We have seen gradual bud movement at Winchester since the previous post on March 18. Above are the same Red Delicious buds that were pictured previously at green-tip stage. They now are showing some color in the pre-pink stage. Most cultivars at our AREC were at tight cluster stage, but will advance more rapidly in the next couple days.
It looks like we are headed for the first 2016 apple scab and cedar-apple and possibly quince rust infection period at our AREC Thursday night and Friday morning Mar 31-Apr 1. Hopefully there has been ample opportunity to protect the developing buds as they moved through the tight cluster stage. Cedar-apple rust galls are plentiful in some areas, even to the point of causing browning of the foliage as shown below.
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| Cedar-apple rust galls on eastern red cedar near Winchester, VA |
I noted that we had seen apple powdery mildew conidiospores by March 17, and in the interim we have already recorded 8 mildew infection days. So you might say that, in this Spring Training exercise, the mildew has outscored scab 8-0!
Redhaven peach trees (shown below) are now approaching full bloom.
In-depth meeting March 31:
Finally, this is a reminder that our first In-Depth Meeting of the new season will be held at Alson H. Smith Jr. AREC, 595 Laurel Grove Road, Winchester, VA, starting at 7 PM Thursday, March 31. Following an entomology update by Dr. Chris Bergh, we will address early season disease management issues and end with some recent pathology questions and answers.
