John’s Updates
1. With the warm weather the past few days, tree phenology has changed considerably. (A grower in Walworth County has trees that are starting to bloom.)
2. We are now in the heart of scab season.
3. John has found European red mite nymphs, oblique banded leaf rollers, flower thrips, and rosy apple aphids.
4. OFM traps should be out
(The following two updates from John came after the conference call was over:)
5. As soon as your blossoms open, begin running your fire blight model.
6. It is not too late to reduce scab pressure by managing leaf litter. Mowing, chopping, stirring, or covering the leaves with grass clippings will help.
Conversation Topics
1. Resistance management and SI’s
2. Checking for scab lesions on opening leaves
3. Powdery mildew: when to look for, best materials for
4. Indar vs. Nova for scab
5. Using products other than SI’s for sooty blotch/fly speck
6. Weather forecasting: NOAA, others?*
7. Bees: hives/acre, providing bees with early spring forage, common prices for hives
8. Problems with and alternatives to Calcium Chloride
9. When to use/not use non-ionic surfactants
10. Checking for rosy apple aphid and oblique banded leaf roller
11. Reducing oil concentrations in late spring sprays
If you would like to hear the call recording, dial (641) 715-3436, then enter the access code: 516817. You will be able to hear the recording on the telephone until it is replaced by the next week’s call. You can also hear this recording anytime by downloading the audio file below.
* John would like to know what weather sites/services growers find most useful. To help John out with this, send him an e-mail at and let him know where you go for weather info.
May 6 IPM Conference Call Summary
