Maine Wild Blueberries

Maine Wild Blueberries Is Moving!

2012-12-04T14:50:00.000-05:00

The Maine Wild Blueberries blog is moving. Visit Cooperative Extension: Maine's Native Wild Blueberries to view mummyberry and insect updates, or subscribe to the Wild Blueberry Blog RSS feed. Past posts from this blog will be archived at the new location.

WBANA' s "Wild About Health" Blog

2012-11-28T10:48:00.000-05:00

Please be sure to check out WBANA's "WILD ABOUT HEALTH" blog where you will find many delicious wild blueberry recipes, videos and articles.

To get started go to www.wildblueberryhealthblog.com.

WILD BEE POLLINATORS: THE GENUS Andrena

2012-10-25T14:40:00.000-04:00

In May and June of 2010 and 2011, I collected wild bees from 24 blueberry fields in Hancock County in the towns of Orland, Penobscot, Sedgwick and Blue Hill. By "wild" bees I mean any bee that is not a honeybee or a commercial bumblebee. Most of the wild bees are native, occurring naturally in Maine, but a few are not native and have been brought here by humans at some point in time. The wild bees are generally small- the size of a honeybee or less. The wild bees are mostly solitary, living individually or maybe in aggregations, but never forming the large colonies seen with honeybees. Naturally occurring bumblebees are wild, and they live in fairly large, social colonies, but I did not collect bumblebees. In the spring the only bumblebees that are out in the blueberry fields are the queens that are foraging for nectar and pollen before starting to lay eggs. If I collect a queen, I prevent the founding of an entire large colony of bumblebees. I did not want to do this, so I avoided collecting bumblebees whenever possible.

I used two methods of capture. The first method involved placing small, colored cups filled with soapy water in the fields for 24-48 hours. This method catches anything attracted to the cup, including plenty of insects that are not bees (and unfortunately slugs like the cups as well). Many of the bees I've caught have come from these cup traps, but just because I catch a bee in a blueberry field doesn't mean that that bee pollinates blueberry flowers. So, I also caught individual bees found foraging on blueberry flowers. From these bees I have made a list of possible wild bee blueberry pollinators.

A field assistant shows how to hand-catch bees on blueberry flowers- taken in Addison ME, 2012.

This list includes 223 individual bees from 34 species caught on blueberry flowers. More than half of these 223 bees come from only three species:

Andrena carlini

Andrena vicina

Andrena carolina

The Andrena are ground-nesting bees. The adults dig a main burrow and create lateral burrows for the cells. They coat the walls of the cells with a waterproof lining to protect the eggs and larvae. In each cell they place a food mass (mostly pollen, but some nectar drops might be included) and one egg. The pollen is the food for the growing larva and sustains the bee until it reaches adulthood. Almost all Andrena overwinter in their cells as adults. Most Andrena make individual nests and don't share entrances with other adults. They may place their nests near others. I have seen this in one blueberry field that had a southern-facing, sandy slope. Early in May when the blueberry flowers were just opening but no leaves were out, I came upon an aggregation of Andrena nests on this slope.

Below is a bee at the entrance to a nest. It is not one of the three species listed above, but it is a similar size. The bee is about 3/4 an inch long and the hole not much more than 1/2 inch in diameter. This nest was located in a small, sandy bare patch in the middle of the blueberry field.

These three species of Andrena might be quite important for blueberry pollination. In general, in 2011, in the fields where I caught the greater number of the Andrenid bees, the fruit set also was higher.

Blueberry Flamer Demonstration

2012-10-16T16:22:00.000-04:00

Steve Koch, Director of Agriculture Division of Flame Engineering, Inc., demonstrated a propane burner that can be used both to prune and sanitize your fields for insects and disease at the Blueberry Hill Farm in Jonesboro on Tuesday, October 2, 2012. The machine has been used to kill potato tops, but he demonstrated its use to prune wild blueberries (see http://www.flameengineering.com/Potato_Vine_Flamers.html).

The flamer uses both vaporized and liquid propane gas to produce a flame of 2050 degrees F. It has a 250 gallon propane tank with 8 nozzles that burn a 10-foot swath. The cost of the unit delivered is about $12,000, but would be less if multiple orders were made. They have kits that will cover 6’ at $2700.00 and the flamer can be constructed to cover up to a 65’ width.

The local distributor will be No Frills Oil Company in Hancock, Maine. For more information, please contact Bill Birdsall at 422-3581.

15 growers attended the demonstration where the flamer did an excellent job despite the moist condition's from the previous day's 4.5 inch rainfall..

Bumblebee disease and diversity

2012-09-18T13:40:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Pollinator Posts!

Posted by Sara Bushmann, University of Maine

On these web pages I'll provide updates on some of the pollinator research projects being conducted in (mostly) Hancock and Washington Counties. Look for two more posts this year on or around Oct. 15 and Nov.15, and then again in April and May for updates on pollinator activity in the spring.

