Summer disease update

 Six extended wetting events since Jul 22 have dramatically increased summer disease pressures in the Winchester area: Jul 22: 6 hr wetting at 73° with 0.9 in. rain, Jul 23-24: 13 hr wetting at 73° with 0.51 in. rain, Jul 30-31: 21 hr wetting at 70° with 1.01 in. rain; Aug 1-2: 15 hr wetting at 72° with 0.45 in. rain, Aug 3-4: 19 hr wetting at 68° with 0.92 in. rain; and Aug 6: 6 hr wetting at 68° with 0.2 in. rain. Suffice it to say that Winchester's extended dry conditions of July have passed! Wetting events at these temperatures have favored development of sooty blotch and flyspeck and the rot fungi. Evidence of early season (scab), mid-season (Brooks spot), and late season diseases (sooty blotch and developing rots) is shown below:

Scab, sooty blotch and rot spots on unprotected Granny Smith fruit at Virginia Tech AREC, Winchester, VA, Aug 10, 2020.

Infection by Brooks spot (8 o'clock and 1 o'clock positions from the calyx), as well as sooty blotch and rot spots on unprotected Idared fruit, Aug 10, 2020. Infection by Brooks spot, one of the earliest "summer diseases", typically occurs about a month after petal fall.

Recent disease pressure has been somewhat heavier than Winchester in other areas of Virginia, especially east of the Blue Ridge. Amounts of rainfall from extended wetting events have varied, especially with the remnants of the recent hurricane. Most were not excessive in areas where rain was needed; some extended wetting occurred with only a few hundredths of an inch of rainfall. All of these have been favorable for rot development where protection was inadequate and volume of rainfall can impact fungicide residual. 

Fire blight-killed shoots harbor the rot fungi and are a common pre-harvest inoculum source. Due to cool temperatures throughout bloom, the Winchester area mostly escaped fire blight this year, but infection was more common east of the Blue Ridge and in the Roanoke area.

Accumulated wetting hours through the summer can be an indicator of summer disease pressure, particularly to predict the development of the sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) fungal complex, but also can be a general indicator of rot pressure. To predict SBFS, we record accumulated wetting hours (ACW) from rainfall, fog, or dew, starting 10 days after petal fall. The action threshold of 250 ACW predicts that the SBFS fungi are present on unprotected fruit when the threshold is reached, and symptoms will soon appear with further incubation. Winchester passed the 250-hr threshold on July 21, and symptoms are now present on unprotected fruit, as shown above, with symptoms heavier at lower elevations, which have more wetting hours. Here is a listing of selected petal fall dates and current total wetting hour accumulation (ACW) for selected locations as of Aug 10: Winchester, May 5, 393 ACW; Staunton, May 5, 823 ACW; Roanoke, Apr 18, 447 ACW; Floyd, Apr 28, 470 ACW; Manassas, Apr 28, 694 ACW; Sperryville, Apr 28, 387 ACW; Crozet, Apr 18, 423 ACW; Carter Mountain, Apr 18, 558 ACW; Red Hill, Apr 18, 483 ACW; Lynchburg, Apr 13, 647 ACW; Rustburg, Apr 13, 573 ACW; Danville, Apr 13, 832 ACW. 

Unless unusual fruit disease-related events occur, this will be the final post for this year. With approaching harvest, carefully observe pre-harvest intervals and per acre per year restrictions for all fungicides and all crop protection products.

Bitter rot; sooty blotch, flyspeck threshold and activity

Conditions have been dry at Winchester, with only three extended wetting events at Winchester in the past month:  June 27-28: 9 hr of wetting at 72° with 0.17 in. rain, July 10-11: 6 hr of wetting at 71° with 0.07 in. rain, and July 21-22: more than 10 hr of wetting at 72° with 0.28 in. rain. In spite of the rain received July 21, the Winchester area is still experiencing drought, with July rainfall total at Winchester AREC only 0.49 inches.

