Facts for Fancy Fruit 2000-07 June 1, 2000 Crop Conditions: Farms scattered across the state have suffered a little hail damage over the last few weeks. No major damage has been reported, but several properties have some damaged fruit. The window of opportunity for chemical thinning apples is pretty much over and fruit appear to be dropping well. Having said that, there are a number of orchards where hand thinning will be necessary to reduce crops to a desirable level. Hand thinning is very time consuming but if you have trees that are still carrying heavy crops and have the labor, the extra time is worth the investment, especially in terms of return bloom for next year. With the rain and warm temperatures, fruit appear to be sizing well. Strawberry harvest is underway across the state and the crop looks very good. Grapes are blooming in most areas. Newly planted vines are benefiting from the recent rains and many growers report shoots growing above the grow tubes. The recent rains and warm weather will increase disease pressure so growers should maintain their spray program. Apple Diseases: What To Do? Now is the time growers need to be walking their orchards looking for symptoms of apple scab, fire blight, powdery mildew, and rust. When looking for diseases select those blocks that are most disease prone. Ida red, Jonathan, and Romes are ÒgoodÓ trees to inspect for disease doings; they are all highly susceptible to scab, blight, mildew and rust. If you do see symptoms of any of the above mentioned diseases we suggest the following: a) Apple scab - the safest bet is to apply Rubigan or Nova in combination with a FULL rate of captan, OR, as suggested in the previous edition of this newsletter, use one of the new strobilurin fungicides, Sovran or Flint. b) Fire blight - immediately cut out blighted twigs 10 to 12 inches below any sign of infection, being sure to sterilize pruning tools between each cut; maintain good control of sucking insects which are primary carriers for secondary spread of blight and apply streptomycin within 24 hours following injury from hail storms. Special attention should be given to young trees and trees on M9 and M26 rootstocks or interstems. c) Powdery mildew - maintain mildewcide sprays until terminal growth stops. d) Rust - relax and enjoy the colorful display of orange spots on leaves and/or green depressions on fruitÉ. no further infection from rust will occur this year, therefore rust is one disease you donÕt have to worry about any longer. -Pecknold Cedar Quince Rust: In some areas of the state this has been a banner year for rust infection. Many growers only think of cedar apple rust when we talk about rust, however, there is another rust that often goes unnoticed and can cause extensive fruit injury, namely cedar quince rust. One reason we take note of cedar apple rust is because of the very colorful display it provides every year as orange, jelly-like, projections on cedar trees and bright, red-orange spots on apple leaves. Cedar quince rust often goes unnoticed both on cedar and apple. On cedar trees quince rust appears as simply an orange slime on stem tissue. On apple, quince rust seldom affects leaves; rather it is the very young developing fruit that suffers the most harm. Infection is nearly always on the calyx end of fruit. Infected tissue will be indented and often have a dark green coloration. Such fruit will typically drop prior to harvest. While Captan will suppress rust (about 50% control), only Polyram, mancozeb, or SI fungicides (including Bayleton) will provide complete control. Of course it is now much too late to apply fungicides to control either quince rust or cedar apple rust. Tight cluster and pink is when sprays need to begin for control of rust, keep this in mind as you admire this years rust display. -Pecknold Controlling European Red Mites with Apollo: As mentioned in previous newsletters, I am interested in finding out how well Apollo will work as a rescue treatment for European red mites in apples. So far I have had one grower allow me to put a trial in his orchard. He had approximately 20 mites per leaf before we treated with Apollo. Two weeks after the Apollo application, the population was down to slightly more than 1 mite per leaf. Although this is only one study, I believe that these results show that Apollo does indeed have promise as a rescue miticide. Again, if you have a mite problem in a block that was not treated with Apollo or Savey and would like for me to test Apollo in your orchard, please give me a call (765-494-9572, rick_foster@entm.purdue.edu) -Foster E. coli strikes Canada: One of North AmericaÕs worst outbreaks of E. coli contamination has hit Ontario Canada. It appears that floods resulted in the contamination of drinking water. About 100 people have sought medical attention and six people have died. Worst affected were children and the elderly. Children and the elderly Ð does this familiar from the warning labels we have been using on our apple cider? This tragedy serves to focus our attention on the potential for disaster with cider if we donÕt do the job right. By now, I think we are all well aware of the need to use only clean sound