BLUE
FOCUS NEWSLETTER- May 2025
(Perennia’s
Wild Blueberry Production Newsletter)
Hello, everyone
The traffic in blueberry fields is getting busier as growers
bring additional bees to pollinate blueberry flowers. This is one of the critical
periods in the production. Most of the Mainland crop fields will finish
pollination in another 1.5-2 weeks, and late fields and Cape Breton fields are
looking at another 2-3 weeks. New blueberry plants occur in all sprout fields
in the province. Please consider blueberry crop safety and pollinator health if
you need to apply herbicides in sprout fields after this point. This spring, we
had wetter weather and suitable environmental conditions during the fruit bud
development periods (F2) and blight season. During field scouting and from
growers’ reports, this year’s Monilinia Blight infection is higher than in the
last few seasons. Please see the updates in May’s production summary
newsletter.
Have a wild and great blueberry season!
Hugh Lyu
Wild Blueberry Specialist, Perennia
hlyu@perennia.ca; 902-890-0472.
May 30, 2025
Table of
Contents:
Wild Blueberry GDD& Crop Stage Updates
Monilinia Blight (Mummy Berry) Disease Infection Updates
Upcoming Events
Wild Blueberry GDD& Crop Stage Updates
Please refer
to Figures 2 and 3 for the latest GDD accumulations in each of the 19 reporting
stations, from April 1 to May 29.
Sprout fields:
-
Blueberry plant emergence is above 20-30% in
all sprout fields in the province; thus, please don’t apply Chikara+ Ignite to
your sprout fields.
-
Please check your plant emergence status
if you still want to apply Velpar, Sinbar and Spartan (Involve). It is getting
late and risky.
-
If you applied any pre-emergence
herbicides over the last few weeks, you should start seeing responses from
herbicide treatments, including yellowing and brown leaves from grasses and
broadleaf weeds.
-
If you plan to use Callisto and Venture
(Poast Ultra) in sprout fields, the next 2-3 weeks would be ideal. Grasses and
Goldenrods are near the control points.
Crop fields:
-
All crop fields are in bloom and the pollination
stage; some early fields completed pollination earlier.
-
Monilinia Blight infection symptoms: Monilinia
blight infection symptoms can be found in crop fields. Please see the update in
the next section.
-
During the bloom period, there are two
important diseases to manage, including Botrytis Blossom Blight and Septoria
leaf disease.
-
Botrytis blossom blight: early symptoms can
be found in early-flowering blueberry patches or sheep sorrel flowers. This
could be a good indicator to trigger your Botrytis spray. The Botrytis
infection risk remains until late bloom for all crop fields. All crop fields are
technically at risk of Botrytis infection in NS.
Figures
2 and 3. Wild Blueberry Weather Station GDD Updates (April 1- May 29)
Monilinia Blight (Mummy Berry) Disease Infection Updates
As I mentioned at the beginning, this year’s Monilinia
Blight infection level is higher than the last few seasons due to suitable infection
environmental conditions and crop stages. The wetness and warmth in the early
spring helped mummy berries germinate and produce cups with infection spores.
Also, during the F2 period, we encountered a couple of infection periods. I
would classify the infection level as high in several unsprayed and infected
fields. Those fields are more likely to get secondary infections on blossoms
over the next few weeks than sprayed and managed fields. If you use fungicides
(Proline or Soratel) during bud stages, the infection should be minimal to none.
If you ever wonder if you have Monilinia Blight or
Mummy Berry in your fields, this year would be a good year to find out. At this
point, you can see the infections in both leaves and blossoms. Leave symptoms are
easier to identify. I took the photos below over the last few days, and they
are all infection symptoms from Monilinia Blight.
Upcoming Events
1. Virtual
Wild Blueberry Grower Meeting, Wednesday, June 4, 8:30- 9:30 AM.
Special Session: Spot
Spraying Weed Management in Wild Blueberry Fields.
In addition to the regular blueberry
management updates, we will have a guest speaker, Dr. Scott White, who will
discuss spot spraying weed management in blueberry fields. We will focus on
spot spraying weed species and their control timings, as well as key spot spray
herbicides and their rates.
Please register to receive the Zoom
meeting link: https://www.perennia.ca/eventer/wild-blueberries-virtual-grower-meetings-2025/edate/2025-04-09/.
2. Virtual
Wild Blueberry Grower Meeting, Wednesday, June 18, 8:30- 9:30 AM.
3. 2025
WBPANS Field Day: Wednesday, July 16. Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition
Grounds, 73 Ryland Avenue, Bible Hill.
Stay tuned for more details!