Maine Wild Blueberries

Disease forecast for Mon. May 23rd 2011

2011-05-23T16:19:00.005-04:00

Mummy berry Forecast - Northern Hancock and Washington counties

Mummy berry cups were not found at Deblois, Montegail, Jonesport or Jonesboro by Friday May 20th so the mummy berry infection season is finished for 2011.

For controlling disease in the future, it is important to know what you disease you have in your field.

Mummy berry symptoms

You will see symptoms of mummy berry blighted leaves and flowers at this time (see picture below). Any infections you see now occurred at least eight to nine days ago. Spores produced on the dead leaves and flowers will infect healthy flowers to produce the mummy berries seen at harvest. These spores cannot cause new infections that would kill leaves or flowers.

- Only some flower clusters on stem will be infected

- Open and closed flowers will show symptoms

- Only some leaves will be infected, look dead and typical in a crook shape

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

Botrytis blossom blight

If your field usually gets Botrytis blossom blight, now is the time to start looking for early symptoms (see pictures below). Symptoms of dead flowers or leaves with thin black hairs sticking out of them may be found on flowers of early blooming blueberry plants and the dead leaves of red sorrel, also called Sheep’s sorrel (Scientific name: Rumex acetosella). The small dark hairs (use a magnifying glass or reading glasses to see them) are always found if you have Botrytis blossom blight. IF you have dead blossoms and they do NOT have black hairs then your flowers were likely killed by mummy berry blight. I have not recorded any frost in the past weeks, so frost is unlikely to be a cause of dead flowers.

- Only some flower clusters on a stem will be affected

- Mostly affects almost open and open flowers

- Leaves can also show disease symptoms

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

Frost damage for comparison (see pictures below)

Frost has not been recorded in any areas I am tracking this year. It is unlikely to have caused flower damage this year.

- All flower clusters on stem typically are affected

- Closed flowers not affected as much

- Leaves can be damaged, but typically only tender tissue

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

Disease forecast for Thurs. May 19th 2011

2011-05-19T13:44:00.006-04:00

MUMMY BERRY FORECAST
Northern Hancock and Washington counties

Mummy berry cups were found at Deblois, Montegail pond (north of Columbia Falls) and at Jonesport along the coast on Monday May 16^th and Tuesday May 17^th this week. Cups are NO longer present in Deblois and Montegail pond. Active cups were still producing spores in Jonesport on Thursday May 19th. Later fields are likely to still have active cups for the next few days.

This means most fields in this area were likely to have had infection periods on Monday May 16^th (reported in the last forecast) and Tuesday May 17^th but only later fields would continue to have a chance of mummy berry infection after Wednesday May 18^th.

There was an infection period throughout this area from Tuesday May 17^th 8pm through Wednesday May 18^th 9 to 10am. If you applied fungicide on or after Wed. May 11^th your plants would have been protected through this infection period. If they were not protected you would have until Friday evening to apply fungicide to kill off any infection, but considering no future infections will occur this is probably not necessary.

There was an infection period in many later fields overnight from Wed. May 18^th at 8pm or later through to Thursday May 19^th at 11am to noon. If you applied fungicide on or after Thursday. May 12^th your plants would have been protected through this infection period.

If your plants were not protected and you have a later field, then you have until Friday May 17^th evening to apply fungicide and kill off any infection that has occurred in this latest infection period starting on Tuesday May 17^th. This application would also protect your plants which are likely to be exposed to more infection periods starting tonight and continuing possibly into the middle of next week.

MUMMYBERRY SYMPTOMS

You will start to see symptoms of mummy berry blighted leaves and flowers at this time. I would like to remind you that these were caused by infections that occurred eight to nine days ago and there is no point to applying fungicides after the mummy berry cups are done since the spores produced on the dead leaves and flowers can NOT infect and kill leaf and flower buds. The spores on the infected flower and leaf buds will be carried to some of the healthy flowers and produce mummified fruit at harvest. Applications of fungicide have not been proven to be effective in lowbush blueberries to control this second type of infection of healthy flowers.

BOTRYTIS BLOSSOM BLIGHT

If your field usually gets Botrytis blossom blight, now is the time to start looking for early symptoms. Symptoms of dead flowers or leaves with thin black hairs sticking out of them may be found on flowers of early blooming blueberry plants and the dead leaves of red sorrel, also called Sheep’s sorrel (Scientific name: Rumex acetosella). The small dark hairs (use a magnifying glass or reading glasses to see them) are always found if you have Botrytis blossom blight. IF you have dead blossoms and they do NOT have black hairs then your flowers were likely killed by mummy berry blight. I have not recorded any frost in the past weeks, so frost is unlikely to be a cause of dead flowers

Mummy berry forecast Monday May 16th 2011

2011-05-16T12:33:00.002-04:00

Infected leaves and flower buds will continue to develop normally up to 8 days after infection. Eight to nine days after infection, the infected leaves and flower buds will die and produce grayish masses of spores. There is no point of applying fungicides after the mummy berry cups are done since the spores produced on the dead leaves and flowers can NOT infect and kill leaf and flower buds. The spores on the infected flower and leaf buds will be carried to some of the healthy flowers and produce mummified fruit at harvest. Applications of fungicide have not been proven to be effective in lowbush blueberries to control this second type of infection of healthy flowers.

Knox, Warren, Lincoln, southern Hancock counties

Mummy berry cups are likely finished in these areas and so mummy berry infection will no longer occur to the developing leaf and flower buds.

Northern Hancock and Washington counties

Mummy berry cups have been found in fields at Deblois, Montegail pond (north of Columbia Falls) and at Jonesport along the coast. Later fields are likely to have had cups throughout the past weekend and will continue to have cups into this week.

There was an infection period in fields that still had mummy berry cups starting on Saturday May 14^th at 7pm to 9pm through Monday May 16^th morning and this is continuing into Monday.

If you applied fungicide on or after Monday May 9^th , then your plants will be protected through this latest infection period.

If your plants were not protected, then you have until Tuesday May 17^th about 7pm to apply fungicide and kill off any infection that has occurred in this latest infection period starting on Saturday May 14^th.

With the weather forecast for the rest of the week, there will likely be more infection periods this week. Unfortunately, the plants are susceptible for as long as there are mature mummy berry cups in your field.

Mummy berry forecast Thurs. May 12th 2011

2011-05-12T12:32:00.000-04:00

Knox, Lincoln, Waldo and southern Hancock counties

Mummy berry cups were likely present in cooler, later fields from Monday May 9^th through Wednesday May 11th. In most fields, the cups will likely have finished up later on Wed. May 11^th. On Thurs. May 12, the cups were done in Union, Liberty and Belfast areas. I am estimating that most cups are done in these areas since the Belfast field is a later, wetter field.

There were infection periods starting on Monday and Tuesday. There was an infection period from the evening of Monday May 9^th through the morning of Tuesday May 10^th. There was another infection period on Tuesday May 10^th 11am to noon through to Wed. May 11^th early morning to 9am .

If you have applied fungicide on or after Wed. May 4^th your plants would have been protected during these infection periods.

If your plants were not protected and you still had cups in your field through Wed. May 11^th, then you have until Thursday May 12^th evening to apply fungicides to kill off any infections on Monday, and until Friday May 13^th afternoon to kill off any infections that happened on Tuesday.

Northern Hancock and Washington counties.

There were active mummy berry cups from Monday May 9^th through Wednesday May 11^th in Deblois and Jonesboro, and later, cooler fields likely still have active mummy berry cups.

