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. 17, November 9, 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 Elizabeth Wahle, including a memoriam to Mark Hoard)

Upcoming Meetings and Programs (including the IL-IA Fruit and Vegetable Conference, December 1, the Great Lakes Expo, December 6-8, and the Illinois Specialty Crops Conference, January 17-19, 2006)

Notes from Chris Doll (a warm fall, postharvest urea applications, fall herbicide applications, characteristics of apple cultivars, and some history from the file cabinet)

Fruit Production and Pest Management (new Grape Production Guide available)

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

Crop and Regional Reports

In southern and southwestern Illinois, warm temps with only a few dips still continue. The first good frost occurred on October 26, but it was not hard enough to take out all the volunteer corn in the winter wheat plantings. Temperatures were quick to recover, and during the second week of November, temperatures were on average 20 degrees F above average. Leaves didn’t really start falling off trees until after the rainfall on Halloween, somewhat reminiscent of the late leaf drop last year. For the most part, leaves are off the trees, except for a few holdouts like the oaks and ornamental pears. Hopefully, temperatures will return to normal so perennial crops can harden off properly in order to have the highest level of winter hardiness.

Most field operations are finished for the season except for the horseradish growers and those with fall vegetable crops. Markets with apples and cider are still open, but most vegetable produce stands have closed.

Reminder that the 2005 Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market EXPO takes place December 6-8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many growers go for the trade show alone, but there are also three days of educational sessions for fruit and vegetable growers and farm marketers. The program can be found in the October issue of "The Fruit Growers News" or online at www.glexpo.com.

Dates have been set for winter meetings in Southern Illinois and are summarized below. For program details as they become available, go to "News for Southern Illinois Growers" at: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort/.

In memory of a colleague and friend ... It is with sadness that I report Mark Hoard, IPM Educator at the Mount Vernon Center, lost his battle with cancer on October 22, 2005. His memorial service gave witness to a man who was dedicated to his family, his religious beliefs, his friends, and his work. He will be greatly missed. Mark is survived by his wife Cindy, and his two sons, Alec and Will. Cards and expressions of sympathy may be sent to the Hoard family at 15 Webster Hill Estates, Mount Vernon, IL 62864.

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

Upcoming Meetings and Programs

December 1, 2005, Iowa-Illinois Fruit and Vegetable Symposium ...
... at the Iowa State University Scott County Extension Office, 875 Tanglefoot Lane, Bettendorf, IA. The program begins at 1:00 p.m., and the registration fee is $25 (with a lower fee for additional members of the same farm enterprise). Topics include the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, insect management in apples and cucurbits, sweet corn cultivars and weed management, irrigation scheduling, cover crop mulches for pumpkins, frost protection, raspberry and blackberry production, and chestnut production and marketing. For more information, contact Martha Smith at 309-836-3366 or smitha@uiuc.edu .

December 6-8, 2005, Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo ...
... at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For details, check the Expo’s web site at http://www.glexpo.com/ or contact Hilary Morolla at 810-234-4126.

January 5, 2006, Illiana Vegetable Growers School ...
... at Teibel’s Restaurant, Schererville, Indiana, at the junction of routes 41 and 30. The program begins at 8:00 a.m., and the registration fee is $20. For details, contact Liz Maynard at 219-785-5673 or by email at purduenwhort@pnc.edu. The program agenda will be posted online by early December at http://www.hort.purdue.edu/fruitveg/events/events.

January 11-12, 2006, Illinois Organic Production Conference ...
... at the Interstate Center, 2301 West Market Street, Bloomington, Illinois. The program runs from 1:00 p.m. on January 11 through 3:30 P.M. on January 12, and the pre-registration fee is $85. The agenda includes a general session on January 11 and breakout tracts on the 12th focusing on field crops, specialty crops, livestock, and miscellaneous issues. For more information, contact Dan Anderson at 217-333-1588 or by email at aslan@uiuc.edu. Program information is available online at http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/asap/orgconf/ConfSchedule.htm.

