Considering the lack of rainfall the past three months, Irene's effects in the vicinity of our AREC were mostly beneficial; we received 1.2 inches of rain. The longest continuous wetting period during the weekend was 12 hr, but there were numerous showers earlier, all with temperatures in the 70s, and favorable for rot development. In spite of earlier drought, we have been seeing a lot of bitter rot in our fungicide test plots, a caution to commercial processing orchards with light fungicide programs.
Last week's total for wetting hours was 34, giving us 542 accumulated wetting hours for the season.
Strong winds resulted in some fruit drop of cultivars that won't be ripe for a month, but it was interesting to note that ripening Gala apples, treated with Fruitone (NAA "stop-drop") on Aug 15, held on nicely.
Disease management information directed mostly to the Frederick County Virginia tree fruit industry, updated as needed throughout the growing season. Keith Yoder, Virginia Tech Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Winchester, Virginia
About Me
- Keith Yoder
- Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology, Virginia Tech Ag. Research and Extension Center, Winchester, VA