Bitter rot (shown below) was observed in a organic production block July 21. This indicates that, although weather has been dry the past month, there was ample opportunity earlier for bitter rot infection which is now evident. 

Bitter rot in Honey Crisp apples July 21, 2020. Likely inoculum source was a large overwintering fruit mummy (upper left).

Bitter rot in Honey Crisp apple July 21, 2020. Likely inoculum source was small, current season, fruit mummies (upper left).

Other areas of Virginia have received variable amounts of rainfall in the past month. Some areas have been dry like Winchester, while others have received adequate moisture. Few have had excessive rainfall, but all could have bitter rot conditions as favorable as those in Winchester.

To predict the development of the sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) fungal complex, we record accumulated wetting hours (ACW) from rainfall, fog, or dew, starting 10 days after petal fall. The action threshold of 250 ACW predicts that the SBFS fungi are present on unprotected fruit when the threshold is reached, and symptoms will soon appear with further incubation. After several weeks delay, Winchester and Sperryville have now exceeded the 250-hr threshold. Here is a listing of selected petal fall dates and total wetting hour accumulation (ACW) for selected locations as of the night of July 21: Winchester, May 5, 271 ACW; Staunton, May 5, 591 ACW; Roanoke, Apr 18, 423 ACW; Floyd, Apr 28, 342 ACW; Manassas, Apr 28, 461 ACW; Sperryville, Apr 28, 272 ACW; Crozet, Apr 18, 332 ACW; Carter Mountain, Apr 18, 473 ACW; Red Hill, Apr 18, 375 ACW; Lynchburg, Apr 13, 488 ACW; Rustburg, Apr 13, 361 ACW; Danville, Apr 13, 667 ACW. 

Extended wetting periods and volumes of rainfall expected to increase sooty blotch/flyspeck and rot pressure

Three extended wetting events at Winchester in the past week favored secondary apple scab  and summer disease development.  These occurred June 10-11: 10 hr of wetting at 73° with 0.23 in. rain, June 17-18: 14 hr of wetting at 65° with 0.69 in. rain and June 21: 16 hr of wetting at 65° with 0.01 in. rain. Cedar-apple rust infection on leaves over most of the length of unprotected shoots (shown below) indicates that infection occurred well into June this year, but galls have now been depleted of inoculum at Winchester AREC.

Cedar-apple rust on York Imperial apple shoot June 20, 2020.
Lesions on all but the youngest leaves show that infection occurred well into June.

Apple powdery mildew infection occurs on days without rainfall above 53°, and in the Winchester area we have had 38 days favorable for infection since spores were available on Mar 29.

Other areas of Virginia also received significant wetting events in the past two weeks, June 10-11, and especially June 14-19. Some of these were extremely long wetting periods with heavier rainfall than Winchester: Staunton June 16-19, 51 hr with 1.88 in. of rain; Roanoke three wetting periods June 14-18, totaling 65 hr and 5.75 in. rain; Batesville June 16-19, 44 hr with 1.31 in. rain; Carter Mt., June 15-18, 64 hr with 0.91 in. rain; Red Hill, three wetting periods June 13-19, totaling 54 hr and 0.9 in. rain; Lynchburg, two periods June 15-19, total 76 hr and 3.79 in. rain; Rustburg, June 14-19, two periods totaling 79 hr and 3.81 in. rain; Danville, two periods, total 67 hr and 1.8 in. rain. These long wetting periods and volumes of rainfall should be expected to increase pressure from sooty blotch and flyspeck and various fungal rot diseases.