January 17-19, 2006, Illinois Specialty Crops Conference ...
... at the Crowne Plaza, Springfield, Illinois. This is our statewide program organized by the University of Illinois Extension and the Illinois Specialty Growers Association. The program will begin at 9:45 a.m. on January 17, with general sessions and concurrent tracks on fruits, vegetables, and herbs, as well as a fourth track on cross-cutting issues including farm marketing, insurance, liability, labor, food safety, and irrigation. A full-day post-conference workshop focusing on tomato and sweet corn production and pest management is scheduled for January 19. The program is available online at the Illinois Specialty Growers Association web site (http://www.specialtygrowers.org/; click on the "More" link under the Convention Update heading on the right side of the page). For more information, contact Diane Handley at the Illinois Specialty Growers Association, 309-557-2107 or handley@ilfb.org.

January 23-25, 2006, Indiana Horticultural Congress ...
... at the Adam’s Mark Hotel near the Indianapolis airport. The program includes sessions on farm marketing, agri-tourism, and fruit and vegetable production and pest management. Topics on the vegetable program include greenhouse diagnostics, downy mildew of cucurbits, pumpkin production, vegetable herbicides, sweet corn and melon varieties, and beneficial insects. For details, contact Danielle Sheese at 765-494-1301 or by email at dlinback@purdue.edu. The program will be posted on the web at http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/hortcongress/.

January 26, 2006, Illinois Horseradish Growers School ...
... at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville, Illinois. The program will include updates on breeding efforts, tissue culture for maintaining germplasm, research on disease-free propagation, hydroponics, soil amendments, postharvest storage, insect scouting, an IPM survey, and variety trial evaluations. For more information, contact Elizabeth Wahle at 618-692-9434 or by email at wahle@uiuc.edu.

February 7 and 8, 2006, Southern Illinois Tree Fruit Schools ...
... at Mount Vernon on February 7 and Hardin on February 8. For more information, contact Elizabeth Wahle at 618-692-9434 or by email at wahle@uiuc.edu, or as the dates approach check for information at "News for Southern Illinois Growers" at: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort/.

February 9, 2006, Kankakee Area Vegetable Growers School ...
... location to be announced. For more information, contact Maurice Ogutu at 708-352-0109 or by email at ogutu@uiuc.edu.

February 16, 2006, Southern Illinois Vegetable School ...
... at the Mount Vernon Holiday Inn. For more information, contact Elizabeth Wahle at 618-692-9434 or by email at wahle@uiuc.edu, or as the dates approach check for information at "News for Southern Illinois Growers" at: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort/.

March 7-8, 2006, Small Fruit & Strawberry Schools ...
... at the Mount Vernon Holiday Inn. For more information, contact Elizabeth Wahle at 618-692-9434 or by email at wahle@uiuc.edu, or Bronwyn Aly at 618-695-2444 or by email at baly@uiuc.edu. As the dates approach, check for information at "News for Southern Illinois Growers" at: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort/.

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

Notes from Chris Doll

It has been a warm fall and one with plant dormancy being a little late. Time will tell if there are any effects of the record high of 82 degrees on November 8. It all depends on how the weather plays out in the near term. For the record keepers, it was in 1991 that several record lows were set in early November, with 15 degrees being the low on the 3rd and 5 degrees being the low on the 8th. Things were pretty immature at that time and bud kill was seen in both apple and peach buds, with some wood damage to vigorous peach trees too.

Only a couple of light frosts (enough to kill tomatoes and beans) have occurred. As a result, a nice crop of red raspberries continues in the Back 40. A few Fuji, Granny Smith and Red Lady apples are still hanging and getting better color and flavor by the day. Peach foliage was slow to fall, but most trees dropped them last weekend with some rain and a strong wind. Grape foliage is yellow and ready to fall, while brambles are beginning to turn color.