Infection periods started on Monday and Tuesday of this week. The first infection period occurred from Monday May 9^th 2 to 3pm through Tuesday May 10^th 6 to 7am. The second infection period occurred Tuesday, May 10th from 8 to 9am through Wednesday May 11^th midnight to 7am.

If you applied fungicide on or after Wednesday May 4^th morning your field was protected for all of the infection periods from Monday through Wednesday.

If your plants were not protected, then if you have applied fungicide before Thursday May 12^th your plants will be protected for all of the infection periods.

Applications of fungicide before Friday morning will kill off any infection that occurred in the 2^nd infection period from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Applications of fungicide after Friday morning will protect plants into the future, but will not be within the time to kill off any infections that occurred in these last infection periods.

Mummy berry forecast for Mon. May 9th 2011

2011-05-09T16:27:00.002-04:00

Knox and Lincoln counties

Mummy berry cups were present on Thursday at Union so they likely lasted over the weekend.

There was a chance of an infection period in some areas with rain and then fog from Thursday May 5^th night around 5pm to Friday May 6^th early in the morning.

Otherwise there were no infection periods during the weekend in these counties unless you have a field with heavy fog that lasted at least 8 hours.

It is too late to apply fungicide now to kill off any infections that occurred on Thursday. I would only recommend applying fungicide if you are sure your field had fog for more than 8 hours one evening this weekend AND you have not applied fungicides since Saturday April 30^th.

Waldo and south Hancock counties.

Cups were still present on Monday in Belfast and Liberty and are probably still active throughout this area. I expect the cups are likely to finish up this week. The rain was not long enough on Thursday night to cause an infection period in this area.

There was an infection period from Saturday May 7^th, 2011 8pm to 9m through to Sunday May 8^th from 7 to 9am in these areas.

If you had applied fungicide on or after Saturday April 30th then your plants would be protected during this infection period.

If your plants were not protected then you have until Tuesday May 10^th about 8pm to apply fungicides and kill off infection from the last infection period.

Northern Hancock and Washington counties.

There are still mummy berry cups being produced at Deblois and Jonesboro, and cups are likely to be producing spores at Jonesport and other later fields.

An infection period occurred from Thursday May 5^th 3pm to 6pm through to Friday 8 to 9am in Deblois and Jonesboro. In Jonesport, the temperatures were cooler so the conditions were borderline for producing an infection period and only some fields may have had an infection period.

There was an infection period in SOME areas with heavy fog from Sat. May 7^th 11pm to Sunday May 8^th at 7am. This infection period was seen in Jonesboro and Jonesport, but not at our site in Deblois.

The fog was not long enough overnight from Sunday, May 8^th to Mon. May 9^th with the cool temperatures to allow the fungus to infect the plants so there was NOT an infection period.

It is too late to apply fungicide now to kill off any infections that occurred on Thursday night.

If you applied fungicide on or before Sat. May 7^th your field was protected in the possible infection period from Sat. May 7^th to Sun. May 8^th.

If your plants were not protected AND your field is one that typically gets heavy fog, then you have until Tuesday, May 10^th at 11pm to apply fungicide and kill off any infection.

Mummy berry forecast for Thurs. May 5th 2011

2011-05-05T16:01:00.001-04:00

Lincoln, Knox, Waldo and South Hancock counties

Mummy berry cups are still present and were actively shooting out spores this week in Belfast, Union and Liberty. New immature cups were present today (Thursday) in Belfast and Liberty so spore production will be continuing for a while. The cups are likely to continue being active over the weekend and possibly into early next week. I do not have a mummy berry patch south of Union, so to be cautious, I am considering the cups are still active in southern Knox and Lincoln counties.

There was a 32 to 34 hours long wet period producing a long infection period throughout this area from Tues. May 3^rd approximately 11pm to midnight through to Thurs. May 5^th 7 to 8am. The rain/drizzle/fog is also predicted to continue in this area through part of Thursday night. The forecast for west of the Penobscot river is for dry weather on Friday and a low chance of rain over the weekend, so it is unlikely there will be more infection periods this weekend, unless you have a field that regularly gets more than 8 to 9 hours of fog.

If you applied fungicide on or after Fri. April 29^th then your plants will have been protected during this last infection period and you do NOT need to apply fungicide for this last infection period.

If you last applied fungicide before Fri. April 29^th then your plants were not protected during this last infection period. If you then apply fungicide (propiconazole or fenbuconazole) before Fri. May 6^th at 11pm, the fungicide will kill of any infection that may have occurred in this last infection period AND your plants will be protected for a further 7 days.

Southern Penobscot, northern Hancock and Washington counties

Active mummy berry cups and new immature cups were present at Deblois and Jonesboro, but had not started yet in Jonesport. In cooler, later fields, cups have not yet started but elsewhere in this area cups are actively producing spores and are predicted to continue through the weekend and into next week.

There was a wet period from Monday, May 2^nd starting at 8pm to 10pm and continuing through to Tuesday, May 3^rd at 6 to 7am that did NOT produce an infection by the mummy berry fungus since it was too short a length of plant wetness at the average temperature of 37 to 39F.

There were infection periods from Tues. May 3^rd at 7pm to Wed. May 4^th at 10am AND from Wed. May 4^th at 4pm to Thurs. May 5^th 9am and possibly continuing.

The rain/drizzle/fog is also predicted to continue in this area through part of Thursday night and perhaps into Friday. The forecast for east of the Penobscot river is for a chance of rain through Friday and Saturday which may produce infection periods.

If you last applied fungicide on Wed. April 27^th or Thurs. April 28th then your plants were protected Wed. of this week but will not be protected for the infection period occurring today (Thursday). If you apply fungicide before Sat. May 6^th at 4pm, the fungicide will kill of any infection that may have occurred in this last infection period AND your plants will be protected for a further 7 days.

If you last applied fungicide before Wed. April 27^th then your plants were not protected during these last infection periods. If you apply fungicide before Fri. May 6^th at 7pm, then the fungicide will kill off any infection that may have occurred and your plants will be protected for a further 7 days.

Mummy berry forecast for Mon. May 2nd 2011

2011-05-02T13:35:00.008-04:00

Lincoln, Knox, Waldo, and western Hancock counties
Mummy berry cups ares still present in these areas.
There was another infection period from Thurs. April 28th about 2pm through Fri. April 29th at 4 to 6am depending upon the field.

There was a wet period in Stockton Springs and surrounding areas overnight from Sun. May 1st to Mon. May 2nd, but due to the cool temperatures (33F) this did NOT cause an infection period.

If you applied fungicides after April 22nd, then your plants would have been protected during this last infection period. If your plants were NOT protected, then you would have needed to apply fungicides by Sun. May 1st 2pm to kill off any fungus that penetrated your plants during this last infection period.

There is wet weather predicted for this area from Tuesday morning through Thursday and this will likely result in multiple infection periods.

Downeast- eastern Hancock and Washington counties
Mummy berry cups are present in Deblois, Jonesboro and at Montegail pond in the barrens. Mature mummy berry cups have not been found at Jonesport yet, but are likely to start in this and other cooler, later fields this week.

There was a very long infection period from Wed. April 27th at 5 to 6pm through until Fri. April 29th at 7 to 8am OR two infection periods within this time period with a short dry period on Thursday.

There was a wet period overnight from Fri. April 29th to Sat. April 30th, but this did NOT cause an infection period because the wetness was too short for the cool temperatures (42 to 47F).

If you applied fungicides after April 22nd, then your plants would have been protected during these last infection periods. If your plants were NOT protected, then you would have needed to apply fungicides by Sat. April 30th 4pm to kill off any fungus that penetrated your plants during these last infection periods.