To predict the development of the sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) fungal complex, we record accumulated wetting hours (ACW) from rainfall, fog, or dew, starting 10 days after petal fall. The action threshold of 250 ACW predicts that the SBFS fungi are present on unprotected fruit when the threshold is reached, and symptoms will soon appear with further incubation. All of the monitored areas except Winchester and Sperryville have now exceeded the 250-hr threshold, and Winchester and Sperryville will likely pass the threshold in the next 7-10 days. Here is a listing of selected petal fall date and total wetting hour accumulation (ACW) for selected locations as of June 21: Winchester, May 5, 187 ACW; Staunton, May 5, 324 ACW; Roanoke, Apr 18, 316 ACW; Floyd, Apr 28, 291 ACW; Manassas, Apr 28, 257 ACW; Sperryville, Apr 28, 199 ACW; Batesville, Apr 18, 316 ACW; Crozet, Apr 18, 276 ACW; Carter Mountain, Apr 18, 435 ACW; Red Hill, Apr 18, 291 ACW; Lynchburg, Apr 13, 366 ACW; Rustburg, Apr 13, 361 ACW; Danville, Apr 13, 450 ACW. 

Extended wetting events and accumulated wetting hours favor early rot development

Two extended wetting events at Winchester last week favored secondary apple scab and cedar-apple rust infection and early rot development.  These occurred June 4-5: 17 hr of wetting at 69° with 0.83 in. rain and June 5-6: 18 hr of wetting at 69° with 0.42 in. rain. Wetting was variable across other commercial fruit production areas of Virginia. Apple powdery mildew infection occurs on days without rainfall above 53°, and the Winchester area we have had 33 days favorable for infection since spores were available on Mar 29.

To predict the development of the sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) fungal complex, we record accumulated wetting hours (ACW) from rainfall or dew, starting 10 days after petal fall. The action threshold for SBFS development is 250 ACW. Here is a listing of selected petal fall date and total wetting hour accumulation (ACW) for selected locations as of June 9: Winchester, May 5, 112 ACW; Staunton, May 5, 217 ACW; Roanoke, Apr 18, 205 ACW; Floyd, Apr 28, 188 ACW; Manassas, Apr 28, 182 ACW; Sperryville, Apr 28, 146 ACW; Batesville, Apr 18, 208 ACW; Crozet, Apr 18, 178 ACW; Carter Mountain, Apr 18, 314 ACW; Red Hill, Apr 18, 189 ACW; Lynchburg, Apr 13, 243 ACW; Rustburg, Apr 13, 247 ACW; Danville, Apr 13, 331 ACW. 

ACW is related to wetting from rainfall, fog, or dew. The action threshold of 250 ACW signals that the SBFS fungi would be present on unprotected fruit when the threshold is reached and symptoms would appear with further incubation. Carter Mountain and Danville have passed the threshold, and Lynchburg and Rustburg are close to the threshold.  

Extended wetting events and accumulated wetting hours predict the development of sooty blotch and flyspeck

At Winchester last week a secondary apple scab and cedar-apple rust infection period occurred May 28: 7 hr of combined wetting at 69° with 0.09 in. rain. Most of the other commercial fruit production areas of Virginia experienced similar conditions, with relatively warm extended wetting during the period from May 27 to 29. Expect extended wetting events with warmer temperatures to increase the potential for early latent rot infection of fruit. At Winchester,  cedar-apple rust galls remain active. Apple powdery mildew infection occurs on days without rainfall above 53°, and in the Winchester area we have had 29 days favorable for infection since spores were available on Mar 29.

To predict the development of the sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) fungal complex, we record accumulated wetting hours (ACW) from rainfall or dew, starting 10 days after petal fall. The action threshold for SBFS development is 250 ACW. Here is a listing of selected petal fall date and total wetting hour accumulation (ACW) for selected locations: Winchester, May 5, 73 ACW; Staunton, May 5, 167 ACW; Roanoke, Apr 18, 194 ACW; Floyd, Apr 28, 174 ACW; Manassas, Apr 28, 131 ACW; Sperryville, Apr 28, 114 ACW; Batesville, Apr 18, 186 ACW; Crozet, Apr 18, 162 ACW; Carter Mountain, Apr 18 329 ACW; Red Hill, Apr 18, 175 ACW; Lynchburg, Apr 13, 226 ACW; Rustburg, Apr 13, 235 ACW; Danville, Apr 13, 288 ACW. 