DISEASE IN MAINE BUMBLEBEES AND THE USE OF COMMERCIAL BUMBLEBEES (Part One)

(I gave a quick report of this study at the Blueberry Hill Farm Day gathering in July, 2012.)

This project sprang out of concerns voiced by bee researchers throughout Europe and North America that some bumblebee species are declining. Some of the ideas as to why there are declines include habitat loss, pesticide exposure, and disease. But one suggestion particularly relevant to Maine blueberry agriculture is the idea that commercial bumblebees of the species Bombus impatiens (usually purchased in Maine from Koppert Biological Systems) are transmitting diseases to the wild bees. The suggestion is grounded on the concern that lab-reared bees could build up virulent strains of pathogens that they pass to other bees when they infect a shared resource such as a flower.

I decided to look at one pathogen, Nosema bombi, that infects bumblebees. This pathogen is of the group Microsporidia that are highly modified forms of fungi. In bees, these are parasites of the gut tract.

I asked these questions:

1. What is the prevalence of Nosema bombi infections in wild bumblebees in Maine blueberry fields?

2. Is the prevalence higher in areas where commercial bumblebees have been used?

Over two years I dissected 767 bumblebees caught in and around 25 blueberry fields. I found a total of 42 bees infected with Nosema, which means 5.47% of the wild bumblebees- a little less than six out of every 100- are infected. I looked at several factors that might explain why the infection occurred where it did. I looked at pruning methods, pesticide use or non-use, types of pesticides, field size, rotational stage (fruit-bearing year or not), and whether or not the field ever used commercial bumblebees for pollination.

None of these things offered an explanation for the occurrence of the disease. According to other studies from other researchers, it is not out of the ordinary to see about 5% of the population infected with Nosema. So, based on my study, I cannot support the suggestion that commercial bumblebees have passed the disease agent Nosema to wild bumblebees.

___________________________

DISEASE IN MAINE BUMBLEBEES AND THE USE OF COMMERCIAL BUMBLEBEES (Part Two)

I did not find evidence of commercial bees transmitting Nosema to wild bumblebees. However, I did find that disease occurrence is not the same for the different species of bumblebees. One bumblebee that used to be common in Maine blueberry fields, Bombus terricola, is in serious decline throughout its range, which includes the northern US westward to the Plains. In a nationwide study this bee was associated with high levels of Nosema bombi.

In my study I caught 13 B. terricola in three years and 6 of these (almost half) were infected! Compared to all the other species of bees, that is a huge percentage of infected bees.

I knew that B. terricola used to be common in Maine fields. So, I decided to see how bumblebee species in blueberry fields have changed over several years.

I found that B. terricola has greatly declined in abundance in blueberry fields, but that B. impatiens and B. ternarius have increased. Bombus vagans has remained a common bumblebee in blueberry fields since the 60's. But, again, only B. terricola shows a high prevalence of Nosema infection.

(The data from the 1990's is provided by Frank Drummond, and the data from the 1960's is from Boulanger et al. 1967, University of Maine Technical Bulletin No. 26 which is available online.)

The increase of B. impatiens could mean that commercial colonies produce queens that overwinter and add to the wild populations.

I have found five other bumblebee species in blueberry fields, all of which occur in 10% or less of the population.

Bombus griseocolis

Bombus fervidus

Bombus borealis

Bombus perplexus

Bombus bimaculatus

For more information about commercial and wild bumblebees in Maine blueberry production, please see Maine Cooperative Extension Fact Sheets no. 302 and 630.

_____________________________________

URGENT: Spotted Wing Drosophila Update

2012-08-13T15:31:00.002-04:00

The state of Maine has secured a Section 18 “Crisis Exemption” registration for a higher rate of Malathion 8Fl that is more effective for the SWD than the lower rate on the existing label. This higher rate is in EFFECT on August 13 and only lasts for 15 days (August 13-28). If you decide to use this material at the higher rate very strict reporting is required by the US EPA. The forms for reporting can be acquired from the Maine Board of Pesticide Control.

Last week (Aug 10) spotted wing drosophila (SWD) showed up in a few more blueberry fields. We have found adult male flies in traps in TWO fields in Franklin (Hancock Co.), one field in Surrey, two fields in Ellsworth, one field in Harrington, and one field in Jonesboro. I (Frank Drummond) have also confirmed trapping of adult flies from several fields in Deblois (Washington Co.). Thirty wild blueberry fields are being monitored by the Maine Dept. of Agriculture and the University of Maine and many additional fields are being monitored by growers and so far the picture is that SWD appears very spotty across our blueberry growing areas. But, please be vigilant and continue to trap for SWD in fields that you have not harvested yet.

What to do if you do find flies? Well, there are several approaches, NONE of which are based upon experimental evidence from wild blueberry research in Maine.

Conservative and most safe approach: as soon as 1 fly is trapped and confirmed apply a suitable insecticide at an interval that reflects the average persistance of kill (residual in table) of the material (see list of insecticides below).