There is wet weather predicted for this area from Tuesday through Thursday and this will likely result in multiple infection periods.

If you have a cooler, later field, you should check your plant development before applying fungicides. If you have less than 40% of your flower buds at the susceptible stage, then you do not have very much plant tissue to be infected by the fungus, AND you do not have much young tissue to absorb the fungicide you apply. The fungicide will absorb better through new leaf and flower tissue than through the stems and bud scales around unopened leaf and flower buds.

If you have a mummy berry plot, I would like to know how it is progressing, please contact me at sannis@maine.edu.

Mummy berry forecast for April 28th 2011

2011-04-28T11:55:00.006-04:00

WALDO, KNOX, LINCOLN, HANCOCK
Mature cups that would be shooting out spores have been present this week in Union, Belfast and Liberty.
Plants were at the susceptible stages in most of these fields. If you have a slower, cooler field and your plants were NOT yet at 40% of the stems with susceptible flower buds on Thursday April 28th, then your field may have escaped most of the recent infection periods this week.

Multiple mummy berry infection periods have occurred in Lincoln, Knox, Waldo and Hancock counties since Monday. The exact timing of the start and end of an infections period depended upon the field.
Infection periods occurred from:
Mon. April 25th 6 to 7pm through to Tues. April 26th 11am to noon
Tues. April 26th 5 to 7pm to Wed. April 27th 6 to 9 am
Wed. April 27th 4pm to Thurs. April 28th morning.

If you have applied fungicide within 7 days of the start of an infection period your plants would have been protected.
If your plants were NOT protected during one of the recent infection periods, you can apply fungicides with 72 hours of the start of an infection period and kill off any fungus that penetrated during that infection period.

Downeast (northern Hancock, Washington counties)
We have found one mature cup in Deblois on Wednesday April 27th, but only pinheads at Jonesboro. The fields in Deblois were not at 40% susceptible stems on Wednesday, but Blueberry Hill farm field was at 70% susceptible stems. If you have a warmer, earlier field than your plants may have been exposed to an infection period in this past couple of days.

We found no germination of mummy berries and the plant are not ready yet at Jonesport, so the wet weather would NOT have created infection periods because the fungus was not present.

There were infection periods through out this region, but to determine if you need to apply fungicides you should check the development of your plants. Please see the last 2 forecasts for information on how to evaluate your plant development.

Possible infection periods if cups were present in your field and the plants were at least 40% susceptible:
Wed. April 27th 2 to 4am through Wed. April 27th noon
Wed. April 27th 4 pm through Thurs. April 28th morning.

If your plants were NOT protected during one of the recent infection periods, you can apply fungicides with 72 hours of the start of an infection period (so by Saturday, April 30th morning) and kill off any fungus that penetrated during that infection period.

If you are using the calendar method for timing fungicide applications you will want to apply fungicides before an infection period when your plants are at 40% susceptible stems.

For recommendations on fungicides and biopesticides to control mummy berry disease please use the Disease Control Guide for 2011, Bulletin 219.

Infection period Saturday April 23rd thru April 24th

2011-04-25T14:55:00.003-04:00

WALDO, KNOX, LINCOLN, Southern HANCOCK
Mummy berry infection periods have occurred in most areas of Lincoln, Knox and southern Waldo county. An infection period also may have occurred in southern Hancock county.
Cups were found on Monday in Union, Liberty and Belfast. Cups had developed over the weekend in Belfast, which tends to be a week later than fields in Union for plant development. If you have a warmer, earlier field in those area, you probably did have some cups for the infection period on Saturday. If you have a cooler, later field you may have avoided the infection period. On Monday April 25th, 70% of the stems in Belfast had susceptible buds up from 30% last Thursday. Most areas that are south of Belfast will have enough susceptible stems to need protection.

The infection period in these areas started on Saturday April 23rd from approximately 10am to noon depending upon the field and ended on Sunday, April 24th from 6am to 8am, again depending upon the field.
If you have applied fungicide between April 16th and April 22nd then your plants would have been protected for the infection period on Sat. April 23rd.
If you have NOT applied fungicide, then you have until approximately Tuesday April 26th at noon to protect your plants.

The wet, warm weather forecast for much of the state in the next 4 days will provide more opportunities for infection periods to occur.

Please follow all recommendations in the Disease Control Guide for 2011, Bulletin 219.

DOWNEAST
Mummy berries are still only at the pin head stage and are not producing spores yet. Plants do not yet have enough open flower and leaf buds to have susceptible tissue to be infected. I predict cups will start to open this week with the warm, wet weather. Cups do open before the plants have enough susceptible tissue. Please check your field for how far along your plants are in development (see below). If 40% of the stems have susceptible flower buds than you have enough exposed tissue to make an application of fungicide effective.

Checking the development of your plants
To find the percentage of stems with flower buds at the F2 stage (seen to your right). Walk across your field and randomly collect 20 stems. If 8 out of 20 stems have flower buds at F2 stage than your plants are far enough along to become infected. Flower and leaf bud development follow each other closely and flower buds are much easier to determine when they are susceptible.

If you have a mummy berry patch I would like to hear how it is progressing, particularly if you are in Hancock county as I have no sites in that area.

2011-04-21T16:51:00.003-04:00

MUMMY BERRY INFECTION PERIODS IN SOUTH

WALDO, KNOX, LINCOLN, Southern HANCOCK
Mummy berry infection periods have likely occurred in warmer, early fields in Waldo and Lincoln and possibly Knox and Hancock counties. Cups have been found in the Union area and in Dedham. Cups are not present in Belfast yet.
Southern areas near Camden are likely to have had an infection period from Wed. April 20th around 3 to 4pm through to Thurs. April 21st 8 to 9am. Our location near Union was a bit cooler and it was not wet long enough for an infection period, but warmer fields in the area may have had an infection period.

If you have a warmer, early field, I strongly suggest checking your plants to see if you have greater than 40% of the stems with opening flower buds (stage F2). This has been variable and many fields may not have enough susceptible stems yet. If your plants are at this stage and you have a warmer field, your field is likely to have had an infection period.

If you decide to apply fungicides, with either propiconazole or fenbuconazole you have until Saturday, April 23rd to apply the fungicide and kill off the infections that occurred from Wed. April 20th.

Please follow all recommendations in the Disease Control Guide for 2011, Bulletin 219.

DOWNEAST
Mummy berries are still only at the pin head stage and are not producing spores yet. Plants do not yet have enough open flower and leaf buds to have susceptible tissue to be infected.

HOW TO CHECK PLANT STAGE IN YOUR FIELD
Please check your fields to see if 40% of the stems (8 out of 20 stems) have flower buds at the F2 stage (seen to your right). Walk across your field and randomly collect 20 stems. If 8 out of 20 stems have flower buds at F2 stage than your plants are far enough along to become infected. Flower and leaf bud development follow each other closely and flower buds are much easier to determine when they are susceptible.

2011-04-19T11:07:00.004-04:00

MUMMY BERRY INFECTION PERIODS HAVE NOT YET OCCURRED YET.

WALDO, KNOX, LINCOLN
Mon. April 18th- A single mummy berry cup was present near Union, and many pinhead cups (not yet producing spores) were present in Union and Liberty areas. Plants do not yet have enough open flower and leaf buds to have susceptible tissue to be infected. The rain predicted for Wednesday may cause an infection period IF you have an early field that already has 40% of the stems with opening flower buds (stage F2). See below on how to determine the plants' stages in your field.

