Hello, everyone
We are in the middle of May, but the last two days
have brought summer temperatures to the region. The heat will accelerate blueberry growth, particularly in crop fields with early flowers and open blooms. Everything is developing quickly this time of year, so besides Monilinia Blight (Mummy Berry) and herbicide applications,
there will be more to discuss, including upcoming blight concerns on Blossoms
and pollination.
The GDD accumulation was updated from April 1 to May
14 (Figure 2 and Table 1). Many production regions are fast approaching 300
GDD, and these areas will soon require bee pollination services. During the
bloom period, daily weather conditions can significantly impact the development
speed of blooms. This is an ideal time to consult with your bee suppliers and
arrange your placement schedules. According to our records, users are
recommended to add 10-15 GDD to each calendar day for the next two to three
weeks. This allows you to predict your local station’s accumulation GDDS and bloom
percentages.
Crop fields
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There are still risks of Monilinia Blight
infection in crop fields in Cape Breton, Antigonish, Pictou, Guysborough,
and in late fields in other Mainland areas, particularly if these fields
have not yet produced any early flowers. For those fields, applying a fungicide (Proline or Soratel) is still economical, especially in fields without any
fungicide application this spring.
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For most crop fields in Cumberland
and Colchester, there is no need to apply Monilinia Blight spray
(Proline or Soratel). However, an early Botrytis Blossom Blight spray may be
necessary for wet and coastal fields with early blooms and heavy sheep sorrel and goldenrod infestations. Botrytis might not be a common concern for all,
but pollination certainly is. Both counties will soon enter the blueberry bloom
and pollination, mid to late next week.
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For other early fields with open flowers,
there is no concern about Monilinia blight; however, Botrytis could pose a
considerable risk to those early fields due to early blooming and suitable
conditions. For crop fields in those regions, additional pollination support
from bumblebees and honeybees is needed this week or after the long weekend.
Some early fields in Rawdon had bumble bee boxes placed this week.
Figure
1. Wild Blueberry Bloom Stages (UMaine)
Wild Blueberry Weather Station GDD and Crop Stage Updates
We have selected the following 19 weather stations to report
their seasonal Growing Degree Days (GDD) accumulations. Please compare the
cumulative GDD from your weather station with local GDD recommendations on wild
blueberry crop stages: https://www.novascotiawildblueberryblog.com/p/phenology-tracker.html.
Figure
2. Selected Wild Blueberry Weather Stations and GDD Updates (April 1- May 14)
Table 1. Wild Blueberry Weather Stations and GDD Updates
(April 1- May 14)