The action threshold of 250 ACW signals that the SBFS fungi would be present on unprotected fruit when the threshold is reached and symptoms would appear with further incubation. Carter Mountain and Danville have already passed the threshold, and Lynchburg and Rustburg may reach the threshold within the coming week . ACW is related to wetting from rainfall or dew, and typically, lower elevations in an orchard accumulate wetting hours more quickly because of wetting from dew. So far this year, that was not the case with the higher elevation of Carter Mountain accumulating wetting hours more rapidly from extended wetting from rainfall and fog in the past two weeks.

Extended wetting last week will trigger early summer disease development

At the AREC last week an apple scab and cedar-apple rust infection period occurred May 22-23: 24 hr of combined wetting at 60° with 1.14 in. rain. Conditions were similar east of the Blue Ridge in Manassas and Sperryville, but more extreme to the south from Staunton to Roanoke and Floyd and east of the Blue Ridge from the Charlottesville area southward to Lynchburg and Danville. At Winchester, cedar-apple rust galls remain active with more extended wetting periods predicted for this week.

Staunton had two wetting periods of 10 and 42 hr with a total of 0.91 in. rain. In Roanoke, two infection periods totaled 113 hr combined wetting and 10.17 in. rain. The total rainfall in Floyd was 1.92 inches, but with 115 hr of extended wetting. In Albemarle County, combined wetting ranged from 43-55 hr at Crozet, Red Hill and Batesville to 102 hr on Carter Mountain with rainfall totals from 1.3 to 2.6 inches. Lynchburg had 86 hr wetting with 2.95 in rain, Rustburg 114 hr wet with 3.87 in. rain and Danville 89 hr combined wetting with 4.69 in. rain.

In all areas, this extended wetting will contribute to early accumulation of wetting hour totals toward development of sooty blotch and flyspeck. Fortunately, much of the earlier portion of the wetting events was at cooler temperatures not as favorable to rot development, but the latter portion was at warmer temperatures, and occurred after heavy rains would have depleted fungicide residue, making the fruit vulnerable to latent rot infection. This extended wetting was also favorable to secondary scab and late rust infection on foliage, and the extremely long wetting periods can increase the amount of fruit scab.

For purposes of predicting the development of the sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) fungal complex, we record accumulated wetting hours (ACW) from rainfall or dew, starting 10 days after petal fall. The action threshold for SBFS development is 250 ACW. Here is a listing of selected petal fall date and total wetting hour accumulation (ACW) for selected locations: Winchester, May 5, 55 ACW; Staunton, May 5, 133 ACW; Roanoke, Apr 18, 174 ACW; Floyd, Apr 28, 159 ACW; Manassas, Apr 28, 91 ACW; Sperryville Apr 28, 102 ACW; Batesville Apr 18, 164 ACW; Crozet, Apr 18, 138 ACW; Carter Mountain, Apr 18 329 ACW; Red Hill, Apr 18, 150 ACW; Lynchburg, Apr 13, 199 ACW; Rustburg, Apr 13, 201 ACW; Danville, Apr 13, 243 ACW. The action threshold of 250 ACW means that the SBFS fungi would be present on unprotected fruit when the threshold is reached. Lynchburg, Rustburg and Danville are predicted to reach the threshold within the coming week and Carter Mountain has already passed the threshold. ACW is related to wetting from rainfall or dew, and often lower elevations in an orchard accumulate wetting hours more quickly because of wetting from dew, but that obviously is not the case with the higher elevation of Carter Mountain this year.

Apple powdery mildew infection occurs on days without rainfall above 53°, and in the Winchester area we have had 26 days favorable for infection since spores were available on Mar 29. 

Fire blight infection conditions on late bloom May 15; scab and rust infection May 14-15.

Fire blight infection conditions finally occurred at Winchester on late bloom May 15. Below is a cropped graphic from the Maryblyt 7 program.

Graphic from Maryblyt 7, May 18, 2020. Click to enlarge.