Liberal approach: Coninue to trap after you catch your first fly and when fly numbers START to increase from 1 fly in a trap to 3, 5, 10, etc., then consider applying an insecticide.

Whatever strategy you pick, consider the following before applying an insecticide:

1. If you sell to a processor, check with them to see what material can be used.

2. Make sure that the PHI for the material that you choose is in accordance with your harvest schedule.

3. A PLANNED harvest 1-2 days after a confirmed trap capture may allow you to harvest the crop withpout making an application if you feel that you can get the berries out of the field immediately.

Currently Available Products for SWD Control:
(Click here to enlarge table)

Chemical Class	Active Ingredient	Trade Name	PHI	Days of Residual	Comments	MRL for Canada (Yes/No)
Organophosphate	malathion	Malathion	1	5-7		Yes
	phosmet	Imidan	3	7	Long PHI	Yes
Pyrethroid	zeta-cypermethrin	Mustang-Max	1	7		No
	bifenthrin	Brigade	1	7		No
	zeta-cypermethrin+ bifenthrin	Hero	1	7		No
	esfenvalerate	Asana	14	7	Very long PHI	No
	fenpropathrin	Danitol	3	7	Long PHI	Yes
Carbamate	methomyl	Lannate	3	3-5	Short lives, long PHI	Yes
	carbaryl	Sevin	7	5-7	Long PHI, Not as effective as others	Yes
Spinosyn	spinetoram	Delegate	3	7	Long PHI	Yes
	spinosad	Entrust	3	3-5	Short lived, Long PHI	Yes
Pyrethrum	pyrethrum	Pyganic	0.5	2-3	Very short lived	Yes

Posted by Frank Drummond

Spotted Wing Drosophila Alert

2012-07-31T11:58:00.000-04:00

Dear Blueberry Growers,

Many of you have started harvesting. The spotted wing drosophila has been found strawberry and raspberry fields in southern Maine so far, especially in the vicinity of Warren, where one trap in a strawberry field contained 98 SWD flies.

We are trapping 30 blueberry fields and found 1 SWD fly in a trap in a Franklin blueberry field, in the forest edge.

So, please be vigilant and keep trapping for this potentially devastating pest. I will provide an update when we trap more flies.

Frank Drummond

Time to put out your mummy berry plots for next year

2012-07-24T16:04:00.000-04:00

This is a good time to collect mummy berries from your plants to put out in mummy berry plots for next year. The mummy berries are easy to see before harvest since they are grey and shriveled compared to the plump ripening blueberries. The clones vary in the number of mummy berries they produce so you may need to look at a few places in your field for enough mummy berries for your plots. You will need about 50 mummy berries (up to a 100) per plot. Please see below for instructions on how to put mummy berry plots.

We are looking for growers who are willing to check their mummy berry plots twice a week and report to me on the development of the mummy berry cups. We want to place our weather stations in fields with monitored mummy berry plots next year. Please let me know if you would be willing to put out a mummy berry plot and have a weather station in your field.

If you are willing to have a weather stations and monitor plots, but do not have the experience or time to put out mummy berry plots, we can come to your field and collect mummy berries and set up the plots for you.

Please contact Seanna Annis at 207-581-2621 or via email at sannis@maine.edu if you are willing to be a monitor of mummy berry next year OR have any questions.

How to put out Mummy berry plots

1. Collect about 150 mummy berries (50 for each mummy berry plot) from your crop field(s) near harvest (or from the process line or winnow piles if you have them). The mummy berries will be whitish grey and smaller than the berries and will have dropped onto the surface of the leaf litter, or may still be in amongst clusters of healthy berries on stems. Often clones produce different amount of mummy berries, so if there are no mummy berries in one spot, try another area in your field. Often there are more mummy berries at the edges of fields.

2. In next year’s crop field, choose 3 areas within your blueberry field. I suggest 3 areas because each year at least one of our plots has not worked in a field. Each area should be about 3” by 3” that is clear of stems but amongst the plants. Choose areas that look like they have damp soil most of the time AND will be easy for you to access next spring. These areas do not need to be widely spread around the field, 5 to 10 ft between each one will be fine. If you have different exposures, soil types or large shaded areas in your field you may want to place your mummy berry plots around your field to get the full range of when the mummy berries develop. The areas should not be on slopes where the mummy berries will be washed away, in hollows where they will be water-logged or in areas with lots of frost-heaves.

3. In each 3" by 3" area, clear off the leaf litter to one side and scrape off about ¼” of hard packed soil and put aside. Place about 50 mummy berries on the surface of the soil and press the mummy berries firmly into the soil (with your fingers or step on them). The mummy berries need to be buried in soil but not more than ½” deep at most. Cover the mummy berries with a small amount of dirt (1/4”) on top and press them firmly down again. You should NOT be able to see the mummy berries. Replace the leaf litter over the mummy berries to provide protection over the winter.

4. VERY IMPORTANT: STAKE or flag the plots on either side so you can locate them in the spring. Two stakes or flags makes it much easier to figure out where to look in the spring.

