This is our 7th Monilinia update for this
year. This will be the last Monilinia update for 2021. I will continue to give
updates about field conditions, management and events happening related to wild
blueberry production.
You should be starting to see symptoms in the field if
there were infections in the past three weeks and you didn’t have blight spray
or the timing of spraying was off. I observed Monilinia blight symptoms this
week in several locations. Symptoms of Monilinia infection are the infected
leaves turn brown starting at the base of the leaf where the stem is attached
and the entire leaf becomes dark brown and collapses. The blossoms turn brown but
are attached to the plant. You would see the disease is patchy in a field. Here
are some photos I took this week to show what they look like and please take a
look at your field and if you observe any symptoms or serious infection, please
let me know (902-890-0472).
In most fields I visited and monitored, the bloom is
ranging from 20-50%. It is the time to put out hives for pollination and also an
ideal time to consider a first Botrytis application. When weather conditions
are wet and warm, it can result in significant infections, particularly in the
coastal area and fields that have regular fog and wet periods.
I will give more updates throughout the summer!