While most apple blocks were past bloom in the Winchester area, a few still had some susceptible bloom. The temperature and rainfall data are current through Monday evening, May 18. Predicted weather conditions are shown for May 19-31. The components of fire blight risk are indicated in the columns labeled B (blossoms open), H (degree hours for epiphytic bacterial populations), W (wetting by rain or dew), and T (average daily temperature 60 F or above). For infection to be predicted, wetting must occur after the EIP (epiphytic infection potential) reaches 100 or higher, and this must coincide with an average daily temperature of 60°F or more. Based on recorded temperatures and wetting, the risk column shows the infection was possible wherever bloom was present May 15. Infection aslo would have been possible with wetting May 16-17. The extended outlook through May 31 is shown primarily to track infection development from May 15, but indicates that infection would be possible wherever there is bloom and wetting May 27-31.

The BBS column tracks the appearance of blossom blight symptoms from infection that occurred May 15, which is now predicted for May 27. The CBS column tracks canker blight symptom appearance and predicted canker margin symptoms (CMS, expansion of overwintered cankers) May 16. Further tracking in the CBS column predicts canker blight symptoms when that value reaches 100 May 28.

Under these conditions a Streptomycin application would have been recommended for May 14-15, to protect any late bloom through the infective period. This would particularly include any young and recently planted trees with flowers. Cooler predicted temperatures the next week indicate a decline in risk, but warmer temperatures will again bring the EIP to an infective level May 26. Note that "wetting" can occur with maintenance and thinning applications, so streptomycin should be included in such applications if there is late bloom. Also note that, while bloom may have escaped infection during this unusually low fire blight pressure year at Winchester, expect canker blight and shoot blight symptoms if cankers were allowed to overwinter in trees that had infection last year.

At the AREC last week an apple scab and cedar-apple rust infection period occurred May 14-15: 8 hr wet at 62° with 0.04 in. rain. Similar conditions also extended south to Staunton and east of the Blue Ridge from Manassas to Sperryville. Staunton and Sperryville to the Charlottesville area also had an infection period May 17. At Winchester, cedar-apple rust galls remain active after this wetting event with only 0.04 inches of rain.

Apple powdery mildew infection occurs on days without rainfall above 53°, and in the Winchester area we have had 16 days favorable for infection since spores were available on Mar 29. Secondary mildew symptoms are now quite common on unprotected trees, as are secondary scab and cedar-apple rust lesions.

Extended wetting is predicted for all major fruit production areas in Virginia May 18-22. This wetting will be highly favorable to secondary scab and late rust infection on foliage and will contribute to recorded accumulated wetting hours for development of sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS). For purposes of predicting the development of the SBFS fungal complex, we record accumulated wetting hours from rainfall or dew, starting 10 days after petal fall. This year we will use May 5 as the petal fall date for Winchester, so the start of wetting hour accumulation (ACW) will be from May 15. For the Roanoke area and areas east of the Blue Ridge, we will consider petal fall to have been one week earlier than Winchester, and accumulation of wetting hours will be from May 8. The action threshold for SBFS development is 250 ACW.

Secondary scab infection May 5-6; fire blight infection conditions on late bloom May 15-18.

At Winchester, most apple varieties are well beyond petal fall, but late bloom susceptible to fire blight persists on some late varieties and some recently planted trees. 

At the AREC last week an apple scab infection period occurred May 5-6: 17 hr wet at 47° with 0.18 in. rain. Similar conditions also extended south to Staunton and east of the Blue Ridge from Loudoun County to the Charlottesville area, where infection conditions resulted from a combined wetting period. At Winchester, cedar-apple rust galls and quince rust cankers remain active after this wetting event.

Apple powdery mildew infection occurs on days without rainfall above 53°, and we have had 14 days favorable for infection since spores were available on Mar 29. Below is an example of primary and secondary powdery mildew on Idared apple.

A secondary powdery mildew lesion (bottom left) next to a primary mildew shoot on Idared apple. 

