1

Issue: 17-08July 7, 2017

In This IssueCrop ConditionsPowdery MildewJapanese Beetles on Grapes and BerriesBrown Marmorated Stink BugsSpotted Wing DrosophilaPre-veraison Canopy Management and FruitThinning in GrapesDetermining Apple MaturityPristine™ appleTiming Retain SpraysControl Of Preharvest Drop with NAAIndiana Hort Society Summer Field DayIn MemoriamUpcoming Events

Crop ConditionsSummer bearing brambles are showing the fullextent of the freeze and frost damage fromearlier this year. Many floricanes are failing toproduce a decent crop. Primocanes are growingwell and are initiating flowers now. Early typesare beginning to bloom. Grape are at bunchclosure with veraison not far away for earlyvarieties. Strawberry renovation should becomplete and new runners plants taking root.

Grapes at bunch closure

Black raspberries with very poor fruit set onfloricanes due to freeze injury.

2

Quachita blackberry at the start of harvest

Early apples almost ready for harvest.Peach harvest will begin soon.

Honeycrisp Apple

Powdery Mildew

Figure 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Since 2012, apple powdery mildew(PM) has beenpart of new normal of apple growing in Indiana.As many of you remember (but would like toforget), 2012 was the year when much of thestate lost the crop due to a late season freeze.This was then followed by one of the driest yearson record. The loss of fruit resulted in manygrowers greatly reducing their fungicideapplications, or using just captan or mancozeb,which, although effective against scab, are noteffective against powdery mildew. This led to abuild-up of PM inoculum, and continuedmanagement issues surrounding this problem.Powdery mildew symptoms can range from thesubtle (Figure 1) to the incredibly obvious (Figure2), and everything in between. As theseHoneycrisp terminal buds break due to excessiverainfall, new growth is very susceptible topowdery mildew. Cover sprays should includeeither Pristine, Merivon or Luna Sensation,Sovran (if the PHI is acceptable), Flint, or a DMIfungicide like Rally, Indar or Topguard. InIndiana, as in many places, the following cultivarsare susceptible: Jonathan, Ida Red, Cortland,Baldwin, Granny Smith, and Mutsu. We arestarting to see an increase of symptoms of PM onHoneycrisp, too. Although no one cares about thefoliage, PM also infects fruit, and can cause arussetting of the skin that some consumers findobjectionable (Figure 3). One of the most effective fungicides against PMis Rally, if resistance is not an issue. Thestrobilurins (Sovran, Flint) or the 7-11s (Merivon,Pristine, Luna Sensation) are also excellentmildewcides. Although too late for this year,

3

sprays to control mildew should begin at tightcluster through about fourth cover. Cold weather in winter (below -11 degrees F) willkill mildew-infected buds, reducing overwinteringinoculum, and may be the only reason to hopefor a cold winter!

Japanese Beetles on Grapesand BerriesRick Foster noted in the previous issue thatJapanese beetles were out. Wow are they ever! Ihaven’t seen them this bad in years. Small fruitgrowers should monitor their crops and controlthe beetles if necessary. Japanese beetles willfeed on ripening fruit of brambles andblueberries, and on foliage of all small fruit andgrapes. Heavy beetle feeding can stunt youngfruit plants that are not yet in production (andnot receiving regular insecticide treatments).Fortunately, Japanese beetles are fairly easy tomanage. Sevin or any of the pyrethroidinsecticides will provide good control. Organicgrowers can spray neem, which acts as arepellent. Several applications may be required.Grape growers should note that Sevin has anextended 6 day Re-Entry Interval (REI) whenshoot positioning, etc. so Assail, Baythroid,Brigade, Danitol, or Mustang Maxx might bebetter options. (Note that the table on page 99 ofthe spray guide is incorrect. Read the label!)