Years ago, Dr. John Titus of the University of Illinois did some research on the use of postharvest urea sprays as an efficient and effective nitrogen application. At the 2004 Michigan EXPO last winter, Dr. Lailiang Cheng of Cornell University gave a talk on the same topic. The research data indicate that apple leaves absorb the N and it is translocated to the spurs and wood for storage over winter. As such, it is readily available when growth begins in the spring. Dr. Cheng used two applications of 3 percent urea (25 pounds of urea per 100 gallons of water) and had equal results with soil applications. Dr. Titus suggested 40 pounds of urea per 100 gallons of water. For either rate, the gallonage per acre would be 150 to 200 gallons per acre. My thoughts at this time are that this might be an economical and efficient way of applying nitrogen now that the prices have escalated. Growers will have to do the calculations themselves.

Its that time of the year that herbicides can be applied effectively to apples and other tree fruits. The reasoning behind the late fall applications are that time, equipment and nice calm days can make for good applications. This will improve the spring labor and equipment distribution requirements by delaying the need to spray until after the spring rush. That is assuming that the spray now will include both a contact and residual herbicide, similar to what you would use in the spring. And there should be no worry about waiting for a rain for incorporation. The contact herbicide would be either 2,4-D for broadleaved winter weeds or glyphosate for grasses and winter grasses. The sterilant could be Princep or Solicam. Spring applications can then be adjusted by product and rate to give some diversity for better control. Late spring applications should extend the residual control closer to harvest.

Last spring, I summarized a report on apple variety qualities in the Journal of the American Pomological Society. A second paper summarizing the differences of 19 varieties grown at 14 sites in North America appeared in Volume 58, No. 2, in April 2004. Fruit size as determined by weight showed that Fortune was the largest, followed by Shizuka and then Honeycrisp. Golden Delicious was 2/3 the size of Fortune, and Pristine was 60 percent smaller. For fruit firmness, Goldrush was the highest at 9.4 kg, followed by Braeburn at 9.1 kg, Fuji at 8.4 kg, and Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp at 7.5 kg. Gala Supreme and Goldrush led in soluble solids with a Brix of 15.5, followed by Golden Delicious , Fuji., Suncrisp and Orin. The lowest in soluble solids were Pristine and Sunrise.

Historical items found in the file cabinet this week included a statement by Dr. Ron Meyer, our former entomologist, that he had found codling moth resistance to OP sprays in Southern Illinois in 1991. Further back, I found the 1944 spray bill for the Doll Orchard at Pocahontas, that consisted of arsenate of lead, Black Leaf 40, microfine sulfur, powdered copper sulphate, and some PDB crystals for peach borer. Sulfur was 5.5 cents a pound and copper sulphate was 6.85 cents a pound. In the same year, farm gasoline was 13.1 cents and the John Deere fuel was 9.4 cents a gallon.

Two premier horticulture shows are upcoming -- the Michigan EXPO from December 7-9 and the Illinois Specialty Growers meeting in Springfield on January 17-19, 2006. I hope to see a number of readers of this newsletter at one or both events.

Chris Doll

Fruit Production and Pest Management

New Grape Production Guide Available

The new "Midwest Grape Production Guide" is now available online at http://ohioline.osu.edu/b919/pdf/b919.pdf. I highly recommend it for anyone growing grapes. To purchase a full color shelf copy, order online from Purdue University at https://secure.agriculture.purdue.edu/store/default.asp, or contact The Ohio State University at Media Distribution, 385 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1044, Phone: 614-292-1607, Fax: 614-292-1248, E-mail: pubs@ag.osu.edu.

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

This issue's words of wisdom (well, not always wisdom) ...

A Love Story?

I will seek and find you.
I shall take you to bed and have my way with you.
I will make you ache, shake & sweat until you moan & groan.
I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I'm finished with you.
And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.

All my love,

The Flu

Now, get your mind out of the gutter, go get your flu shot, and pass this message on to your friends.

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

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