The Winchester area will likely see its first fire blight infection conditions wherever susceptible bloom remains this weekend, May 16-18. Similar conditions exist for all other major fruit producing areas of Virginia, but with some starting on May 15. Blossom infection has already been reported on apples east of the Blue Ridge south of Charlottesville and in southwest Virginia, and on pears in Clarke County from infection that occurred six weeks ago. Below is an example of late bloom that was observed on Goldrush apple in Nelson County last week.

Late bloom and set fruit on Goldrush apple in Nelson County May 7, 2020.

Just to add a footnote about the unusually cool conditions through April and into mid-May that allowed the Winchester area to escape fire blight infection from Mar 30 until the very latest of bloom: The daily mean high temperature for April this year was 60.0° and, since 1928 only three years had a cooler mean daily high temperature, 1935, 1961, and 1966!  Meanwhile, 17 years had a mean April high greater than 70°

Secondary apple scab and rust infection periods April 28 through May 4; fire blight pressure low to moderate in the Winchester area

At Winchester, most apple trees are at petal fall and only later varieties such as Rome Beauty and some young trees are still in bloom. 

At the AREC in the past week we received three apple scab/rust infection periods.  Apr 28: 9 hr wet at 49° with 0.06 in. rain; Apr 29-30: 19 hr wet at 58° with 1.22 in. rain (heavy scab and rusts) and May 3-4: 7 hr wet at 62° with 0.42 in. rain. Cedar-apple rust galls and quince rust cankers remain active after these wetting events, and unprotected apple blossoms and small fruit remain susceptible to quince rust infection, so a follow-up application including an SI fungicide is suggested. On May 4 cedar rust lesions were evident on flower cluster and shoot leaves, from infection that occurred Apr 7-8.

This past week the length of wetting and amounts of rainfall have been somewhat variable across the major commercial fruit production areas of Virginia, but all areas received at least one extended wetting period favorable to secondary scab infection where control was not achieved during earlier primary infection periods. 

Apple powdery mildew infection occurs on days without rainfall above 53°, and we have had 12 days favorable for infection since spores were available on Mar 29. Expect secondary powdery mildew symptoms to begin appearing in the next week or so.

In the Winchester area, fire blight pressure has been mostly low to moderate on apples that first bloomed Mar 30, and that trend continues for late blooming apples through the coming week, However, fire blight blossom symptoms were reported on early blooming Asian pears Apr 27 in Clarke County. Also blossom infection (shown below) was also evident in young apple trees in central Virginia, apparently from infection that occurred Mar 29.

Blossom blight symptoms in central VA, May 2, 2020. Infection probably occurred Mar 29.

Apple scab and rust infection Apr 23-27; fire blight blossom symptoms reported on early blooming Asian pears in Clarke Co.

At Winchester, Red Delicious apple trees are near petal fall, but there is still much bloom on many apples, and later varieties such as Rome Beauty are now in full bloom. At the AREC we received two recent infection periods.  Apr 23-24: 21 hr wet at 50° with 0.41 in. rain (scab and rusts); Apr 25-27: 31 combined hr wet at 47° with 0.80 in. rain. Cedar-apple rust galls and quince rust cankers were in "full bloom" during these extended wetting events, and unprotected apple blossoms remain very susceptible to quince rust infection, so a follow-up application including an SI fungicide is suggested. On Apr 27 a few cedar rust lesions were evident on flower cluster leaves, from infection that occurred Mar 27-28.

The above conditions for Winchester were generally similar across most of the major commercial fruit production areas of Virginia. The greatest concerns for these events are where earlier infection periods occurred with inadequate fungicide protection, and scab lesions are now sporulating, leading to heavy secondary infection.

Apple powdery mildew infection occurs on days without rainfall above 53°, and we have had ten days favorable for infection since spores were available on Mar 29. Expect secondary powdery mildew symptoms to begin appearing in the next week or so.