Japanese beetlefeeding on red

raspberryfoliage

Quachitablackberry withminor Japanesebeetle damage

Japanese beetlefeeding onflowers ofprimocane

fruitingblackberry

Japanesebeetles feedingon grape leaves

Brown Marmorated StinkBugsLast year some apple growers reported damagefrom brown marmorated stink bugs, particularlyin the northern counties. BMSB will also attackpeaches and other fruit, as well as a number ofvegetables. Now is the time that growers shouldbe watching for BMSB and its damage. There area number of commercially available traps thatwill help you to detect them. I suggest that youput one or more of these traps in severaldifferent areas of your orchard, depending on the

4

size of your farm. The more spread out yourplantings, the more traps you should put out. Ifyou catch BMSB in your trap, you should begininspecting your trees for either the bugs or signsof their feeding, which is puncture wounds in thefruit. Often, the damage will not be apparent fora couple of weeks after feeding, so the presenceof the bugs in the traps or trees may be thebetter indicator. Some products that have beenfound effective include many of the pyrethroids(Capture, Warrior, Danitol), as well as some ofthe neonicotinoids (Actara, Assail, Belay,Venom/Scorpion) and an older product, Lannate.As I described in my article in the March 30edition of FFF, products like the pyrethroids arelikely to cause European red mite outbreaks as aresult of killing the predators that normally keepthe European red mites under control. However,the potential losses from BMSB and theavailability of a suite of very effective miticidesdemands that growers control BMSB first anddeal with the consequences (mite outbreaks)later if they occur.

Spotted Wing DrosophilaFor those of you who follow me or Peter onTwitter, you know that last week I found SWDlarvae in raspberries at the Meigs Farm nearLafayette. Small fruit growers should be into theirrigorous spray schedules now. If fruit are ripe orripening, growers should be sprayingapproximately every 5 days. The availableinsecticides depend on the crop so check theMidwest Fruit Pest Management Guide for youroptions. It is important to rotate betweendifferent classes of insecticides to avoid thedevelopment of resistance. For conventionalgrowers that might mean a pyrethroid, Delegate,and malathion, for example. For organic growers,the only two choices are pyrethrin and Entrust.When spraying pyrethrin, use the lower end of

the rate range and spray more frequentlybecause pyrethrin has little or no residualactivity. Whatever products you spray with, besure to notice the pre-harvest intervals, whichcan be problematic in some crops.

Pre-veraison CanopyManagement and FruitThinning in GrapesVeraison, the start of the fruit ripening process,signals the final opportunity for effective canopymanagement and fruit thinning in grapes. Onceveraison has started, thinning and canopymanagement are far less effective in improvingoverall fruit quality. Growers should assess theneed for fruit thinning by evaluating clusternumber and size relative to shoot length. Shortshoots should be de-fruited to eliminate inferiorquality fruit. Second crop (summer) clustersshould be removed as they will not ripen with therest of the crop. Canopy management mightconsist of removal of laterals in the fruiting zone,tipping excessively long shoots, and leaf removalto increase sunlight exposure to the fruitingzone. At this time of the year, pressure from fruitrots is minimal but scouting should continue forleaf diseases downy and powdery mildew.

Determining Apple MaturityMaking the decision on when to harvest can be avery tricky and complicated issue. The longer youintend to store the fruit, the more precise yourtiming needs to be. For summer apples, mostgrowers only intend to store fruit until theirbetter quality fall apples come on stream, sostorage times beyond a week or two are not thatcommon. For example, very early season applessuch as Lodi and Pristine should only be stored

5

for a few weeks until Gala harvest begins. Evenfor fall apples, many Indiana growers aim to sellthe majority of their crop immediately to theconsumer, and try to be done by mid Novemberor so. So since storage times are relatively short,harvest maturity is less important than for longerterm storage. This being the case, apples shouldbe harvested when they are fully ripe. This willmaximize their flavor, and although it reducestheir storage potential, this is not too importantfor many direct market growers. There arevarious tests for measuring fruit maturity anddegree of ripeness, but taking a bite out of a fewapples will give a good enough indication for fruitbeing stored for short periods where flavor isimportant but long storage life is not. Obviouslythis also applies to apples intended for U-pick.Bear in mind that even in cold storage, fruitcontinue to ripen, just at a slower rate. Therefore,fruit intended for longer term storage should beharvested when they are less ripe. There is nosingle test that will give you the answer butfactors such as calendar date, heat unitaccumulation, fruit firmness, soluble solidsconcentration, starch content and ethyleneevolution all give answers to a piece of thepuzzle. As you can see, this gets complicatedreal fast. In fact, states with large appleindustries have labs dedicated to performingthese tests and measurements are fed intocomplex mathematical models to determine theoptimum harvest time for fruit for long-termstorage.Beyond the taste test, if you are going to performone test I suggest looking at starch index. As fruitripen, enzymes convert starch in the fruit tosoluble sugars, which explains why fruit becomesweeter as they ripen. This test provides anestimate of how much of the starch in the applehas been converted to sugar. This test is quick,easy, and doesn’t require expensive equipment.

