Cottony Scale on Blueberry

Cottony Scale ( (Pulvinaria sp./spp.) has been observed again this Spring on several commercial blueberry farms in southeastern NC. The insect is very difficult to see in winter, but becomes highly visible in late April when egg laying occurs and the females produce white egg sacs. The following images and quotes are from an image-only sample I sent to the NCSU Plant Disease and Insect Clinic in 2021. The pest was identified by entomologist Matt Bertone, with additional comments on control measures from Hannah Burrack. Thank you Matt and Hannah! cottony scale 1

Read more at: https://blueberries.ces.ncsu.edu/2022/05/cottony-scale-on-blueberry/

 

Cottony Scale ( (Pulvinaria sp./spp.) has been observed again this Spring on several commercial blueberry farms in southeastern NC. The insect is very difficult to see in winter, but becomes highly visible in late April when egg laying occurs and the females produce white egg sacs. The following images are from an image-only sample I sent to the NCSU Plant Disease and Insect Clinic in 2021. The pest was identified by entomologist Matt Bertone, with additional comments on control measures from Hannah Burrack. Thank you Matt and Hannah!  The full article can be seen here:

http://go.ncsu.edu/readext?864485

 

 

Cottony Scale ( (Pulvinaria sp./spp.) has been observed again this Spring on several commercial blueberry farms in southeastern NC. The insect is very difficult to see in winter, but becomes highly visible in late April when egg laying occurs and the females produce white egg sacs. The following images and quotes are from an image-only sample I sent to the NCSU Plant Disease and Insect Clinic in 2021. The pest was identified by entomologist Matt Bertone, with additional comments on control measures from Hannah Burrack. Thank you Matt and Hannah!

Read more at: https://blueberries.ces.ncsu.edu/2022/05/cottony-scale-on-blueberry/

Cottony Scale ( (Pulvinaria sp./spp.) has been observed again this Spring on several commercial blueberry farms in southeastern NC. The insect is very difficult to see in winter, but becomes highly visible in late April when egg laying occurs and the females produce white egg sacs. The following images and quotes are from an image-only sample I sent to the NCSU Plant Disease and Insect Clinic in 2021. The pest was identified by entomologist Matt Bertone, with additional comments on control measures from Hannah Burrack. Thank you Matt and Hannah! cottony scale 1

Read more at: https://blueberries.ces.ncsu.edu/2022/05/cottony-scale-on-blueberry/

Plum curculio biology and status in North Carolina blueberries

Plum Curculio can be a significant insect pest of blueberries in North Carolina.  This talk by Meredith Favre was originally presented at the North Carolina Blueberry Council's 56th Annual Open House in White Lake, NC on January 11, 2022.  Meredith is a research associate in the department of Entomology & Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University.

 

 

 

 

Pocket Scouting Guide revised in 2015

The popular Extension publication A Pocket Guide to IPM Scouting in Highbush Blueberries has been revised (April 2015) and is again available from Michigan State University. This third edition includes information on new pests that have emerged since the previous revision in 2008, most notably Spotted Wing Drosophila.The cost is $19.00 each, with discounts for volume purchases. For more information, see: http://shop.msu.edu/product_p/bulletin-e2928.htm

 

Propagation Structures

The propagation house at the NCSU Horticultural Crops Research Station in Castle Hayne is a fairly simple covered structure that we use when propagating blueberries and muscadine grapes under intermittent mist.

The base consists of an 18-inch-deep layer of sand to ensure drainage.  The wood-and-wire-mesh rooting beds are placed directly on top of the sand and filled with pine bark or other rooting media, and the sand does a nice job of "wicking" away any excess water that might otherwise cause waterlogging.

Beds are constructed of 2 x 8 or 2 x 6 treated lumber, with 1/4-inch galvanized hardware cloth nailed to the bottom to contain the rooting medium (usually milled pine bark).

The structure has a plastic roof that is replaced as needed (every 2-3 yr) and we usually cover this with an additional layer of shade cloth.  Rooting under a covered structure excludes rain and gives us better control of moisture and humidity.

Separate time clocks allow us to use half of the house for hardwood propagation of dormant cuttings and half of the house for leafy softwood cuttings.  Each clock system consists of a 24 hr clock and a minute clock, wired in sequence so that the mist comes on intermittently during the day, but does not run at night.

Click these links for a description blueberry propagation techniques or images.

This house is used for both hardwood (winter) and softwood (summer) cuttings.  The image above shows rooted hardwood cuttings in late July.  These were dormant (winter) cuttings that were stuck in the beds in April on a 1.5 x 1.5-inch spacing.  Cuttings were hand watered until they began producing leaves in late April, then intermittent mist was used from late April through mid-July.  You can see that these cuttings are producing a second flush of  pale green leafy growth, indicating that they are rooted and watering can thus be reduced.  By late summer, hardwood cuttings are watered only as needed. This is quite different from softwood cuttings for blueberry (and muscadine grape) that are collected in summer and rooted under mist in August and September.

NC Blueberry Expo and Trade Show, January 14-15, 2014

The annual meeting of the North Carolina Blueberry Council will be held January 14-15 at the Sampson Agri-Expo Center in Clinton.  For more information, please see:
http://ncblueberrycouncil.org/

The NC Blueberry Council also has a new consumer website, http://northcarolinablueberries.com/

Deer damage to buds

Deer feed on blueberry flower buds in winter and early spring.  Feeding can severely impact yield, especially on young bushes whose buds are at easy browsing height.  Click on the images below to enlarge.

Buds on blueberry shoots before....

.....and after browsing by deer.

Tips of stems have a ragged, clipped appearance

There is an excellent article (click here) on deer biology, feeding habits and prevention.  Our best success at the research station in Castle Hayne has been with the use of double electric fences.

Mummy berry emerging this week

Mummy berry is now active in southeastern NC -- the photos below were taken yesterday.  The disease begins each spring with the emergence of the fungus from last year's infected fruit (mummies) that have overwintered on the ground.  The first sign of activity (and potential for infection) is the appearance of apothecia or "mummy cups" in spring.  Spores from these small brown cup-shaped mushrooms infect emerging blueberry shoots.  Yesterday at the NCSU Horticultural Crops Research Station in Castle Hayne, the spore-producing (infective) stage of this disease was visible on the ground underneath bushes in wet areas of some fields (click on images to enlarge):

Apothecium at right center of photo is less than an inch in height

Growth stage of bushes in the wet area where apothecia were found

Several mummy cups (apothecia) emerging from old infected berries

Mummies germinating through leaf litter 4 March 2013

The emergence of this fungus coincides with emergence of new shoots on blueberry bushes, so the disease will appear later in colder areas of the state where bushes are still dormant.  Fields in southeastern NC with a history of this disease should be sprayed with fungicides as soon as possible, especially in early-blooming cultivars where flower and leaf shoots are beginning to emerge. For further descriptions, and images of other stages of this disease, click here.  For specific recommendations on control, go to the NC Ag Chem Manual or the Southern Region IPM Guide.