Illinois Fruit and Vegetable News:

A Newsletter for Commercial Growers of Fruit and Vegetable Crops
A Publication of University of Illinois Extension and the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences

Vol. 11 , No. 4, March 30, 2005

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." --Aristotle

Address any questions or comments regarding this newsletter to the individual authors listed after each article or to its editor, Rick Weinzierl, 217-333-6651, weinzier@uiuc.edu. To receive email notification of new postings of this newsletter, call or write the same number or address.

This issue's words of wisdom ... which usually means the jokes ... are at the end of newsletter ... check the last page.

In This Issue:

Crop and Regional Reports (from Maurice Ogutu)

Upcoming Meetings and Programs (viticulture workshops, twilight meetings, and Summer Horticulture Day)

Notes from Chris Doll (phenology update, cold injury, strawberry management, calcium and boron in apples, Apogee in apples, and dandelion control)

Pesticide Drift Issues

Degree-Days (still about 2 weeks behind 2004)

Vegetable Production and Pest Management (host range for Phytophthora capsici, cutworms and asparagus beetles, traps for monitoring vegetable insects)

Fruit Production and Pest Management (herbicide trial in plasticulture strawberries)

University of Illinois Extension Specialists in Fruit & Vegetable Production & Pest Management

Crop and Regional Reports

In northern Illinois, from March 15-29, day temperatures have been in the upper 30s to low 50s except on March 28 & 29 when temps reached the upper 60s. Night-time lows have been in the teens to low 30s. The area received snowfall of 0.3 - 3 inches and rainfall of about ½-inch during the same period. The ground is still wet in many areas, so there are very limited outdoor farm operations going on. Tree fruits and small fruits are still in the dormant state. Pruning of apples, peaches, brambles and grapes is still going on, and most vegetable growers are starting vegetable seedlings in greenhouses.

Maurice Ogutu (708-352-0109; ogutu@uiuc.edu)

Upcoming Meetings and Programs

Here are a few dates to add to your calendar. Additional details for programs in the southern region will be posted as they become available at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort/ . Contact: Elizabeth Wahle at wahle@uiuc.edu or 618-692-9434

April 9, 2005. Viticulture Workshop
9:00-11:30 a.m. Hill Prairie Vineyard and Winery, Oakford, Illinois. RSVP to Elizabeth Wahle.

April 14, 2005. Twilight Meeting for Tree Fruit Growers
5:30-7:30 p.m. Meet where Hagan, Toppmeyer, Fortschneider, and Weigel Orchards intersect, just southeast of Brussels on the Illinois River Road.

May 13, 2005. Mississippi Valley Peach Orchard Tour (Kentucky's year to host, Illinois was last year)
Jackson's Orchard and Nursery, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

May 21, 2005. Viticulture Workshop
9:00-11:30 a.m. Central Illinois -Location to be announced. RSVP to Elizabeth Wahle.

May 26, 2005. Twilight Meeting for Tree Fruit Growers
5:30-7:30 p.m. Kamp’s Orchard, southeast of Brussels just off the Illinois River Road.

June 16, 2005. ISHS Summer Orchard Day
Edwards Apple Orchard, Poplar Glove, IL.

June 25, Viticulture Workshop
9:00-11:30 a.m. Hill Prairie Vineyard and Winery, Oakford Illinois. RSVP to Elizabeth Wahle

Elizabeth Wahle (618-692-9434; wahle@uiuc.edu)

Notes from Chris Doll

Phenology report: We are now behind 2004, but a few days of warm temperatures will allow plants to catch up. On the 28th, it was 68 degrees, and the bees were buzzing and carrying pollen, and one could almost see the buds grow. As a result, many apples are through silver tip and into green tip, and some peach varieties show first signs of pink. Some Japanese plums are in full balloon stage, as are the few live apricot buds. So, the spray season is here and I hope the weather permits timely applications for everyone.