For more details look in Chapter 7 of the TreeFruit Pest Management Handbook, ID-93,available athttp://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id93/id93.htm

Pristine™ appleAlthough PristineTM was selected in 1982, itshistory goes back to the early days of the PRIbreeding program. From an original cross ofRome Beauty with Malus floribunda 821,selections and hybridizations were madeincorporating Golden Delicious, McIntosh,Starking Delicious and Cazumat along the way.The cross that resulted in PristineTM was Coop 10x Cazumat made in 1974 at Rutgers University inNew Jersey, and PristineTM was selected at thePurdue Hort. Farm in 1982.PristineTM is a very early maturing apple usuallyripening in late July in Lafayette. It is veryattractive with a clean finish (see Fig. 2). For suchan early apple, it has very good eating quality,certainly much better than other very earlyapples such as Lodi or Transparent. The textureis crisp and flavor has a good acid/sugar balance.If fruit are allowed to become over-mature, pre-harvest drop can be severe, but with timelypickings this should be a minimal problem. Fruitstores well for up to a month or so, but usuallygrowers will probably only store the fruit untilbetter quality, main season fruit comes along,such as Gala. PristineTM has good field resistanceto apple scab, and seems to have quite lowsusceptibility to fireblight and powdery mildew.Russet and skin disorders are rare, but bruisingcan be severe so careful handling is required.For direct marketers, PristineTM may be a verygood way to kick off the apple season, or totransition from peaches into apples. But onlygrow them in such quantities that you can have

6

them sold by the time main-season apples areready.

Timing Retain SpraysReTain (AVG) is a plant growth regulator thatblocks the production of ethylene. When ReTainis applied to apple, several ripening processesare slowed, including preharvest drop, fruit fleshsoftening, starch disappearance, and red colorformation.In order for ReTain to be effective it must beapplied well in advance of the climacteric rise inethylene production that signals the onset of fruitmaturity. If applied too early the effects maywear off prematurely. If applied too late, asignificant portion of the crop may not beresponsive to AVG, having already begun toproduce autocatalytic ethylene. A second reasonfor avoiding late applications of ReTain is the 21day preharvest interval (PHI), which, combinedwith a late spray date could result in anundesirable delay in harvest.The label recommends applying ReTain fourweeks before anticipated harvest (WBH). This hassometimes caused confusion, as the grower istiming the spray relative to some future,unknown date. A more scientific basis for timingwould be to state that ReTain should be appliedfour weeks before the natural climacteric rise infruit ethylene, but this is still a future event withan element of uncertainty. The good news is thatthere is a fairly wide window when ReTain can beapplied with optimal results, and a fairly easyway to determine when to apply it.The best application window for ReTain is about10 days wide and centered on the 4 WBH date.For early season varieties, such as Gala andMcIntosh, start by estimating when you wouldnormally expect to begin harvesting the variety ifno ReTain or ethephon (Ethrel, Ethephon II) were

used. Now take into consideration the season.Adjust the anticipated harvest date according tohow early or late you estimate the season is,then count back four weeks on the calendar. Nowmark the calendar from that date through thenext seven days. This is your application windowfor that early season variety.Watch for good spray conditions with at least sixhours drying time within that week and apply thematerial at the first opportunity. Congratulations!Your ReTain is on at the right time.Now mark your calendar for 21 days after thespray was applied. This is the PHI, as required bythe label. You can’t legally harvest before thisdate.Repeat the same thought process for latervarieties, but keep in mind that later varieties areusually less affected by seasonal variation inmaturity than stone fruits or early applevarieties. It is usually unnecessary to account forseasonal variation in fruit maturity for Empireand later varieties. (Dr. Jim Schupp, The FruitTimes, Penn. State University)

