swollen bud and green tip stages. It is OK to mix with 2% oil for the insect treatment. The primary purpose...
All the tiny specks on this bud are eriophyid mites. Blister mites, peach silver mites, and rust mites are all eriophyid mites. They overwinter in bud scales...