DOWNEAST
Mummy berries are starting to germinate in a few areas but are only at the pinhead stage (too early to produce cups). Plants do not yet have enough open flower and leaf buds to have susceptible tissue to be infected.

HOW TO CHECK PLANT STAGE IN YOUR FIELD
Please check your fields to see if 40% of the stems (8 out of 20 stems) have flower buds at the F2 stage (seen to your right). Walk across your field and randomly collect 20 stems. If 8 out of 20 stems have flower buds at F2 stage than your plants are far enough along to become infected. Flower and leaf bud development follow each other closely and flower buds are much easier to determine when they are susceptible.

Please follow all recommendations in Disease Control Guide for 2011, Bulletin 219.

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 need 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. I would very much appreciate any additional information.

Now is the time to put out Mummy Berry Plots for next year

2010-08-17T11:34:00.003-04:00

The mummy berries are easy to find at this time, but as their outer white coat comes off they will become very difficult to find. If you have any questions please contact me via email or on the blueberry hotline number.

Seanna Annis

How to put out Mummy berry plots (Approx. time 15-20 minutes to collect mummies, 10 min. to place out plots)

1. Collect about 150 mummy berries (50 for each mummy berry plot) from your field(s) (or from the process line or winnowing if you have them). They 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 clusters of unraked 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 a 2011 crop field, choose 3 areas within your blueberry field. Each area should be about 3” by 3” that is clear of stems but amongst the plants. Choose areas that 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, unless you have very different conditions in your field. If you have different exposures, soil types or large shaded areas in your field you may want to place your mummy berry plots in these different areas to get the full range of when the mummy berries develop. The areas should not be on slopes where they will be washed away, in hollows where they will be water-logged or in areas with lots of frost-heaves.

3. In each chosen 3" by 3" area, clear off the leaf litter to one side and a small amount of soil. 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). Then put a small amount of dirt (1/4”) on top and press them firmly down again. 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.

Time to start scouting for Valdensinia leaf spot!

2010-06-09T15:45:00.010-04:00

Valdensinia Leaf Spot - the "new" leaf spot.

Leaves infected with this fungus last year, will have over wintered on the ground. With the wet weather, Maine had from Thursday, June 3rd through Monday, June 6th, spores will be produced on leaves that were infected with this fungus last year and survived over the winter.

Leaf spots caused by the Valdensinia fungus may start appearing in your field in the next few weeks. PLEASE Scout your field for any areas of leaf drop or leaf spot.

You will see large (1/8 to 1/2”), often circular, light brown spots with dark margins on leaves. There may only be one or a few spots on leaves, and the lower leaves will be affected first.

Young lower leaves will be infected first and drop off while still green and with only a few spots.

Disease causes leaf drop starting after first infections anytime from May on and continues through August.

If you suspect Valdensinia leaf spot is in your field:

- Avoid diseased area, do NOT enter the field when it is wet

- Remove dead leaves from footwear, vehicles, equipment before leaving field (fungus can spread by moving infected leaves)

- Please send a sample to confirm disease and get information on control by contacting Seanna Annis or Dave Yarborough (Blueberry hotline: 1-800-897-0757)

- S. Annis also needs disease samples for DNA fingerprinting to determine how the fungus is spreading among fields

More info is available at the Blueberry Extension website

http://wildblueberries.maine.edu

Septoria leaf spot is a common disease found through out Maine

– It can be mistaken for Valdensinia leaf spot, but it has smaller, more numerous spots.

You will start to see very small (pin prick) spots in mid June which will grow bigger over the season. There will be many smaller, not circular spots with dark red/brown centers

Heavy infections can cause leaf drop mid July and later with dry conditions.

Mummy berry forecast and Botrytis blossom blight May 20th

2010-05-20T18:18:00.003-04:00

Washington County
ONLY later developing fields or wet fields re likely to have mummy berry cups still producing spores. Our mummy berry site in Jonesport still has ONE mummy berry cup producing spores! So other fields in early bloom may still have cups present. The majority of fields in Washington county are DONE for mummy berry disease.

In fields that still have mummy berry cups, there was an infection period from Wed. May 19th from around 10am through Thursday night.

IF your field is likely to still have cups AND your last application of fungicide was BEFORE Wednesday May 12th then you will need to apply a fungicide treatment to kill off any infection of your plants.

If your field is NOT likely to still have cups OR your field still has cups AND your last application of fungicide was ON or AFTER Wednesday May 12th, you do not need to apply fungicide to control mummy berry disease.

There has not been a long enough wet period to cause infection by Botrytis blossom blight in most fields. If you have brown flowers in your field, please see previous information on "Damage to Blueberry flowers: Is is Frost or Disease" to confirm you have blossom blight.
IF you are certain your field has a yearly history of getting Botrytis blossom blight from fog events AND you confirm you have the disease on early blooming clones, ONLY then would you want to consider applying fungicides for Botrytis blossom blight.

Note: I need more growers to put mummy berry plots out in their fields and track the cups to get a more accurate idea of where and when the cups are finished in different fields. Please call me or email me if you are interested in putting out some mummy berries for next year and I will help you set them up.

Damage to Blueberry Flowers - Is it Frost or Disease?

2010-05-14T13:28:00.006-04:00

There can be multiple reasons why you see brown flowers on your plants. One of these is frost damage, and the others are infection by Mummy berry blight OR infection by Botrytis blossom blight. It is highly unlikely we have had the conditions for blossom blight in most fields. Long periods of wetness on almost open to fully open flowers is required for infection by the Botrytis fungus. Before applying fungicide to protect your plants from Blossom blight make sure you know what is the cause of your browning flowers.
Frost damage to flowers has occurred in the last week to some fields.
This is also the time that flower infections by mummy berry blight will be seen in fields.
Botrytis blossom blight can be scouted for on early blooming clones.

Please see the pictures and notes below, to determine what is the cause of your problem. Disease recommendations are in the "Disease Control Guide for Wild Blueberries (revised 2010) Publication 219.

Frost Damage to Flowers
- All flowers clusters on a stem will be affected

- Closed flowers are not affected as much

- Leaves are not affected

- NOTE - You will only see browning of flowers that are almost open or fully open.

Mummy Berry Blight of Flowers
- Only some flower clusters on a stem will be affected

- Open and closed flowers are affected

- Leaves will also show symptoms of the disease

- NOTE - Gray powder (spores) at base of flowers

Botrytis Blossom Blight
- Only some flower clusters on a stem will be affected

- Only almost open and fully open flowers affected

- Leaves can also show disease symptoms

- NOTE - black hairs (may have gray tips - spores) extend off of affected flowers

Mummy berry Forecast Monday May 10th

2010-05-10T11:34:00.003-04:00

Washington County
MOST fields in Washington county are DONE for mummy berry disease. IF there are NO cups in your field and adjacent fields, there is NO chance of more leaf and flower bud infection.

ONLY later developing fields that still are not in bloom or are only in very early bloom are likely to have mummy berry cups still producing spores. Our mummy berry site along the coast in Jonesport still has mummy berry cups producing spores.

In fields that still have mummy berry cups, there was an infection period from Saturday May 8th from around 1pm to Sunday morning around 8am.

IF your field is likely to still have cups AND your last application of fungicide was BEFORE Saturday. May 1 st then you will need to apply a fungicide treatment to kill off any infection of your plants.

If your field is NOT likely to still have cups OR your field still has cups AND your last application of fungicide was ON or AFTER Saturday May 1st, you do not need to apply fungicide to control mummy berry disease.