Control Of Preharvest Dropwith NAAPreharvest drop refers to the process where fruitfall from the tree prior to harvest. Not all applevarieties are affected, but with some, such asMcIntosh and Pristine, pre-harvest drop can beextreme. Several growth regulator materials areavailable to growers to help reduce pre-harvestdrop. These materials are often referred to as“stop-drop” or “sticker” sprays. The traditionalmaterial used to help prevent pre-harvest dropon apples is NAA (Fruitone N), a synthetic auxin.Other synthetic auxins you may have heard ofinclude 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. Of course you alsoknow Fruitone N as a chemical thinner. Early inthe season NAA knocks fruit off the tree and later

7

towards harvest it sticks them on. This highlightsthe importance of timing when using plantgrowth regulators.Another newer stop drop material is ReTain (seearticles by Schupp and Schwallier in this issue).Although both NAA and ReTain can reducepreharvest drop, they do this in different ways.ReTain delays apple maturity whereas NAA doesnot delay maturity (and may even hasten it) butjust reduces the fruit dropping. As Dr Schupphighlights in his article, ReTain must be appliedwell ahead of the anticipated harvest date so aconsiderable amount of planning is required. NAA on the other hand needs to be applied justbefore apples start dropping, so in this regardcan be viewed as a rescue treatment.Once NAA is applied it takes about 3 days for theactivity to kick in. After that you can expectabout 7 days of drop control. Rates of 10-20ppm are usually effective, but knowing exactlywhen to apply it can be tricky. If the applicationis made too soon, the effect may wear off beforeharvest is complete. If the NAA is applied toolate, then too many apples will have dropped onthe ground before the NAA starts having aneffect. Wait until you start to see a few applesdrop, and perhaps assist this by bumping a fewbranches and seeing if any apples drop. Then it’stime to apply the NAA. Longer stop-drop controlcan be obtained with a split application, 10 ppmapplied 7-14 days apart. NAA works best whenapplied in slow drying conditions and whentemperatures are warm (70-75F). Bearing this inmind, many growers apply their stop drop spraysearly in the morning when there may be somedew on the trees and when temperatures arerising. Be aware that high rates of NAA (20 ppm)can advance fruit maturity.NAA can be tank mixed and is compatible with awide range of products. Always conduct a smalltest before mixing NAA with materials you

haven’t tried previously. Apply in enough waterto ensure good coverage.

Indiana Hort Society SummerField DayApproximately 80 fruit and vegetable growersattended the Society’s summer field day lastweek hosted by Tuttle Orchards in Greenfield.Thanks go to Ruth-Ann, Thomas, Mike and Helenand all the Roney family and crew who made thisevent such a success. Those attending also hadthe opportunity to pause for a moment toremember and farewell a number of outstandinggrowers who have passed recently, including ofcourse Tom Roney of Tuttle Orchards.All who attended were treated to seeing one ofthe best diversified fruit, vegetable andgreenhouse agritourism operations in the state.The next meeting of the Indiana Hort. Society willbe at the Hort. Congress, Feb. 13-15, 2018 at theIndianapolis Marriott East Hotel. As details cometo hand, they will be posted at the IHC website:https://inhortcongress.org

In MemoriamShirley Reisner JanickIt is with great sadness we report the passing ofShirley Janick. Shirley was the wife of Dr JulesJanick for almost 65 years. Shirley was born onAugust 11, 1932, in New York City, the eldest ofthree daughters and lived in Israel in her earlyyears. She attended the New York’s prestigiousHigh School of Music and Art in 1950 as a voiceand piano student, was a student at BrooklynCollege and Hunter College, and graduated fromPurdue University in 1953 in speech andaudiology.She married the love of her life, Jules Janick, in1952, nearly 65 years ago. She was the proud