Questions: Contact Seanna Annis at 207-581-2621 or sannis@maine.edu

Symptoms you may currently be seeing in your field

2012-06-01T13:34:00.000-04:00

There are a number of different problems you may be seeing symptoms of in your crop field. Please see below for some pictures of common problems at this time of the year.

FROST DAMAGE

-All flower clusters on stem typically are affected

- Closed flowers not affected as much

- Leaves can be damaged, but typically only tender tissue (right picture)

Key symptom: Often all flower clusters on a stem are affected

MUMMY BERRY BLIGHT

-Only some flower and some leaf clusters on stem typically are infected. Some very susceptible clones may have stems with all of the leaves and flowers affected.

- Open and closed flowers will show symptoms

- Only some leaves will be infected, look dead and have the typical "crook" shape

- Key Symptom – Gray powdery spores (in yellow circles) at base of affected flowers and leaves

BOTRYTIS BLOSSOM BLIGHT

- Only some flower clusters on a stem will be affected

- Mostly affects almost open and open flowers

- Leaves can also show disease symptoms, but very rarely and usually when touched by infected flowers.

- Key Symptom – black hairs, some with gray tips, (in yellow circles) extend off of infected flowers and leaves

RED LEAF DISEASE

- Starts to be visible in crop fields by early bloom, later in June in prune fields. Isolated patches of stems are affected. Leavers are bright red (sometimes not the whole leaf), and leaf may be slightly thickened.

- About the end of June, white spores are produced on the underside of infected leaves.

- Key Symptom – Bright red leaves, with color not just at tips of leaf. Slightly thickened leaves, late4r white underside of affected leaves.

If you have any questions please contact me at Seanna Annis, at sannis@maine.edu.

Mummy berry forecast Friday May 18th, 2012

2012-05-18T17:33:00.002-04:00

Hancock and Washington Counties

Mummy berry season appears to be finished in most areas finally. This has been one of the longest seasons of mummy berry cups in the last 5 years.

From Tuesday May 15th, dried up cups with no mature cups were seen in Ellsworth, Silsby Plain (Aurora), Deblois, in multiple fields in the barrens, Wesley, and Jonesboro. We had numerous infection periods this week as the cups were finishing up. There would have been fewer mummy berry cups shooting spores in this past week, which should decrease the chance of infection.

We had cooler temperatures Thursday night, but none of the monitored fields dropped below 28 F which is the estimated temperature tolerance for fully open flowers.

Next year, I hope to have more growers tracking mummy berry plots and to have the forecast out earlier in the day with improved weather data analysis.

The weather stations will stay in place for the season and their data is available at the following website:
Maine Blueberry weather stations

Listed below is the start times of the infection periods in our monitored fields.

Site Monitored	Start of infection periods
N. Ellsworth	14-May	3:00 AM
	15-May	10:40 PM
	16-May	7:20 PM
Ellsworth	14-May	7:00 PM
	15-May	11:00 PM
Silby plain	14-May	10:40 PM
	15-May	8:00 AM
Deblois	Weather station under repair
Montegail	14-May	9:00 PM
	15-May	7:20 PM
Rocky pond	14-May	9:00 PM
	15-May	8:40 PM
	16-May	8:20 PM
E. Machias	14-May	6:00 PM
	15-May	10:20 PM
Meddybemps	14-May	6:00 PM
	15-May	12:00 AM
	16-May	8:20 PM
Jonesboro	14-May	6:45 AM
	15-May	10:15 AM

Mummy berry forecast Mon. May 14th

2012-05-14T13:04:00.001-04:00

Hancock and Washington counties
Some fields have had infection periods over the weekend. Most sites except those close to the coast had infection periods over Sunday night through Monday. Two fields Montegail Pond (Township 19) and Meddybemps had infection periods over Saturday night into Sunday and Sunday night into Monday.

Unfortunately there are still mature mummy berry cups producing spores in fields in these areas. Your plants are also susceptible all through their development stages, even when the leaves or flowers are opened.
Rain is predicted to occur from Monday night through Thursday morning and I expect the cups will last through this period. We will get more infection periods with this coming rain.

Using 7 days of protection for the fungicides, if you applied fungicide on or after Thursday May 10th, your plants will be protected from the infection periods of this past weekend and those into this week.

Using 10 days of protection for the fungicides, if you applied fungicide on or after Monday May 7th, your plants will be protected from the infection periods of this past weekend and those into this week.

The timing of the last infection periods this weekend were:

Site monitored	Start time for infection period
N. Ellsworth	13-May	10:20 PM
Ellsworth	13-May	9:40 PM
Silby plain	13-May	11:40 PM
Deblois	13-May	no data
Montegail	12-May	8:00 PM
Montegail	13-May	7:40 PM
Rocky pond	13-May	8:20 PM
E. Machias	14-May	no too short
Meddybemps	12-May	7:40 PM
Meddybemps	13-May	6:40 PM
Jonesboro	13-May	no too short

Mummy berry forecast Sat. May 12, 2012

2012-05-12T12:29:00.004-04:00

Hancock and Washington counties
Mature mummy berry cups are still found through out this area and some pinheads are still present. I expect the cups to be present through at least part of next week.