Although fire blight pressure has been mostly low to moderate on apples that first bloomed Mar 30 in the Winchester area, fire blight blossom symptoms on early blooming Asian pears were reported Apr 27 in Clarke County. In that case, apparently the pear trees were in bloom by Mar 19 and infection likely occurred on Mar 20, before the first apple blossoms were open at our AREC.

Fire blight pressure low to moderate through April 25; secondary scab infection possible where control was inadequate Mar 27-28.

At Winchester apple trees are mostly at mid-bloom. 

Fire blight: With prevailing cool temperatures, current fire blight pressure remains low to moderate through Apr 25 in the Winchester area, the Shenandoah Valley, and across much of northern Virginia. Conditions through Apr 25 are not favorable for fire blight infection in the Roanoke and east of the Blue Ridge south of Charlottesville, however some of these areas had earlier potential infection Mar 28-31 and Apr 7-9.

Scab: At the AREC we received a marginal apple scab infection period Apr 17-18: 14 hr wet at 47° with 0.08 in. rain. Most of the scab ascospores have been discharged signalling the end of the primary infection, but where protection was inadequate during the Mar 27-28 infection period, expect lesions to be appearing, and secondary infection could be possible with predicted wetting events later this week.
   
At Winchester, we have had 12 days favorable for apple powdery mildew infection since spores were available.

This will be updated again Apr 28.

Apple scab and rust infection April 12-13; fire blight pressure low to moderate through April 19.

At Winchester apple trees are mostly at mid-bloom, with later cultivars coming into bloom. 

At the AREC we received an apple scab, quince rust and cedar-apple rust infection period Apr 12-13 with 15 hr wet at 57° with 0.74 in. rain. Earlier last week we also had a possible combined scab/rust infection period Apr 7-8 with 9 hr wetting at 57° with 0.94 in. rain.  More than 95% of the scab ascospores are now mature in the Winchester area. At Winchester, we have had 10 days favorable for apple powdery mildew infection since spores were available.

Most of the commercial fruit production areas in Virginia had similar scab and rust infection conditions Apr 12-13, but with more rainfall east of the Blue Ridge and southward. Rainfall ranged from 1.5 inches at Sperryville and 2.3 inches at Manassas to 3.36 inches at Lynchburg. Such volumes of rainfall deplete fungicide protection, calling for fungicides with after-infection control for scab and rusts, as well as something for protection against powdery mildew in mildew-susceptible cultivars..

FIRE BLIGHT: With most apples in bloom, the current fire blight threat remains moderate to low in the Winchester area. 

Graphic from Cougarblight, April 14, 2020. Click to enlarge.

Above is the graphic from the Cougarblight model as shown on our NEWA site. We selected orchard blight history option as “Fire blight occurred in your neighborhood last year” and first blossom open date as 3/30/20. Cougarblight shows color-coded risk assessment as “Cougarblight 4-Day DH” risk is moderate or low through Apr 19. The Roanoke area and areas east of the Blue Ridge south of Charlottesville had possible infection Apr 7-9 (graphics not shown), and after high risk Apr 13, are now also showing moderate to low infection potential through Apr 19.

CAUTION: The observations, conditions, and recommendations reported for Winchester, VA are provided as a guide to fire blight risk assessment only for the immediate area of the Virginia Tech AREC located six miles southwest of Winchester. Use of the information reported here for making orchard management decisions outside of that area is not our intent. Fruit producers outside of that area are encouraged to consult their state extension specialists for information similar to that provided here. Be aware that risk can change quickly with unpredicted warmer temperatures and wetting. In high-risk situations.

This week's fire blight outlook for Winchester and beyond

NOTE: This year for fire blight risk assessment, I will post a graphic from the Cougarblight model as shown on our NEWA site. I will be using the same weather data from our NEWA station to make a comparison to Maryblyt 7 as in previous years, but not posting the MaryBlyt graphic. We thank Dr. Mizuho Nita for hosting the Maryblyt 7.1 download site at: http://grapepathology.org/maryblyt 

CAUTION: The observations, conditions, and recommendations reported for Winchester, VA are provided as a guide to fire blight risk assessment only for the immediate area of the Virginia Tech AREC located six miles southwest of Winchester. Use of the information reported here for making orchard management decisions outside of that area is not our intent. Fruit producers outside of that area are encouraged to consult their state extension specialists for information similar to that provided here.

