We are seeing very variable field development across the region. Generally speaking, fields that have had severe winter injury appear to be developing slower than fields that escaped without a lot of damage. It is important to check your fields now, to not only determine the severity of injury on your fields but to determine how developed your fruit and vegetative buds are.
As of yesterday, our first active apothecia cup was noticed. So if there is a wet period of significant length spores will be released. However, it does not make economic sense to treat fields that are less than the 40% F2 V2 stages.
Below is a report of fields and regions across Nova Scotia:
East Kemp - 33% F2
Queen's County - 40% F2
Musquodoboit - 8-20% F2
Benvie Hill - 14-22% F2
Stewart Hill - 16% F2
Camden - 17% F2
Oxford (wood field) - 22.5% F2
Mt. Pleasant (Smith) - 21% F2
Amherst - 11-14% F2
Athol - 11.8 - 20.5% F2
South Hampton - 14-20% F2
Rose Corner - 17.8% F2
Westchester - 10-20.5% F2
Average bud counts are lower than in previous years, with numbers of viable buds ranging from 2-6 in many fields.
We are seeing some winter damage in almost every field, but damage is quite variable from field to field. A note to consider, a field with good plant density and an average bud count of 4 can still get a good yield, if disease protection and pollination are looked after.
There is a forecasted rainfall event for Friday night and through noon on Saturday, however, most fields are not at a stage that would warrant a treatment this weekend.
There could be a rainfall event on Tuesday, given the forecasted temperatures, plant development could push many areas beyond the 40% F2 stage by then. I expect we will need to begin treating for monilinia next week.
The next update will be late in the afternoon on Tuesday, May 7th.