Infection periods did occur in many fields overnight from Friday through Saturday morning. Please see below for start times of infection periods.

IF your plants were NOT protected during the last infection period, applying fungicide within 72 hours of the start of an infection period will kill off the fungus that got into your plants in the last 3 days.

Correction: According to the labels, propiconazole and fenbuconazole will protect your fields for about 7 to 10 days after application.

Site monitored	Start time for infection period
N. Ellsworth	11-May	6:40 PM
Ellsworth	11-May	8:00 PM
Silby plain	11-May	7:00 PM
Deblois	no data, weather station down
Montegail	11-May	9:20 PM
Rocky pond	11-May	7:20 PM
Jonesboro	11-May	9:30PM

Mummy berry forecast Thursday May 10th, 2012

2012-05-10T18:55:00.000-04:00

Waldo, Lincoln, Knox counties
In later, wet fields, there may have been a few last cups present but there was likely little chance of infection in these areas this past week.

Hancock and Washington counties
Mature mummy berry cups and new pinheads have still be found in these areas. The rain since Monday has produced one to three infections periods depending upon the field monitored. Please see below for start times of the infection periods in your areas.

Overall, if you had applied fungicide on or after Thursday, May 3rd, your plants were protected during this past week.
If your last application was before Thursday, May 3rd, then you may want to apply fungicide to your field. You will want to take into consideration if your field has pollinators. Remember that propiconazole and fenbuconazole will protect your fields for about 7 days after application. If your plants were not protected for part of this week, you can apply fungicide within 72 hours of the start of the infection period and kill off most of the fungus that got into your plants.

The forecast for Friday is for scattered showers, so hopefully it will not be long enough for any infection periods. I will update the forecast if there are infection periods on Friday.

Site monitored	Start time of infection periods
N. Ellsworth	Mon.	7-May	10:40 PM
	Tues.	8-May	12:40 PM
	Wed.	9-May	7:20 PM

Ellsworth	Mon.	7-May	11:40 PM
	Tues.	8-May	12:20 PM
	Wed.	9-May	8:00 PM

Silby plain	Tues.	8-May	1:00 PM
	Wed.	9-May	1:00 PM

Deblois	Tues.	8-May	4:20 PM
	Wed.	9-May	8:00 PM

Montegail	Mon.	7-May	9:00 PM
	Tues.	8-May	4:20 PM
	Wed.	9-May	9:00 PM

Rocky pond	Tues.	8-May	4:00 PM
	Wed.	9-May	8:20 PM

E. Machias	Mon.	7-May	10:40 PM
	Tues.	8-May	4:20 PM

Meddybemps	Tues.	8-May	4:00 PM
	Wed.	9-May	9:20 PM

Jonesboro	Tues.	8-May	3:15 PM
	Wed.	9-May	5:45 PM

Mummy berry forecast Monday May 7th 2012

2012-05-07T12:53:00.004-04:00

Mummy berry symptoms
You may start to see mummy berry disease symptoms on your plants in the next few weeks. Even with very good control, a low number of dead, infected leaves or flowers may still occur. The spores produced on these dead leaves and flowers will not be able to kill new flowers or leaves. These spores are carried to healthy flowers and will infect the fruit to produce the mummified berry. Typically, the spores have already started to be spread to healthy flowers by the time you see these infected areas, so fungicide applications to control this stage of the infection are not recommended.

Waldo, Lincoln and Knox counties.
The mummy berry cups are probably almost done in these areas. In wet, late fields there may still be cups present, but in most fields they should be finishing up. This means that in most fields the threat of mummy berry infection will have passed.

Southern Hancock county
Mummy berry cups are probably finishing up in most early fields. They may still be present in late or wet fields.

Some fields close to large water bodies, such as our N. Ellsworth field, have experienced infection periods over Saturday and Sunday night due to fog. If your field tends to get fog overnight, it may also have experienced infection periods this weekend.

The rain, which is forecast to start tomorrow and possibly continue to Friday, may cause infection periods in later, wet fields this week.

If you have applied fungicide on or after Thursday May 3rd, your plants will probably be protected through out these coming infection periods.

Northern Hancock and Washington counties
Mummy berry cups are still actively producing spores in these areas. I expect mature cups producing spores to continue to be active through out this week.

The rain, which is forecast to start tomorrow and possibly continue to Friday, will cause infection periods this week.

If you have applied fungicide on or after Thursday May 3rd, your plants will probably be protected through out these coming infection periods.

Mummy berry forecast update Sat. May 5th 2012

2012-05-05T12:37:00.002-04:00

Waldo, Lincoln, Knox, Hancock and Washington counties
There was an infection period overnight in all areas. Mature cups are probably still in most fields. Almost finished in Waldo, Lincoln and Knox counties but still probably around. There are lots of mature cups producing spores in Hancock and Washington counties. Your plants are susceptible all through development. Please see the table below for approximately when the infection period started in our monitored fields.