Cold injury to Prunus buds: My single tree of apricot is Earli Orange and has been topworked with Perfection, Wilson Delicious, and Goldbar. Only the Perfection limbs have live buds. The Back-40 hobby orchard has several multi-variety trees and some of these trees have varietal limbs with nearly full crops and other varietal limbs are totally frozen out. The varieties with little or no bud kill are Encore, Belle of Georgia, and Saturn. Red Haven, Cresthaven, Bounty and Loring have almost enough swollen buds for a crop if they set. It should be a good spring to do a surviving bud evaluation when blossoms open up.

Strawberries: Its time for straw removal of matted row fields if this has not already been done. Growth has started under the mulch in this latitude and will follow the season northward. Since a good straw cover over the soil is primary to leather rot control, leave plenty in the field to help. Growth and flowering has started in a couple of plasticulture field in the area. This is behind 2004 but means that frost protection may be needed for several nights in the upcoming weeks. Flower thrips were discussed at the recent Strawberry School, and so far, this pest has not been a problem with the earlier maturing plasticulture crops. However, monitoring flowers for pest presence is a must for both types of culture.

Miscellaneous:

• Calcium and boron applications to apples have been a hot topic on the Apple-Crop discussion group. Dr. Kushad's winter meeting topic was on this vary important subject and the timing and rates are in the Spray Guide. The use of boron is more difficult to assess in terms of benefits, as it is applied more as a necessary element for improving pollination than to correct a deficiency. For that reason, I like to see it used from pink through petal fall. If deficiency is seen in the fruit or if leaf analysis shows low boron, then other applications are needed. The need for calcium sprays to reduce cork pit is more of a variety problem, as with Honeycrisp and Delicious. The seasonal growing conditions also can have a major impact on calcium uptake and translocation, so the addition of calcium to the cover sprays can help.
• Apple bloom time will be here before long, and the timing of Apogee for reduction of fireblight infection follows right behind, like at early petal fall. My observations of it use in the last couple of years has been positive on blight- susceptible varieties. We learned on tour in Washington state last month, that it is used for growth inhibition, both for fire blight and for tree shaping. For the latter, sprays were directed to the tree are where inhibition is desired. For Illinois growers, this concept might be used to direct second and third applications to the upper part of the tree where terminal growth is most vigorous.
• A question on spraying costs was raised at one of the winter fruit meetings. Growers with good records should know their costs. Here are the costs for spraying apples and peaches as summarized in the 2004-05 Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Production Guide:

Peaches @ 141 trees per acre $263 for pesticides and $47 for application.

Apples at 272 trees per acre: $534 for pesticides and $51 for application.

• Powdery mildew was more prevalent in apple orchards in 2004 than I have seen for many years. Infected grayish-white terminal shoots are easy to see and can be pruned out as a sanitary measure if trees are small and limited in number.
• Blooming dandelions can compete with apple flowers for the attention of honeybees. Eliminating this weed can be accomplished by a judicious spray of amine 2,4-D, preferably in the late fall, but 2 to 4 weeks before apple bloom will help too. Elimination of the dandelion flowers in the orchard, also reduces the potential for bee kill from pesticide sprays. With the price of hive rental going up, there is no need to antagonize the bee keeper.

Chris Doll

Plan Ahead to Avoid Pesticide Drift

In agriculture, pesticides serve as important tools to protect crops from pests. However, every crop has a neighboring crop that may be sensitive to those pesticide--yield loss, long term damage to perennial crops, illegal residues, carry-over damage to the next season's crop, loss of organic certification, bee kill, and exposure of field workers are just a few of the potential outcomes resulting from drift. When pesticides are applied, the person applying them is responsible for using techniques that reduce drift. For more detailed information on how to reduce the effects of drift, go to: http://www.specialtygrowers.org/releases/ReducingPesticideDrift.pdf.