I need more growers to put mummy berry plots out in their fields and track the cups to get a more accurate idea of where and when the cups are finished in different fields. Please call me or email me if you are interested in putting out some mummy berries for next year and I will help you set them up.

Mummy berry Forecast Friday May 7th

2010-05-07T12:47:00.002-04:00

Washington and Hancock Counties
Cups are probably finished in much of warmer regions of these counties, but in later fields, mummy berry cups are still producing spores. For example, cups are still being produced in blueberry fields along the coast at Jonesport.

There was probably an infection period through out this region on Thursday May 6th that started in the morning and continued through the afternoon.

IF your last application of fungicide was BEFORE Thurs. April 29th 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 Thurs. April 29th, your plants were still protected during these last infection periods and you do not need to apply fungicide.

Mummy Berry Forecast Wed. May 5th

2010-05-05T11:37:00.002-04:00

Washington and Hancock Counties
Mummy berry cups are finishing up in most fields Downeast, BUT in later developing fields there are still mummy berry cups producing spores (ex. in Jonesport).

There was an infection period through out this region that started Tues. May 4th afternoon or evening and continued through to Wed. May 5th morning.

IF your last application of fungicide was BEFORE Wed. April 28th 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 28th, your plants were still protected during these last infection periods and you do not need to apply fungicide.

Mummy berry Forecast Monday May 2nd

2010-05-03T09:55:00.003-04:00

Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties
There were mummy berry cups still present in Belfast, Palermo and Liberty over the weekend, but by Monday, the cups appear to be done. In South Hope and more southern areas, mummy berry cups appears to have finished about Thursday April 29th.
Over the weekend, the only fields likely to have had an infection period are those with fog or rain event of over 6.5 hours, but this did not occur in either Belfast or Palermo sites.

Unless you have a very wet or delayed field, cups are probably no longer being produced in your field so your plants will not get infected with any future rain or fog events.

Washington and Hancock Counties
There are still mummy berry cups producing spores in Deblois and Jonesport over the weekend and through Monday. Fields that develop earlier were probably finished producing cups by the end of last week.

The only fields that likely had an infection period are those that had at least 8 hours of fog overnight, but this did not occur in Deblois, Jonesport or at the BBHF sites over the weekend.

Mummy Berry Forecast Thursday April 29th

2010-04-29T11:22:00.002-04:00

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

2010-04-23T12:47:00.003-04:00

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

2010-04-21T17:47:00.004-04:00

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

2010-04-19T12:26:00.005-04:00

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.

2010-04-10T16:54:00.004-04:00

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

2010-04-07T14:51:00.006-04:00

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.

Estimated Water Budget August 10-20

2009-08-21T08:01:00.001-04:00

Needless to say, DRY!

Estimated Water Budget August 3 to 9

2009-08-10T15:27:00.002-04:00

For virtually the first time this season, continued clear weather throughout the blueberry growing area have made for conditions that would be conducive to irrigation--if not for harvesting. Patchy precipitation is expected for the next three or so days.

Estimated Water Budget July 27 to August 2

2009-08-03T09:59:00.003-04:00

Thanks again to ample rain last week, Downeast blueberry soils are generally still plenty moist as of August 2nd.

2009-07-27T16:41:00.001-04:00

Blueberry School: Valdensinia leaf spot

Blueberry Hill Farm Headquarters conference room
Wednesday July 29th 6pm to 7pm
Dr. Seanna Annis

Session will demonstrate how to identify the new Valdensinia leaf spot from other leaf spots. Samples with the disease will be on hand for people to look at. Scouting and treatment recommendations will be discussed.

Please bring to the meeting any leaf spot samples (in a sealed plastic bag) you want identified.

Remember: when collecting samples, do not go into a wet field and remove all leaves from your footwear, clothes, and vehicles before leaving the diseased area.

Estimated Water Budget July 20 to July 26

2009-07-27T09:24:00.002-04:00

More than enough rain yet again for this past week.

Sanitation to Protect Fields from Valdensinia leaf drop Disease

2009-07-22T11:39:00.004-04:00

There is NO tested fungicide that will eradicate this disease from a field. Fungicides will only suppress the disease by protecting the plants. Once in a field, the fungus will produce new spores and infect plants after any 3 day wet period throughout the season. Many fungicide applications will be necessary throughout the prune and crop years to protect plants if this disease is in your field. We want to avoid the trouble (hopefully it is not a disaster) that is hitting growers in Nova Scotia this year from Valdensinia leaf drop disease.

THE KEY IS - DO NOT MOVE ANY DISEASED LEAVES AROUND

Do NOT walk or drive through any areas of leaf drop or brown leaf spots in a field. Do NOT harvest any area with suspected (or confirmed) Valdensinia leaf drop. Once, confirmed to have the disease, BURN any plants with Valdensinia leaf spot to the ground including burning all leaf litter, as soon as possible.

GENERAL PRECAUTIONS

At the edge of ANY field you visit, brush leaf litter off of your footwear and vehicle before going to another field. Brush off your footwear and vehicle tires with your hand or something that will NOT collect leaf litter. (If you use a brush, clean it off regularly).

ALL equipment, vehicles, ATVs, harvesters, blueberry boxes, etc. need to be cleaned off of leaf litter BEFORE they are moved out of a field. All equipment should have no leaf litter on it before you let it into your field. Spraying with a 5% bleach solution (1 part bleach to 19 parts water), other disinfectant or a weak soap solution may help to remove the leaf litter, but may NOT kill the fungus (see below).

What will NOT WORK - Soaking infected leaves in 10% bleach solution for 1 ½ minutes did NOT kill the fungus! Just dipping footwear or spraying equipment with disinfectant or bleach solution will NOT work, UNLESS the leaf litter is removed.

Please contact Seanna Annis at the Blueberry Hotline (1-800-897-0757) if you have any questions.

UMaine Sustainable Agriculture Field Day July 27

2009-07-21T15:06:00.001-04:00

STILLWATER, Me. —University of Maine Cooperative Extension will host its annual Sustainable Agriculture Field Day on Monday, July 27. Designed for farmers, crop advisers and other members of the agricultural community, the event will take place at Rogers Farm, UMaine's 100-acre forage and crops research facility, located on Bennoch Road in Stillwater. Registration will begin at 9 a.m., and events will run until 12:30 p.m. This free event will feature talks on many agricultural topics. Participants will receive one pesticide certification credit and three Certified Crop Adviser credits. For more information,contact Ellen Mallory at 207-581-2942 or John Jemison at 207-581-3241.

UMaine agricultural researchers and Extension faculty members will present their field research on vegetables, grains, and forages. Specific topics will include bread wheat and specialty potato production issues, weed management tools for small-scale vegetable producers, organic fertilizers for sweet corn, and feed and forage rotations for organic dairies. Students from the Black Bear Food Guild will also talk about their community-supported agriculture project.

Presentations will be offered by: Eric Gallandt, associate professor of weed ecolog yand management; John Jemison, Extension water quality specialist; Rick Kersbergen, Extension educator in Waldo County; Lauren Kolb, graduate student in weed ecology; Ellen Mallory, Extension sustainable agriculture specialist; and Marianne Sarrantonio, associate professor of sustainable crop production, in addition to students and members of the Black Bear Food Guild.

EStimated Water Budget July 13-19

2009-07-21T08:24:00.001-04:00

2009-07-16T15:41:00.014-04:00

Figures 1 and 2 (top and middle) Valdeninsia leaf spots of lowbush blueberry leaves. Figure 3 (bottom) Defoliated stems from loss of leaves infected with Valdeninsia

Valdensinia Leaf spot: NEW Disease in Maine Blueberry Fields

Update as of July 17^th, 2009: Valdensinia leaf spot has been found in commercial blueberry fields in Sumner, Jonesport and Township 24. Please check your fields for this disease.

