It was certainly cold last night but I'm not sure we had a severe enough frost to do any amount of damage last night. That being said, there could have been some pockets that did receive below zero temperatures. Generally speaking temperatures need to be below -2 degrees C for an extended period of time to get significant damage to the flower.
Bloom is moving along nicely with good anticipated pollination weather for both today and tomorrow. The weather forecast is calling for wet conditions Wednesday evening through Thursday. For those who have not treated for Botrytis yet, and are typically prone to botrytis infections, they should strongly consider making an application prior to the coming wet period.
If your bees are in the field, try to make the application when the bees are not flying (ie. in the evening or early morning) to minimize contact with pollinators.
I have yet to see any Botrytis symptoms showing up in the field, but we are still early in bloom. I have seen a fair amount of Monilina infections, particularly on vegetative buds.
I will continue to make regular updates through the summer on this blog, but will make less regular updates on the blight line (662-4242) as we move through the summer.
