Mummy berry forecast Friday May 18th, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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