Plant Diseases Management

Multi-fruit orchard spray program for the control of major tree fruit pests and diseases.

Thrips are a persistent early-season pest in vegetable and ornamental production, particularly in greenhouses and high tunnels. Their ability to reproduce quickly, hide within plant tissue, and transmit viruses makes them especially challenging to manage once populations become established. In Southern Maryland, tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) has already been confirmed in tomato transplants this season. Such an early detection should serve as a warning to everyone to take proactive steps to minimize thrips populations and potential sources of TSWV.

Tar Spot is Starting to Appear in Maryland

Many vineyards are approaching or already within 30 days of the anticipated harvest date for early wine grape varieties. During this window, grape berries are becoming very susceptible to a variety of late-season rots, such as ripe rot, sour rot, Botrytis bunch rot, and other “secondary-fungi” associated with bunch rots.

Timely Viticulture Updates

To monitor Pesticide Use Limitation Areas (PULAs) for your farms, use the Check Bulletin Live! Two (BLT) platform.

Pesticide Updates, Bulletins Live! Two and Inspect Your PPE.

Grape flowers and fruit set is a very complicated process, which can be influenced by cultivar, environment, vine status and history, biotic and abiotic factors. Optimum conditions for fruit set include high light intensity, warm temperature, and adequate soil moisture and nutrients at bloom. Good fruit set is important for proper cluster formation, development, and ultimate desired maturation and harvest of fruit. The following is some basics on fruit set and some potential causes of poor fruit set.

The Crop Protection Network (cropprotectionnetwork.com) is a national working group comprised of Extension agents and specialists from across North America that provide data through publications regarding pest management in agronomic crops. The website and publications can be a great resource for your operation. The following are the most recent fungicide efficacy tables for foliar diseases of corn and soybean.

The Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) Halyomorpha halys (Figs. 1 and 1a) was accidentally introduced into the United States in shipping containers arriving from Asia. The first confirmed specimen was collected in Allentown, PA in October 2001, although there is evidence that it was collected from black light traps in New Jersey as early as 2000.