Graphic from Cougarblight, April 6, 2020. Click to enlarge.

FIRE BLIGHT: Above is the graphic from the Cougarblight model as shown on our NEWA site. We selected orchard blight history option as “Fire blight occurred in your neighborhood last year” and first blossom open date as 3/30/20. Cougarblight shows color-coded risk assessment as “Cougarblight 4-Day DH” risk is low or caution for this week Apr 7-11. The Roanoke area and areas east of the Blue Ridge south of Charlottesville have a potential for infection Apr 7-9 (graphics not shown). Setting the first bloom date to 3/25/20 instead of 3/30/20 did not make any difference in prediction of infection for this week. However, Roanoke and areas south of Charlottesville could have had earlier infection (March 27-31) if the first bloom date had been as early as March 20.

Be aware that risk can change quickly with unpredicted warmer temperatures and wetting. In high-risk situations, a protective streptomycin application is recommended ahead of predicted infection, which occurs with wetting. The fire blight outlook will be updated Apr 13.

Apple scab infection March 27-28; powdery mildew infection Mar 29-30

At Winchester we are seeing mostly pink stage, with a few early blossoms open on Idared and Pink Lady apples. At the AREC we received our first definite apple scab infection period Mar 27-28 with 15 hr wet at 53° with 0.57 in. rain. More than half of the scab ascospores are now mature in the Winchester area. Only a few cedar-apple rust spores were discharged during the recent wetting, but spore horns are now fully mature. Apple powdery mildew spores are available, and infection could have occurred on Mar 29 and 30.

As shown below, a few early apple and crabapple blossoms were open Mar 30. However, with cool temperatures predicted most of the next two weeks, the current fire blight threat is minimal in the Winchester area.

Early bloom on Idared apple, March 30, 2020. Winchester, VA.

Early season apple disease activity

Due to other pressing commitments this year, some of my updates and bud development stages may be delayed. Every orchardist should be aware of ongoing developments in their own orchard and protect or react accordingly.  The updates for the Winchester area are based on the AREC's NEWA weather station as they have been since 2017. This resource and other NEWA stations in Virginia are available publicly, and all growers and advisers should be using them in their disease management decisions. 

Tight cluster stage on Red Delicious at Virginia Tech AREC, Winchester. Note the small mummified blossom next to the developing flower cluster. These and dead twigs are a common source for spores of fruit rot and frogeye leaf spot fungi.

Apple scab outlook: At Winchester on Sunday March 22, we are seeing tight cluster stage on Red Delicious and other advanced cultivars. Because of potential for fruit russet, this stage is too late for application of copper sprays to fresh market fruit, and another protectant fungicide should be used ahead of infection. With green tip set at March 7, the apple scab program on our AREC NEWA station indicates that 17% of the scab ascospores have matured, and many would be ready for a potential infection period with combined wetting over the next several days or later in the week. This is a high level of ascospore maturity for the first infection period of the year and could result in heavy primary infection on the large susceptible target. 

Where there is concern that scab infection may have occurred without any fungicide protection, it would be prudent to mix Vangard (cyprodinil) with a protectant to improve post-infection control. Dodine (Syllit) is another early season option where scab may be the only apple disease of concern up to pink stage. Do not use Syllit after pink stage. 

Expect powdery mildew and rust activity soon in orchards prone to these disease problems. 

For the Roanoke area and areas east of the Blue Ridge, please check NEWA stations in your region, adjust your green tip stage setting and hit 'calculate' to predict scab status in your area. Generally, these areas have higher percent ascospore maturity and had their first infection period last week if green tip was present by March 1. The Gadino Cellars NEWA station in Rappahannock County indicates that scab infection could have occurred as early as March 2-3 if green tip was present by March 1.