Sooty blotch symptoms; extended wetting for fruit rots July 3-4.

Last week July 3-4 we had another extended wetting period: 9 hr with 0.6 in. of rain with a mean 71°. This wetting period was favorable for rots.

As of Monday morning, July 7, we had accumulated 270 wetting hours since May 18, well beyond the 250-hour threshold for specific treatment against the sooty blotch/flyspeck (SBFS) fungal complex at our usual AREC monitoring site at elevation 950 ft. But at the 910 ft. elevation we have recorded 372 CWH and early sooty blotch symptoms (signs of the fungi) are now visible.  

Orchards at lower elevations in Nelson County (Tyro area) have also exceeded the 250-wetting hour threshold for presence of the SBFS organisms on unprotected fruit. Scout your lower orchard areas regularly for onset of SBFS appearance and adjust your fungicide program accordingly.