When pesticide drift is suspected, the applicator and neighbor should talk and try to eliminate other possible causes for the suspected damage. If the cause of the damage is unclear or the parties won’t work together, a formal complaint may be necessary. The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) is responsible for investigating pesticide drift and enforcing pesticide laws. University of Illinois Extension Educators and Specialists may be able to provide valuable help with diagnosing injury symptoms, but they are not an official part of the complaint process. A drift complaint begins with calling IDOA Bureau of Environmental Programs at 1-800-641-3934 (voice and TDD) or 217-785-2427 for a complaint form. Complaints must be received by the IDOA within 30 days of the incident or within 30 days of when the damage was first noticed. Complaints filed after that will be kept on record, but no administrative action can be taken.

Once a complaint is filed with the department, a field investigator is assigned the case. In most cases, the inspector will interview the complainant and inspect the site. Various types of samples, such as plants, water, or soil, may be collected for analysis. The investigator may also interview applicators in the area, examine pesticide records, and collect weather data in an attempt to determine the nature and cause of the damage. The field investigator then submits a report to the department for review.

Both parties will receive written notification if the department finds a violation and takes enforcement action. Penalties range from advisory or warning letters to monetary penalties of $750 to $10,000, depending on the type and severity of the violation. Penalties are determined through a point system defined in the Illinois Pesticide Act. Even if a violation of the Illinois Pesticide Act cannot be substantiated, both the complainant and the alleged violator will be notified in writing of the complaint's status.

The department's role in pesticide misuse incidents is limited to determining whether a violation has occurred. The IDOA cannot help complainants recover damages. Civil litigation or settlements will be the responsibility of the complainant.

Elizabeth Wahle (618-692-9434; wahle@uiuc.edu) and John Masiunas (masiunas@uiuc.edu)

Degree-Day Accumulations and Projections

Degree-day data are summarized from records provided by the Midwestern Climate Network, Illinois State Water Survey, Champaign, IL. In general, degree-day accumulations through the end of March throughout the state are running about 2 weeks behind 2004.

Kelly Cook (217-333-4424; kcook8@uiuc.edu)

Vegetable Production and Pest Management

Host Range of Phytophthora capsici, causal agent of Phytophthora blight of vegetables.

Phytophthora blight, caused by Phytophthora capsici, has become one of the most serious threats to production of cucurbits, eggplant, and pepper in the United States and worldwide. Recently, the incidence of seedling damping-off, foliar blight, and fruit rot caused by P. capsici has dramatically increased in Illinois, causing yield losses of up to 100%. A study was conducted to determine the host range of P. capsici isolates from Illinois. The pathogenicity of P. capsici isolates was evaluated on 45 species of herbaceous plants, including 36 species of crops grown in rotation sequences with pumpkin and nine species of weeds that commonly grow in pumpkin fields in Illinois. Plants were grown in the greenhouse and 4-wk-old seedlings were inoculated by adding 5 ml of a zoospore suspension (2 x 10⁵ spores/ml of water) onto the soil surface around the stem of each plant in the pot. Twenty-two crop species and two weed species became infected with P. capsici and developed symptoms. P. capsici was re-isolated from all of the symptomatic plants by culturing tissues onto a semi-selective medium (PARP). Also, P. capsici was detected in 87.5% of symptomatic plants by a PCR method using PCAP and IT5 primers. Cucurbits and pepper were the most susceptible hosts of P. capsici. Five crop species/varieties, beet (Beta vulgaris), Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla), lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus), turnip (Brassica rapa), and spinach (Spinacia olerace), and one weed species, velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti), were found as hosts of P. capsici for the first time.

Host plants of P. capsici: beet, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, eggplant, green bean, gourd, honeydew, lima bean, nightshade, onion, pepper, pumpkin, radish, snow pea, spinach, squash, Swiss-chard, tomato, tobacco, turnip, velvet-leaf, watermelon, zucchini.

Non-host plants of P. capsici: barley, basil, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chive, cocklebur, corn, crabgrass, dill, kale, lamb's-quarters, mustard, parsley, pigweed, puncture vine, sandbur, soybean, water hemp, wheat.

Mohammad Babadoost (217-333-1523; babadoos@uiuc.edu)

Quick Notes on Early Season Vegetable Insects

Rick Weinzierl (217-333-6651; weinzier@uiuc.edu)