Mummy Berry Forecast Thursday April 29th

Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties
There were still cups present in much of Knox, Waldo and Lincoln counties this week. There was infection periods from Tuesday April 27 afternoon through the morning of Thursday April 29th.

IF your last application of fungicide was BEFORE Tuesday April 20th then you will need to apply a fungicide treatment to kill off any infection of your plants.

If your last application of fungicide was ON or AFTER Tuesday April 20th, your plants were still protected during these last infection periods and you do not need to apply fungicide.

Washington and Hancock Counties
There are still cups through out the Downeast. There was an infection period from Wed. April 28th morning through Thursday April 29th morning.

IF your last application of fungicide was BEFORE Wed. April 21st then you will need to apply a fungicide treatment to kill off any infection of your plants.

If your last application of fungicide was ON or AFTER Wed. April 21st, your plants were still protected during these last infection periods and you do not need to apply fungicide.

NEW UPDATE Mummy berry Forecast April 24th

UPDATE: Washington and Hancock Counties
There was another infection period from 8:30pm Friday April 23rd through Saturday April 24th.

Washington and Hancock Counties
There were likely 2 infection periods recently. One occurred from around 4:30pm Wed. April 21nd through Thurs. April 22nd. A second infection period occurred around 7 to 8pm from Thursday April 22 overnight through Friday April 23rd.

Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties
There was an infection period in most of Knox, Waldo and Lincoln counties due to rain from approximately 7:30pm Thursday April 22nd to Friday April 23rd.

IF your last application of fungicide was BEFORE Friday April 16th then you will need to apply a fungicide treatment to kill off any infection of your plants.

If your last application of fungicide was ON or AFTER Friday April 16th, your plants were still protected during these last infection periods and you do not need to apply fungicide.

Mummy berry Forecast - Wed. April 21

Mummy berries are still producing cups through out blueberry growing areas in Maine and the plants are still susceptible. The plants are susceptible through their entire leaf and flower bud development. The end of infections by the mummy berry fungus does not occur until the fungus stops producing spores.

There is chance of a infection period through out the state with the rain forecast for the night of Wednesday April 21st through Friday April 23rd with more rain forecast for Sunday.

Please refer to Bulletin 217 "A Method to Control Monilinia Blight" for information on how long continuous rain or fog needs to occur for an infection period to occur in your field.

If you have leaf wetness data or are watching a mummy berry patch and wish to share this information to improve the forecast, please contact Seanna Annis on the Blueberry Hotline or via email.

Mummy berry forecast Apr. 19th 2010

Kennebec, Waldo, Knox and Lincoln counties - April 16th to 19th
There was an infection period in most areas from the night of Friday April 16th through Saturday April 17th. The infection period varied by location on when it started from late Friday night or early Saturday morning. There was also chance of a frost on Thursday April 15th through to the morning of Friday April 16th which will make mummy berry disease symptoms more severe in the plant that become infected.

If your last application of fungicide was BEFORE Friday April 9th then you will need to apply a fungicide treatment before the afternoon of Tuesday April 22nd to kill off any infection of your plants.

If your last application of fungicide was ON or AFTER Friday April 9th, your plants were still protected during this last infection period and you do not need to apply fungicide.

Downeast Hancock and Washington counties - April 16th to 19th
There was an infection period in most areas Downeast on Sunday night Apr. 18th through Monday morning April 19th. The infection period started approximately 5 to 6pm on Sunday. There was also chance of a frost on Fri. April 16th through to the morning of Sat. April 17th which will make mummy berry disease symptoms more severe in the plant that become infected.

If your last application of fungicide was BEFORE Monday April 12th then you will need to apply a fungicide treatment before Wed. April 21st at 5pm to kill off any infection of your plants.

If your last application of fungicide was ON or AFTER Monday April 12th, your plants were still protected during this last infection period and you do not need to apply fungicide.

Mummy Berry Forecast UPDATE: APRIL 10th

Lincoln, Waldo, Knox and Western Hancock Counties
There was a mummy berry infection period in most of Lincoln, Waldo, Knox and Western Hancock counties. There are mummy berry cups actively shooting off spores through out this area. If it was likely your field had continuous rain or fog for over 8 hours from Friday morning through Saturday morning, then there was an infection period. Most areas had continuous leaf wetness from early Friday morning through to early Saturday morning. The start of the infection period was likely early Friday morning in most parts of Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties. If fungicide has not been applied within the last 7 days before Friday, then it needs to be applied by early Monday morning to kill off any infection that has occurred.

East Hancock and Washington Counties
There was a chance of an infection period in these areas from early Friday morning through to midnight. By Friday, some "faster" fields had open mummy berry cups, while other slower fields had no open cups yet. If the mummy berry cups are open in your field (look like a wine glass) AND if your field had more than 8 hours of continuous fog and rain during Friday, you likely had an infection period. If you have not applied fungicide already, you have 3 days (likely mid Monday) from when the rain or fog started in your field, to apply fungicide to kill off the infection.

Fungicide recommendations are found in Bulletin #219.

Any questions please contact Seanna Annis 1-800-897-0757 ext 3 (in Maine) or 207-581-2621.

Mummy berry forecast for Apr. 8th to 10th 2010

UPDATE APRIL 8TH: INFECTION Periods have occurred.

WALDO, KNOX, LINCOLN
Thurs. April 8th- Mummy cups are now present and producing spores in Belfast and South Hope plots.

An infection period for the mummy berry fungus occurred in the South Hope, Knox county region on Wednesday from afternoon to evening and then overnight to Thursday morning.

Belfast, Waldo County region probably had a infection event on Wednesday night through Thursday morning

If you have any typically early field, that may have been infected. Please check your fields to see if 40% of the flower buds are at F2 stage (seen to your right). If they are, then you may have had an infection period on Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning and will need to apply recommended fungicide before Saturday evening to get control.
Please follow all recommendations in Disease Control Guide for 2010, Bulletin 219.

DOWNEAST
Thursday, April 8th - Mummy berries with pinhead cups (NOT yet open enough to produce spores) were found in Deblois, Jonesboro and Jonesport. Plants do not yet have enough open flower and leaf buds to have susceptible tissue to be infected. The rain predicted for Friday will probably NOT cause an infection event. However, open mummy berry cups producing spores are likely by the end of the weekend (Apr. 11th) at the latest. A rain or fog event next week is likely to cause an infection event.

FROST is NOT required for mummy berry infection
Studies in Nova Scotia by Dr. Paul Hildebrand have found that plants do NOT need to have been exposed to frost to get mummy berry infections. The fungal spores only needs susceptible leaf or flower tissue and a long enough wet period (dependent on the temperature) to get into the plant. Leaves and flowers exposed to frost have more severe disease symptoms but no more infections than without frost. Disease will occur after an infection period even if no frost has occurred.

Request for information on YOUR mummy berry plots
IF you have mummy berry plot you are watching, please call (1-800-897-0757) or email (sannis@maine.edu) and tell me where your location is and what stage are your mummy berries.