8

mother of Peter Aaron Janick (wife Beth), ofOkemos, Michigan, and Robin Janick Weinberger(husband Alan), of Alton, Illinois, and adored herfour grandsons, Noah (wife Annalise) and LeeWeinberger, and Nathan and Aaron Janick. She issurvived by two sisters, Rachel Seldin andBernice Kosowsky, and many nieces andnephews.Shirley sang in the Bach Chorale, and served formany years as secretary to the Board of TempleIsrael. She traveled widely with her husbandJules, and lived in Hawaii, Brazil, Italy, andEngland. Shirley was a lover of chamber musicand opera and was a voracious reader, especiallyfond of the works of Jane Austin and AnthonyTrollope. Devoted to her family, Shirley was aloyal friend and confidant, beloved by all whoknew her; she had an indomitable spirit and akind and generous heart. She will be missed.The Hort Society sent flowers and I know allgrowers will join me in expressing our heartfeltcondolences to Dr Janick.John Milton BeasleyJohn Beasley, 68, of Danville, passed away onJune 9, 2017. John was born on Dec. 4, 1948 inIndianapolis to Milton L. and Helen Irene (Scott)Beasley. He was a 1966 graduate of DanvilleHigh School. John Married Debra Derrickson in1983; she survives.He was a farmer and owner of Beasley Orchardsin Danville, which was established in 1946. Johnwas a member of St. Augustine Episcopal Churchin Danville, as well as the Indiana HorticultureSociety and the Fruit and Vegetable GrowersAssociations. He served his country in the U. S.Navy during the Vietnam War. Surviving with hiswife, “Debbie” are his son, Calvin Beasley ofPlainfield; step-children, Lyra (Adam) Baitis ofPlainfield, Seth (Jill) Aichinger of Battleground;granddaughters, Gloria, Maya, Bryn and Faye;

and a sister, Shirley Walters of Danville.A memorial celebration of John’s life will be heldon Wednesday, June 14th, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. atSt. Augustine Epsicopal Church with visitationthere from 9:30 a.m. until the time of service.Burial of his cremains will take place in St.Augustine Episcopal Gardens at a later date. Inlieu of flowers, contributions may be given to thechurch, and/or The Michael J. Fox Foundation.John was well known to growers around the stateas a quiet and thoughtful person. He was alongtime faithful member of the statewidefruiting fraternity and will be sorely missed bygrowers around the state. On behalf of allgrowers we offer our condolences to Debbie andthe Beasley family and our thoughts are withthem.

Upcoming EventsMeigs High Tunnel Field DayJuly 18, 201710am-1pm Lunch provided!Meigs Horticulture Research Farm9101 S 100 E Lafayette, INFor more information contact Lori Jolly-Brown atljollybr@purdue.edu, 765-494-1296Indiana Winery and Vineyard AssociationSummer Meeting and Vineyard TourJuly 18-19, 2017Brown County Inn, Nashville INButler Winery vineyard tourContact Eric Harris of Two-EEs Winery for moredetails. eric@twoees.comIndiana Horticultural CongressFebruary 13-15, 2018Indianapolis Marriott EastIndianapolis, INFor further information contact Lori Jolly-Brown@ljollybr@purdue.edu or visitwww.inhortcongress.org for more details.

9

It is the policy of the Purdue University that all persons have equal opportunity and access to its educational programs, services, activities, and facilitieswithout regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, disability or status as aveteran. Purdue is an Affirmative Action Institution. This material may be available in alternative formats. 1-888-EXT-INFO Disclaimer: Reference toproducts in this publication is not intended to be an endorsement to the exclusion of others which may have similar uses. Any person using productslisted in this publication assumes full responsibility for their use in accordance with current directions of the manufacturer.

Facts for Fancy Fruit © Purdue University - fff.hort.purdue.eduEditor: Peter M Hirst | Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, 625 Agriculture Mall

Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47907 | (765) 494-1323