Valdensinia leaf spot (caused by Valdensinia heterodoxa) causes early leaf drop in lowbush blueberries and in prune fields can cause complete leaf drop so that no flower buds are produced by infected stems. By June 2009, Valdensinia leaf spot had caused complete defoliation in approximately 40 crop and prune fields in Nova Scotia, and had been found in Quebec and New Brunswick fields.

Valdensinia infects all clones of lowbush blueberry and both prune and crop plants. The spots are typically round, large and brown, and can have a “bull’s eye” appearance. Leaves can have from 1 to about 10 spots that can be from ⅛ to ½ inch and larger. These spots rapidly enlarge on the leaves and can spread from stem to stem within a few days. This leaf spot causes early leaf drop, and young leaves drop off when infected by only one spot and while still green. Stems can have complete leaf drop or only have a few infected leaves at the top of the stem. Older infected leaves will remain on the plant until leaf drop in the fall. In prune fields, stems with complete leaf drop will not produce flower buds for the next year. Crop fields with leaf drop will have decreased yields and smaller berries.

The fallen infected leaves are the source of new spores to cause more infections. The spores are large and very efficient at infecting blueberry leaves. The spores can be produced in 2 days on wet, dead infected leaves on the ground. Mature spores are shot off, up to 8 inches high, and typically land on the underside of leaves. The spores will attack all ages of blueberry leaves and will also try to infect all plants they land on so you may see small spots on nearby weeds. The fungus requires about 6 to 8 hours of wet weather (rain or fog) for the spores to infect new leaves. The disease will rapidly spread out from infected stems to adjacent plants as long as the leaf litter remains wet and there is occasionally wet weather for 6 to 8 hours. The fungus survives over the winter in infected leaves. In the spring, about the time of early bloom, it will produce new spores and then leaf infections during the first period of 3 days of wet weather.

Figure 4 (top). Dead leaves with thickened black middle veins where the fungus will survive over the winter. Figure 5 (bottom). Infected blueberries and attempted infections on other plants

Moving ONE dead leaf will spread this disease (see photos below). This disease spreads to new areas of a field and new fields by movement of dead, infected leaves on contaminated footwear, vehicles and equipment including blueberry boxes. NEVER enter a wet field suspected of or having this disease. The dead leaves are sticky and will cling to footwear, vehicles, equipment, boxes, etc. ALWAYS check your footwear for leaves and remove them before leaving any diseased area and do NOT move equipment or drive through diseased areas.

Figure 6 and 7 (top and middle right) A vehicle was driven through a diseased area (bottom of photos) and then driven through healthy areas produced new diseased stems along tire tracks. Figure 8 (bottom left). Walking through the original diseased area and then into healthy areas produced new infected stems in the grower’s footprints.

Precautions for ALL Blueberry Fields

Steam clean all equipment and vehicles before moving them between fields.

Clean blueberry boxes BEFORE they go into your field. Remove all dead leaves stuck to the boxes in a place away from your field and burn the leaf litter.

Key features to identify this disease:

- Large round spots, ⅛ to ½ inch and larger, often look ringed like a bull’s eye on leaves. Typically there are less than 10 spots per leaf, often only 1 to 4.

-Stems with leaf drop, particularly of lower leaves. Early in the season, young leaves will fall off while still green.

If you find this disease in your field

- Do not enter the field when it is wet, Remove dead leaves from your footwear before leaving the diseased area (so you do not spread it around the field)

- Flag off the infected area so no one walks through it or moves equipment through it

- Check your vehicles or other equipment that may have come in contact with the infected area for dead leaves. Steam clean all equipment and vehicles before moving them between fields.

- Contact Seanna Annis or Dave Yarborough to confirm and report disease (Blueberry Hotline: 1-800-897-0757)

- Once disease is confirmed follow treatment recommendations below.

Be careful to NOT move dead infected leaves around the field or between fields even after treatment.

For Prune fields: As soon as presence of the disease is confirmed, BURN the diseased area and a 10 ft area outside the edge of the infected stems with a hand-held burner or by placing straw on the infected area. Burn around edges of the area first, and then move into center of diseased area. You do not need to burn your whole field unless your whole field is affected by the disease. The diseased stems produce few, if any, flower buds for the crop year and burning early will help prevent spread of this disease to other areas in the field.

For Crop fields: Do NOT harvest areas with disease and do NOT move any equipment through diseased area. As soon as presence of the disease is confirmed, BURN the diseased area and a 10 ft area outside the edge of the infected stems with a hand-held burner or by placing straw on the infected area. Burn around edges of the area first, and then move into center of diseased area. You do not need to burn your whole field unless your whole field is affected by the disease.

In the Spring of Next Year: From early bloom on, check plants in infected field, particularly in the infected area, for leaf spots after the first period of 3 days of wet weather. If you see any leaf spots, apply the fungicide that will be recommended in 2010 Disease Control Guide for Wild Blueberries as soon as possible and before the next wet period.

Prepared by Dr. Seanna Annis, Blueberry Pathologist, School of Biology and Ecology, and Dr. David Yarborough, Extension Blueberry Specialist, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA with information provided by Dr. Paul Hildebrand, Plant Pathologist, Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre, Agricuture and Agri-Food Canada, 32 Main St. Kentville, NS, Canada

Estimated Water Budget July 2 to 12

2009-07-13T16:28:00.004-04:00

Tensiometers at Jonesboro, Deblois and Northfield (all sandy loams) were all reading between 9 and 12 cb around 1 PM today. Heavy rains later this afternoon are likely to lower these readings to around 5 cb or so. So soils are still plenty moist as we end the second week of July. See you all at Blueberry Hill farm day this Wednesday.

Estimated Water Budget June 25 to July 1, 2009

2009-07-02T16:33:00.002-04:00

Soils were wet but not water logged at most of my study sites as of yesterday. Tensiometers at the sandy loam and loamy sand sites all read between 8-11 cb. At one lowland site in Northfield however the water table was within approximately 2 feet of the surface. This site has shown a propensity for flooding, likely due to it's elevation, proximity to a lake and relatively fine textured soil.

With respect to the precipitation recorded for Cherryfield, my rain gauge appears to be consistent with those posted online for the immediate vicinity.

Estimated water budget June 17-24

2009-06-25T10:08:00.002-04:00

Well there's 8 days of data here instead of 7--with all of the rain lately it hardly matters. The precipitation amounts for Cherryfield in this table look a little low so I'll be checking that gauge next time I'm out there. Is the sun ever going to shine again?!!

Estimated Water Budget June 10-16, 2009

2009-06-16T16:46:00.002-04:00

Ample rain this past week replenished the soil moisture throughout blueberry country. Smooth sailing for awhile.

Estimated water budget for June 3-9, 2009

2009-06-10T09:52:00.002-04:00

In contrast to the previous week, there was little to no rain and a moderate amount of evapotranspiration at all sites for the week of June 3-9. Tensiometers and Watermark moisture probes at Blueberry Hill and other sites generally indicated that the soil was close to requiring irrigation. Due to the low temperatures and the high propability of precipitation forecast for the next few days I chose yesterday to postpone irrigation until the current front passes. I will be returning to Blueberry Hill on Friday to re-evaluate soil moisture conditions. Stay tuned.

Water budget for the week of May 27 to June 2

2009-06-03T16:25:00.002-04:00

Lots of rain and not a whole lot of evapotranspiration this past week. Tensiometers on June 2 at Jonesboro, Deblois and Jonesport all indicated plentiful soil moisture.

