FIRE BLIGHT: Above is a cropped graphic from the Maryblyt 7 program. Most apple cultivars at our AREC are near full bloom, but with delayed blossoms continuing to open over the next several days. Later cultivars such as Rome Beauty are just starting to bloom. This prediction is for trees with first bloom open Monday, April 20, 2014. The temperature and rainfall data are current through this morning, April 28. Predicted weather conditions are shown for April 28-May 7. 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). Based on predicted temperatures and wetting, the risk column shows that fire blight infection will be high for Apr 30-May 1. If the temperatures were five degrees warmer for those two days, infection would be predicted for May 1. Following the higher risk for Apr 30-May 1, the current forecast with cooler predicted temperatures holds the risk at a low to moderate rating through May 7.
This graphic will be updated April 30. The weather conditions used in the predictive part of this graphic come from the Weather Channel for Winchester, supplemented by site-specific data from SkyBit Inc.