If you applied fungicide within the 7 days before the start of the infection, your plants were probably protected during this infection period.

If your last fungicide application was before Thursday, April 26th, you may want to apply fungicide again.

You have until 72 hours after the start of the infection period in your area to apply fungicide and kill off any infection that may have occurred.

You will want to take into consideration if pollinators are in your field, in your decision to apply fungicide.

NOTE: The Silby Plain (Aurora) and Montegail pond (Township 19) fields had 2 infection periods, one over Thursday night and one over Friday night.

Field monitored	Start time of infection period
Appleton	5/4	4:40:00 AM
Belfast	5/4	4:20:00 AM
N. Ellsworth	5/4	6:20:00 AM
Ellsworth	5/3	9:40:00 PM
Silby plain	5/3	8:20:00 PM
Silby plain	5/4	4:40:00 PM
Deblois	5/4	7:20:00 PM
Montegail	5/3	11:20:00 PM
Montegail	5/5	3:00:00 AM
Rocky pond	5/4	9:40:00 PM
E. Machias	5/5	12:40:00 AM
Meddybemps	5/5	1:00:00 AM

Mummy berry forecast May 4, 2012

2012-05-04T12:18:00.004-04:00

Waldo, Hancock and Lincoln Counties
Mature mummy berry cups producing spores were still found on Thursday May 3rd in Appleton. No new pinheads were found so the mummy berry cups are starting to die off.
Your plants are susceptible to mummy berry infection ALL through their development. Experiments have shown even opened leaves and almost open flower buds are susceptible to this fungus. Opened flowers have not been tested but are likely to also be susceptible. When there are no longer any mummy berry cups producing spores in a field is when the infection will stop.

There likely will be an infection period over this weekend and I will update the forecast when one has occurred.
If you applied fungicide on or after Thursday April 26th, your plants are probably protected during this current infection period.

Hancock and Washington Counties
This is peak time for the number of mature mummy berry cups present in fields. Sites have lots of mature mummy berry cups and numerous new pinheads starting up.

There is likely to be an infection period from Friday through Saturday and I will update the forecast with start dates for the infection periods when they have occurred.
If you applied fungicide on or after Thursday April 26th, your plants are probably protected during this current infection period.

Mummy berry forecast for Wed. May 2nd

2012-05-02T11:00:00.002-04:00

Well the rain yesterday took me by surprise, considering the weather forecast said very low probability for rain just hours before it started raining!

Waldo, Lincoln, Knox, Hancock and Washington counties
There was an infection period overnight in all areas. Mature cups are probably still in most fields. Please see the table below for approximately when the infection period started in our monitored fields.

If you applied fungicide on or after Tuesday April 24th, your plants were protected during this infection period.

If your last fungicide application was before Tuesday April 24th, you may want to apply fungicide again.

You have until 72 hours after the start of the infection period in your area to apply fungicide and kill off any infection that may have occurred.

You will want to take into consideration if pollinators are in your field, in your decision to apply fungicide.

NOTE: The North Ellsworth field had fog on Monday night that produced an infection period that lasted 2 days.

Field	Start of Infection period
Appleton	5/1	8:00 AM
Belfast	5/1	8:20 AM
N.Ellsworth	4/30	7:20 PM
Ellsworth	5/1	10:00 AM
Silby plain	5/1	10:40 AM
Deblois	5/1	11:00 AM
Montegail	5/1	12:20 PM
Rocky pond	5/1	6:40 PM
E. Machias	5/1	1:00 PM
Meddybemps	5/1	1:00 PM
Jonesboro	5/1	11:30 AM

Mummy Berry Forecast Monday April 30th 2012

2012-04-30T18:06:00.000-04:00

Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties
Mature mummy berry cups producing spores were still present in Appleton and Liberty on Monday morning. Pinheads were still found in Liberty, suggesting that mature cups are probably still present in most areas. No infection periods occurred over the weekend. I expect the mummy berry cups will be finishing by the end of this week (hopefully).
Frost conditions occurred over Sunday night through to Monday in both Appleton and Belfast with the weather station recording average temperatures of 22F for about 2 hours.
The forecast is for rain on Tuesday through to Wednesday. Some fields may experience infection periods, since some mature cups are probably still present.

Hancock and Washington Counties
Mature mummy berry cups producing spores and numerous pinheads are present in Deblois, Wesley, and Jonesboro on Monday. No infection periods occurred over the weekend. There were frost conditions in most fields Saturday and Sunday night. Fortunately the weather forecast has only a low probability of rain in the next week. I expect the mummy berry cups to be around into next week.