Blossom Blight Forecast for Friday, May 29th

2009-05-29T16:52:00.003-04:00

The rain and fog we had over May 27th to 28th was NOT long enough for infection by the Botrytis fungus that causes blossom blight. The average temperatures were about 43 to 48F and the rain was only for about 24 hours. At 46F the fungus needs at least 36 hours of rain to cause moderate to high infection. There is a very low risk of less than 10% of the blossoms becoming infected with this last wet period, and this is NOT enough to cover the cost of fungicide applications.

Any dead blossoms you are currently seeing on your plants are caused by mummy berry disease, since this fungus can attack both leaf and flower buds.

For more information on Blossom blight caused by Botrytis please see Fact sheet # 212.

Estimated Water Budget May 20-26

2009-05-27T12:56:00.002-04:00

As illustrated by the table below, the rain forecast for the next couple of days will help replenish soils that were beginning to dry. Tensiometer values in Deblois and Jonesboro were near -15 cb yesterday. We irrigate the sandy loam soils in our experimental plots at Blueberry Hill Farm when the tensiometer values there reach -20 cb, so we were getting close to a relatively early-season irrigation.

Estimated Water budget May 19-25

2009-05-26T09:09:00.004-04:00

Month Day--Machias --Newport--Ellsworth--Waldoboro--Cherryfield
.....................ET...Rain--ET...Rain--ET..Rain---ET...Rain----ET...Rain
May 19----0.09..0.01---0.11...0---0.09...0-----0.09...0------0.11...0
May 20----0.10.....0----0.11....0---0.12...0-----0.10...0------0.12...0
May 21----0.13......0----0.14...0---0.14...0-----0.13....0------0.16...0
May 22----0.12.....0----0.12...0----0.15...0-----0.13....0-----0.15....0
May 23----0.09.....0----0.10...0---0.10...0-----0.08...0------0.11....0
May 24----0.10..0.01--0.12..0.04--0.12..0.09--0.10...0.16---0.13...0.02
May 25----0.10..0.01--0.10....0---0.11..0.02---0.10...0------0.112...0

sum------0.72..0.03--0.80..0.04--0.84..0.11---0.72...0.16---0.89...0.02

Maine Wild Blueberry Irrigation Information

2009-05-20T08:50:00.004-04:00

Hello everybody. Throughout the 2009 growing season, I will be posting estimates of wild blueberry daily water use (ET) and precipitation totals for 5 sites throughout Down East, Maine. The estimates of water use given below were calculated from weather data using the Penman-Montieth reference evapotranspiration equation, with the resulting values adjusted for wild blueberry. In all cases the values are given in inches of water per day or week. Because there was generally ample rain for the first two weeks of May, those values are given on a weekly basis for illustration purposes. From this point in the growing season on, values of ET and rain will be given for each day to allow growers the ability to monitor soil water deficits as they occur. This blog will be updated 2-3 times a week. It is important to realize that the ET values given here are estimates only, and that soil properties strongly influence soil water availability (see Wild Blueberry Fact Sheet 631 http://www.wildblueberries.maine.edu/PDF/Production/631.pdf).

Machias Newport Ellsworth Waldoboro Deblois
ET rain ET rain ET rain ET rain ET rain
WEEK OF:
May 1-7 0.45 0.34 0.58 1.14 0.56 1.28 0.50 1.33 0.60 0.56

May 8-14 0.58 1.01 0.68 0.91 0.69 0.88 0.57 0.78 0.71 0.58

DAILY
May 15 0.09 0.02 0.11 0 0.11 0.01 0.09 0.01 0.12 0.02
May 16 0.08 0 0.11 0 0.10 0 0.07 0.01 0.11 0
May 17 0.08 2.13 0.09 0.31 0.09 0.87 0.08 0.66 0.09 0.36
May 18 0.06 0.12 0.07 0 0.07 0 0.06 0 0.08 0.03
May 19 0.09 0.01 0.11 0 0.09 0 0.09 0 0.11 0

Tensiometers are being installed in fields near Cherryfield and Jonesboro today, and information from these instruments will be posted here on a biweekly basis as a means of supplementing the data above.

Mummy berry forecast for Monday May 18th to Wednesday May 20th

2009-05-19T08:39:00.000-04:00

Regions near Belfast
Mummy berry cups were still producing spores before the weekend. The cups were finished by Sunday in a wet field in Belfast. This indicates the cups are probably finished in fields near this area.

Hancock and Washington counties
Mummy berry cups were still producing spores over the weekend but are starting to die off in fields near Deblois, Cherryfield and Jonesboro. The cups will likely to be finished producing spores by Wednesday in these areas, unless you have a particularly cool or wet field.
The frost forecasted for Monday night would need to be accompanied by at least 12 and up to 24 hours of leaf wetness to cause infection, which is not predicted for Monday night .
The forecast is for no significant rainfall in the next two days so there is little chance of infection periods occuring during the next two days. Fog may still cause a infection period so check Factsheet #217 for chance of infection if fog does occur in your field in the next two days.
Remember you have 7 to 10 days of protection from your last fungicide application so your plants will still be protected if you have applied fungicide on Friday May 8th or after that date.

Plan on the putting a mummy berry patch in your field this August
The only way to be completely sure of when mummy berry cups are starting to produce spores and when they are finished in your field is to put out 2 to 3 mummy berry patches in your field. Local conditions in a field can vary so we suggest multiple patches to make sure one of them works and develops cups. The patches can be close to each other (within 10 ft). We have found that slight hollows that may be damp, but are not in the route of water run-off work well. Collect about 100 mummy berries before harvest, and choose two (or three) areas of slight hollows in a field that will be in crop next year. Clear the leaf litter from each area (2" by 2") and then put down about 1/2 the mummy berries and press them into the soil with your foot. Then add about 1/4" of soil and press down some more. Mark each spot with stakes on either side so you can find them in the spring.

Any questions contact Seanna Annis via the Blueberry Hotline (disease choice).

2009-05-14T17:36:00.002-04:00

Mummy berry forecast for Thursday May 14 to Friday May 15th

Regions near Belfast, in Waldo county, Hancock and Washington counties

Mummy berry cups are still producing spores in these areas. Unfurled leaf buds and flowers are still susceptible. All leaf and flower buds are still susceptible as long as the fungal spores are present.

There has not been an infection period in any of these areas since Sunday night.

However, there is likely to be an infection period on Thursday through Friday in most areas. With the warmer temperatures, the fungus needs less length of time with plant wetness to penetrate into the plants. The temperatures are predicted to be in the low 50s to the 40s overnight on Thursday. At 43 F the fungus needs at least 10 hours of plant wetness to get into the plant, and at 50 F, at least 8 hours of plant wetness.

If you have applied fungicide within the last 7 to 10 days (Tuesday May 5 through to Thursday May 14th), your plants will still be protected during the infection period Thursday night, so you do not need to apply fungicides.
If you applied fungicides before Tuesday May 5th your plants may get infected by the mummy berry fungus during Thursday night. You have 72 hours to apply fungicide after the beginning of the infection period (rain or fog) in your field to kill off any fungus that has penetrated your plants.

Factsheet #217 has more information about the mummy berry forecasting method and lengths of time of rain or fog and temperature to have infection periods.

Factsheet #219 contains this year's recommendations for using fungicides to control mummy berry disease.

2009-05-11T17:46:00.003-04:00

Mummyberry Forecast For Monday May 11 to Tuesday May 12th.

