Botrytis protection

We are in a stretch of pretty good pollination weather, however it looks like we will get some wet weather towards the end of the weekend and into next week.  If you are in Botrytis prone areas or you are concerned about this disease, an application before this next wet period would be worth considering.

We are starting to see the impacts of herbicide applications from this spring and last fall. The photo below was from a November 27th application of Kerb to control fescue. I applied it with a 2 metre CO2 sprayer.  You can see the "control plot" in the centre of the screen that didn't receive any product.

 

Happy Thanksgiving, happy mowing and fall weed control

I've always thought of Thanksgiving as a good time to think about mowing.  Typically there have been a few hard frosts, which tends to make mowing a little bit easier. 

Here are a couple of tips to think about as you look at mowing.

1) The tighter the mow the better. Ideally you want to cut the stem off below the lowest node, this will force the plant to regrow from the rhizome. You can get away with a higher mow, but it often leads to weaker stems.
2) Avoid scalping the ground, (ie. mowing too low).  This will stress the plant, especially on heavy soils.
3) Well maintained flail mowers work best
4) If there are still a lot of leaves left on the plant, it's best to wait a bit before mowing.  If the leaves are still on the plant, it is likely still putting resources into the roots, which is a good thing for overall plant health.  A lot of leaves means the plant is still fairly active and it will be much harder to mow (means driving slower and it will require more fuel)

Chateau and Moss control
Some people are looking at Chateau for moss control.  Make sure this application is made after mowing. It is also a pretty good idea to wait a week or two after mowing, so the stems are sealed up a bit.  Chateau can be harsh on active blueberry tissue.

Kerb
Many growers are also looking at controlling fescue with Kerb.  Here are a couple of observations I have made over the years that seem to optimize control.

1) If you have a problem with fescue, go full rate.
2) Spraying early is really rolling the dice.  Wait until soil temperature is decreasing below 10 degrees C.  The most successful applications are often made past mid November.
3) If you are only seeing fescue in one section of a field, spray a bit more of that area than you think you need to.  Wind, harvesters and mowers have likely spread the seed further than you can see.
4) Pre-mixing Kerb before putting it in the tank is a must!  Helps reduce clogging and allows for more uniform control.
5) Burning and Kerb in the same year could be counter productive.  In some cases a really hot burn has reduced the efficacy of Kerb in May.

Happy Thanksgiving, looking forward to seeing everyone at the AGM on November 22nd and 23rd in Truro.

Two New Videos

Just letting you know we published two new videos related to wild blueberries.  In the fall I shot a video on fall weed idea and another on how to collect floral bud samples to get a general idea on yield potential.  One thing I didn't mention in the video, it is good to do bud sampling in the fall but also a good idea to do it again in the spring to check for winter damage. We also see that some floral buds can develop very late into the fall.

Click on this link to access all of the videos http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSfgJQBrAvx2wURxlX499Cw?feature=mhee

Also...

We are very close to launching the BMP web directory check back next week and you may see some exciting developments.

Finally, the Maritime CoP project is nearing completion.  I will be developing a couple of worksheets to help growers wade through all the data.  I will be presenting this at the WBPANS winter meetings and will have a couple of meetings in April for growers who want to look at the findings in more detail.  Stay tuned for dates and locations of those meetings.

Management reminders

We are approaching mid bloom in many places in mainland Nova Scotia. We are seeing some good bloom around the province.

I was checking some fields yesterday and went to an area that was not treated for monilinia this year. The picture below shows the symptoms of monilinia that should be start to appear in fields if adequate control was not achieved.

This picture shows vegetative bud infections. Although it will cause leaf defoliation, the leaves will grow back and yield impacts will be less than if the fruit buds were infected.

Remember to look for insect feeding in your sprout fields. If the plants haven't popped through the ground yet and you are not in a traditionally late area, you may want to take a closer look as flea beetle or spanworm could be feeding on the new shoots.

Controlling grasses like poverty oat grass and tickle grass can start anytime now with Venture or Poast Ultra. Just remember if these products will only control grasses if they have emerged and are growing.

Note:
Callisto has a 85 day pre-harvest interval. If you are planning on applying it in the crop year, you have a very small window to use it unless you have a field that you pick in very late August or early September.

If anybody has questions, please feel free to contact me on my cell 890-0472.

Grass control in Wild Blueberries

When I talk to growers this time of year, many are unsure about the different grass species we have and what products control them and when they should apply those products. Here's a quick cheat sheet to help growers as they begin their weed control strategies for the season.

Sinbar - pre-emergent herbicide (applied at the same time you would spray Velpar)
- It will control a lot of grasses but it has variable control on Fescues
- it costs about $100 per acre

Venture - post emergent herbicide (applied when the target grass is actively growing - general early June)
- works on poverty oatgrass, tickle grass, suppresses bluegrass but will not control fecues
- can be applied in the crop year as well (but 60 day pre harvest interval)
- just under $30 per acre

Poast Ultra - post emergent herbicide (applied when the target grass is actively growing)
- works the same as Venture and controls basically the same grasses
- can be applied in crop year as well, but much shorter phi (15 days) so it will control witch grass that emerges in late June and early July.
- Just over $30 per acre

Kerb - applied to soil in late fall
- will get several grasses, but fescue is the main target
- $200 per acre
- given time of year and cost, the grower needs to be sure they have fescue and it is severe enough to justify an application
Fescue grass

Velpar - pre-emergent herbicide
- does still control a lot of grasses, but many fields have one or two species that are Velpar tolerant
- It still does control a lot of broadleaf weeds as well.
- This is still a critical herbicide for the industry
- $100 per acre