apples (no drops), and pay particular attention to sanitation and worker hygiene. Take a little time now well ahead of the cider season to examine your cider operation. Take a hard look at where contamination could occur and plan to reduce the risk as much as you can. Shortcuts put your operation and the whole industry at risk. -Hirst Blueberry GrowerÕs of Indiana Summer Meeting: BGIN will hold itÕs summer meeting and potluck dinner at Dean & Diane OttÕs farm on State-line road. Directions: From I-94 take Exit 1 (in Michigan) and go south on State Rd. 39 to 1000 N. Go west on 1000 N to the Frontage road then south to the farm. From LaPorte take SR 39 north to 1000 N then west and south on the frontage road. Gather for farm tour at 4:00 pm, Potluck dinner (meat and drink provided, please bring a dish to pass) at 5:00 pm, Business meeting at 6:00 pm. Contact Melvin Van Kley 219-956- 3687 or Bruce Bordelon 765-494-8212. Indiana Horticultural Society Summer Meeting June 27-28, 2000 at Joe Huber Family Farm, and Huber Orchard, Winery Starlight, IN The summer meeting this year will be in the southern part of the state. We have a wonderful opportunity to visit both Joe Huber Family Farm and Restaurant, and Huber Orchard and Winery. You have heard us say that we need to be customer driven, and sell the whole experience, not just the end product. When it comes to being innovative and demonstrating excellence in marketing, well no one does it better than these guys! I urge as many as can, to travel down to Starlight, IN and join us for the tour of the Forest Discovery Center and roundtable discussion on Tuesday afternoon and evening, then all day on Wednesday for the tours of the orchards, markets, winery, etc. Huber orchard also makes home-made strawberry ice-cream which I recently had the opportunity to sample, purely for research purposes Ð that alone is worth making the trip for! Meeting Agenda Tuesday, June 27, 2000 Travel to the Floyds Knobs area. 3:00-5:00 pm Tour the Forest Discovery Center which is just down the road west of the Huber operations. If you need directions, we will be at the Barnyard Bash II pavilion at Joe Huber Family Farm at about 2:30 pm. 6:00 pm Dinner (Dutch Treat) at Joe Huber Family Farm restaurant. A special area in the restaurant will be reserved for our use. 7:30-9.00 pm Round Table Discussion will be held in the restaurant after dinner, or we will adjourn to the Barnyard Bash II for the discussion. Bring your concerns and items for discussion that might be of interest. 9:00 pm Adjourn to return to motels. Wednesday June 28, 2000 Assemble at Joe Huber Family Farm, Barnyard Bash II. 8:00-9:00 am Registration and Coffee and Donuts 9:00-12:00 Tour of the orchards, fields market and facilities at Joe Huber Family Farm 12:00 Travel to Huber Orchard, Winery 12:00-1:30pm Lunch in the restaurant at Hubers. Location may depend on numbers present. 1:30-2:15pm Indiana Horticultural Society Business meeting 2:15-5:15pm Tour Huber Orchard, Winery orchards, fields, market and facilities. 5:15 pm Adjourn to travel home. Like more information? _ members of the Indiana Hort. Society will be receiving a Hoosier Horticulture Newsletter within the next few days. If you are not a member and would like to join, contact Dick Hayden at 765-463-6587 or email at dhayden@hort.purdue.edu. Dues are $20/year. _ look up the websites of our hosts: the Forest Discovery Center (www.forestcenter.com), Joe Huber Family Farm (www.joehubers.com) and Hubers Orchard, Winery (www.huberwinery.com) _ contact Dick Hayden or Peter Hirst. Coming Meetings: June 5-7 Ð Heartland Wine School, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Contact Roland Riesen, OARDC/OSU Phone 330/263-3685. E-mail:riesen.1@osu.edu June 6 Ð Eastern Indiana Horticultural Society meeting, Muncie. Contact Harold Brown (765- 747-7732). June 8 Ð Blueberry GrowerÕs of Indiana Summer meeting. Dean & Diane OttÕs farm on State- line road. Contact Melvin Van Kley 219-956-3687 or Bruce Bordelon 765-494-8212. June 27-28 Ð Indiana Horticultural Society Summer Meeting. See details above. August 2 Ð Southwest Michigan Annual Viticulture Field Day and Steak Cookout. Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center, Benton Harbor, MI. Contact Tom Zabadal 616-944- 1477. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce Bordelon, 1165 Dept. of Horticulture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1165, 317/494-1301, e-mail: bordelon@hort.purdue.edu Peter Hirst, 1165 Dept. of Horticulture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1165, 317/494-1323, e-mail: hirst@hort.purdue.edu Paul Pecknold, 1155 Dept. of Botany & Plant Path., Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1155, 317/494-4628, e-mail: Pecknold@btny.purdue.edu Rick Foster, 1158 Dept. of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1158, 317/494-9572, e-mail: Rick_Foster@entm.purdue.edu Disclaimer: Reference to products in this publication is not an endorsement to the exclusion of others which may be similar. Any person using products listed in this newsletter assumes full responsibility for their use in accordance with current label directions of the manufacturer.