If you wish to see the data for the different weather stations please go to the link below.
On the AgriNET Dashboard website, the large graph shows all of the data from the different weather stations. Click on the icons at the top to get the large graph to switch between showing Soil Temperature, Air Temperature, Leaf Wetness or Soil Moisture.
Click on the link for "Downloader and Graphs page" (top left) to get the graphs for individual weather stations.
Link to weather station data:
http://www.grovision.com/AgriNET/ComServer/UofMaine/DashboardFrameset.htm

The map below shows where our weather stations are located. Click on the map for a magnified map.

Mummy berry forecast update Friday April 27th 2012

2012-04-27T21:51:00.003-04:00

All areas
An infection period for the fungus to get into the plants was produced in most blueberry growing areas from Thursday through Friday.

If you applied fungicide on or after Thursday April 19th, your plants were probably protected during this infection period.

If you applied fungicide before Thursday April 19th, then you may wish to apply fungicide again to protect your plants. You have 72 hours after the start of the infection period to apply fungicide to kill off any fungus that penetrated into the plants.

You will also need to consider if pollinators are present in your field when deciding whether or not to apply fungicide.

The following times are approximate times when infection periods started in different areas.

Field	Day start	Time start
Appleton	4/27	midnight
Belfast	4/27	2:40AM
N. Ellsworth	4/27	2:40AM
Ellsworth	4/26	9:40PM
Silby plain	4/27	3:00 AM
Deblois	4/26	10:20 PM
Montegail	4/26	10:20 PM
Rocky pond	4/26	10:40 PM
E. Machias	4/27	4:00 AM
Meddybemps	4/27	12:40 AM
Jonesboro	4/26	10:15 PM

Mummy Berry Blight forecast Thursday April 26, 2012

2012-04-26T11:46:00.000-04:00

Knox, Lincoln and Waldo Counties
Numerous pinheads and mature cups are still present at Appleton, Liberty and Belfast. Mature cups producing spores are probably present throughout this area. As mentioned before, the plants are susceptible as long as cups are present in your field.

Hancock and Washington counties
Numerous pinhead and mature cups are still present through out fields in these counties.
The fog the last 2 nights in many fields was NOT long enough to produce infection periods. Temperatures on Thursday night did dip to 25 F for 2 to 3 hours in some fields, but this is not likely to cause cold damage to most plants. Some clones may be very sensitive to cold but most should have not have damage.

All areas
The rain forecast for Thursday night through to Friday will likely produce another infection period for the fungus to get into the plants.
If you applied fungicide to your plants on or after Thursday April 19th, your plants will be protected during this coming infection period.

I will update the forecast on Friday afternoon as to whether infection periods occurred or not.

Factsheet on Cold tolerance effects on flower buds and irrigation
This study by Dr. Paul Cappiello did not hold plants at different temperatures for long periods of time and did not examine the extensive diversity possible in clones. It does provide a rough estimate of when flower buds are most susceptible to frost.

http://umaine.edu/blueberries/factsheets/irrigation/flower-primordia-development-stage/

Mummy berry Forecast Tuesday April 24th 2012

2012-04-24T14:48:00.001-04:00

We have had a long infection period extending in some fields from Friday April 20th and in others from Saturday April 21st. I have below the locations where we have weather stations and roughly when the infection periods started in those areas.

If you had applied fungicide on or after Monday April 16th, your plants were protected during this last weekend and Monday, and you do not need to apply fungicides at this time.

If your last application of fungicide was before Monday April 16th, you have up to 72 hours to apply fungicide (propiconazole or fenbuconazole) from the beginning of the infection period to kill of the fungus. Considering the long period of infection the fungus had from Friday to Monday in some areas, if your last application of fungicide was before Monday April 16th, an application before the end of Wednesday April 25th would still kill off some of the fungus that did get in your plants.

Weather station   Start of infection period
Appleton                 Sat. April 21 at 8pm

Belfast                     Sat. April 21 at 8 pm

North Ellsworth     Sat. April 21 at 7am

Ellsworth                Sat. April 21 at 7am

Aurora                     Sat. April 21 at 4pm

Deblois                   Fri. April 20 at 7pm

Montegail Pond     Fri. April 20 at 9pm

East Machias    Sat. April 21 10am

Meddybemps Sat. April 21 6pm

UPDATE Mummy berry forecast for WASHINGTON COUNTY Fri. April 20

2012-04-20T09:44:00.001-04:00

Washington county
Mummy berry pinheads were found in Meddybemps area on Thursday. The plants are mostly susceptible in this area.
There is a chance that mature cups ARE present in fields in this area. The rain this weekend may produce infection periods this weekend in these fields.
If you use fungicides, you may need to apply fungicide this weekend or early next week to control for mummy berry disease.
I will put out updates as infection periods occur.

Mummy Berry Forecast for Thursday April 19th, 2012

2012-04-19T11:17:00.000-04:00

Lincoln, Waldo and Knox AND Southern Hancock counties
Mature mummy berry cups are actively producing spores in these counties. Once your plants are have partially open buds they are susceptible to this fungus until the fungus stops producing spores. Numerous mummy berry pinheads (not yet ready to produce spores) are still present on Thursday morning indicating that the fungus will be active for a while.

The fog on Wednesday night was not enough to produce an infection period since the temperatures were too cold.

Northern Hancock and Washington counties
Mature mummy berry cups producing spores have been found in early fields in Aurora, Deblois, Jonesboro, and Sam Hill.

NO cups have been found in later, colder areas such as Rocky Pond and Meddybemps.

Please check your plants! If there are greater than 40% of the stems with flower buds with the crown stage (F2) than your field has enough susceptible tissue to get infected.

For ALL areas with ACTIVE mummy berry cups

The rain forecast to occur this weekend starting Friday evening and through to some time next week (perhaps until Tuesday night) is likely to produce multiple infection periods for the fungus to get into the plants.

Fungicide applications of propiconazole and fenbuconazole will protect your plants 7 days into the future from when you have applied them. Please plan accordingly.

If you have applied fungicide on or after Monday April 16th, your plants will be protected through the weekend infection periods and to at least next Tuesday morning.

If you have not applied fungicide yet or your last application was before Monday April 16th, you may need to apply fungicide this weekend or early next week depending upon when your application occurred and the number of infection periods.

April 17th 2012 Mummy berry forecast

2012-04-17T11:03:00.001-04:00

Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties
Fog in fields close to the coast may have caused an infection period for the mummy berry fungus to get into the plants last night.

In our Belfast site, approximately 4 miles from the coast (straight line distance), there was 10 hrs of fog (at an average temperature of 51F) which produced an infection period for the mummy berry fungus.

In Appleton, approximately 8 miles from the coast (straight line distance), did NOT have a long enough period of fog, only approximately 5.5 hours, so NO infection period occurred.

If your field typically has long periods of fogs you may have had an infection period in your field last night.

South Hancock county

Fog in fields near lakes or the coast may have caused an infection period for the fungus to get into the plants last night.
In our two sites, near Branch lake and in Ellsworth, 11 to 16 hours of fog (at an average temperature of 48.5 F) produced an infection period for the mummy berry fungus.

If your field typically has long periods of fogs you may have had an infection period in your field last night.

For fields where an infection period likely occurred:

If you have applied fungicide (propiconazole or fenbuconazole) to your plants after Monday April 9th, then your plants were protected during this infection period last night.

If you have not applied fungicide or applied it before Monday April 9th, then you have until 7 pm on Thursday April 19th to apply fungicide to kill off any infection that may have occurred.

Northern Hancock and Washington counties
Mature mummy berry cups have not yet been found in Aurora, Deblois, Jonesboro, East Machias, or the barrens so any fog that occurred last night did NOT produce infections since there are NO spores present yet. I expect mature cups to be present soon.

Mummy Berry Forecast for Monday April 16, 2012

2012-04-16T15:20:00.001-04:00

When are my plants susceptible to mummy berry fungus?
Your plants are susceptible to infection by the mummy berry fungus from when they have 40% of the stems at the crown stage throughout their development. The flowers and leaves are susceptible at every stage of development past when the bud scales have opened up enough to expose green tissue. While mature mummy berry cups are producing spores in a field, there is the risk of infection. Fortunately the fungus does not produce spores for the whole season. In different years, mature cups have been found from 1 week to 3.5 weeks in a field, depending upon the weather. Data are being collected this year which will hopefully help predict when cups mature and how long they remain in a field.

Lincoln, Knox, Waldo counties
Most plants are now susceptible and mature mummy berry cups producing spores have been found in Liberty and Appleton. Numerous pinheads (not yet producing spores) are present indicating the threat of mummy berry infection will still be around for a while.

There were no infection periods over the weekend reported from Appleton and Belfast. Rain is not predicted until Friday, but fog may produce an infection period for the fungus. In the Belfast field, fog was present for 7 hours but temperatures were too cool to produce an infection period.

If your field typically has fog, you may have an infection period this week.

South Hancock county
Plants are susceptible and cups should be present in field in these areas by this time.
There was an infection period reported at both north Ellsworth and in Ellsworth on Sunday night starting from 6pm to 10pm and continuing until about 8am Monday morning.

If you have NOT applied fungicides to your field, you have until approximately 6pm on Wednesday to apply propiconazole or fenbuconazole to kill off any infection that may have occurred from the Sunday night infection period.

If you have applied fungicide on or after Sunday April 8th, your plants were protected during this infection period.

Fog may produce more infection periods this week.

Northern Hancock and Washington Counties
Mummy berry pinheads have been found in fields in Aurora, Deblois, Jonesboro, and Montegail pond.
Plants are approximately 25 to 30% with susceptible flower buds (at the crown stage). With the warm weather predicted for this week, we will have mature mummy berry cups and plants at the fully susceptible stage this week.

Fog can produce conditions for an infection period for the fungus to get into the plants. The conditions for infection did occur on Sunday night in many areas, BUT there were likely no spores present since mature cups have not been found yet. Therefore there was no infection on Sunday night.

If your field typically has fog and your plants are early, you may have an infection period this week.