Lincoln and Knox counties
Mummy berry cups were still actively producing spores over the weekend. There were two infection periods, one on Saturday night and one on Sunday night. The cups appear to be drying up today (Monday). The fungus probably is finished producing spores in most of these areas unless you have a particularly cool or wet field.

Waldo, Hancock, Penobscot and Washington counties
Mummy berry cups are still actively producing spores in Waldo, Hancock, Penobscot, and Washington counties. There were infection periods over the weekend in these areas.

Your plants will have been protected over the weekend if you applied fungicide on Friday May 1st or after that. The recommended fungicides will protect plants for approximately 7 to 10 days after application.
If your last application of fungicide was before May 1st, then you have 72 hours from the start of the rain or fog on Saturday evening to apply fungicide and still control the fungus. For example, if it started raining on Saturday May 9th at 7pm in your field you have until Tuesday May 12th at 7pm to apply fungicide to control the disease.

There is currently forecasted a less than 50% chance of rain on Thursday and Thursday night, so there may not be any more infection periods this week due to rain, but fog in localized areas may still be a problem.

Whether there was an infection period depends upon the length of plant wetness caused by continuous rain and fog in your area and the temperature during the plant wetness. Please check the chart in Factsheet #217 at the Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for more information on the chance of infection depending upon temperature and length of plant wetness.

Please check Factsheet #219 for current mummy berry control recommendations.

2009-05-11T13:17:00.001-04:00

2009-05-08T16:26:00.002-04:00

Mummyberry Forecast For Friday, May 8th through Sunday, May 10th.

Lincoln and Knox counties
Mummy berry cups are likely still actively producing spores particularly in northern portions of these counties and later (cooler or wetter) fields. As long as the fungus is producing spores, there is a risk of mummy berry fungus infection.

Waldo, Hancock, Penobscot and Washington counties
Mummy berry cups are actively producing spores in Waldo, Hancock, Penobscot, and Washington counties.

There have been a series of infection periods over the last 3 days. Your plants will be protected for approximately 7 to 10 days after you apply fungicide. So if you applied fungicide last week (Monday April 27 or after) your plants were probably still protected this past week (Monday May 4th through Friday May 8th).

There is rain forecasted for late Saturday through Sunday in most blueberry growing areas and if the temperature and length of rain forecasted occurs this will be another infection period for the fungus.
Remember you have 72 hours from the START of the rain/fog period to apply fungicide, if necessary, in your field.

Whether there was an infection period depends upon the length of plant wetness caused by continuous rain and fog in your area and the temperature during the plant wetness. Please check the chart in Factsheet #217 at the Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for more information on the chance of infection depending upon temperature and length of plant wetness.

Please check Factsheet #219 for current mummy berry control recommendations.

2009-05-05T15:48:00.002-04:00

Mummy berry forecast update Tuesday May 5th.
Mummy berry cups are still actively producing spores in the Union and Belfast areas, as well as most blueberry growing areas in Lincoln, Waldo, Hancock, Penobscot, and Washington counties.

Rain is forecasted for the next few days, so there will likely be another infection period in most blueberry growing areas.
Whether there was an infection period depends upon the length of plant wetness caused by continuous rain and fog in your area and the temperature during the plant wetness.
Please check the chart in Factsheet #217 at the Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for more information on the chance of infection depending upon temperature and length of plant wetness.

IF you need to apply fungicide, remember it needs to be applied within 72 hours of the START of the rain/fog period in your field to control the fungus that got into the plants during this last infection period.

Please see Factsheet #219 Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for recommended disease control methods.

2009-05-03T14:07:00.002-04:00

Mummy berry forecast update Sunday May 3rd.
Mummy berry cups are likely still actively producing spores in most blueberry growing areas in Lincoln, Waldo, Hancock, Penobscot, and Washington counties.

With the rain over Friday and Saturday, there was likely an infection period in most blueberry growing areas.
Whether there was an infection period depends upon the length of plant wetness caused by continuous rain and fog in your area and the temperature during the plant wetness.
Please check the chart in Factsheet #217 at the Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for more information on the chance of infection depending upon temperature and length of plant wetness.

If you applied fungicide approximately 7 to 10 days before (anytime from Thursday April 23rd to Friday May 1st) then your plants are STILL protected and you do NOT need to reapply fungicide for control of this last infection period.

IF you need to apply fungicide, remember it needs to be applied within 72 hours of the START of the rain/fog period in your field to control the fungus that got into the plants during this last infection period.

Please see Factsheet #219 Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for recommended disease control methods.

2009-04-29T18:45:00.003-04:00

UPDATED FORECAST FOR DOWNEAST Wednesday April 29, 2009

UPDATE:
There was a infection period due to heavy fog in the Downeast area, (Deblois, Cherryfield, Jonesboro, Jonesport) on Monday night. The fog started in most areas around 9pm and lasted to around 7am on Tuesday morning.

Mummy berry cups are present and producing spores in this area.
Please check your field to see if you have enough susceptible plants (more than 40% of random stems with flower buds are in the flower bud crown stage) to make an application of fungicide cost effective.

To control this disease you should apply fungicide within 72 hours of the START of the rain/fog period in your field. For example if you choose to apply fungicide, you have until 9pm on Thursday April 30 to control any fungus that got into the plant on Monday night. If you apply fungicide on Thursday, the fungicide will also provide protection through the predicted storm this weekend.

Remember whether infection did occur in your field will depend upon 1) how far along the plants are in your field, 2) the actual temperature during, and length of time of rain or rain and fog in your field, and 3) of course, have you had mummy berry disease in your field in previous years .

Please check Factsheet #217 at the Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for more information on the chance of infection depending upon temperature and length of leaf wetness. Please see Factsheet #219 for recommended disease control methods.

2009-04-28T11:41:00.003-04:00

UPDATED FORECAST FOR MUMMY BERRY FOR ALL REGIONS Tuesday April 28, 2009

UPDATE: Union, Rockport, Camden area.
There has been an infection period in the Union area. There was long enough rain (more than 8 hours at 48 F) over Monday night and morning for an infection period to have occurred. There are still active mummy berry cups in fields in these areas. Most plants are likely susceptible to the fungus now. To control this disease you can apply fungicide within 72 hours of the START of the rain/fog period in your field. For example if the rain started in your area at 9 pm on Monday you have until 9pm on Thursday of this week to apply fungicide to control the infection.

Belfast, Orland areas
Mummy berry cups are now active in your area. Most plants are close to or are susceptible by now.

NEW: Downeast area, (Deblois, Cherryfield, Jonesboro, Jonesport)
Mummy berry cups are just getting started in this area, but some cups are large enough to be spreading spores. Please check your field to see if you have enough susceptible plants (more than 40% of random stems with flower buds are in the flower bud crown stage) to make an application of fungicide cost effective IF an infection period occurs.

IF your plants are at the susceptible stage AND your field gets FOG you may get an infection period. Please look at the chart in Factsheet #217 to check the length of time for plant wetness and temperature during that period.

ALL AREAS
There is a chance of new infection periods sometime from Tuesday through Wednesday morning with the storm coming through. This will depend on the length of time you have rain and fog in your field and the temperature during this time. At 65 F you need 8 hours of rain and fog, but at 72 to 80 F, which is forecasted for some areas Tuesday, the fungus only needs 3.5 hours of plant wetness to get infect the plants.

You will need to keep track of the approximate length of time of continuous rain and fog in your area and the temperature during the rain and fog to tell whether your field has had an infection period.

To control this disease you should apply fungicide within 72 hours of the START of the rain/fog period in your field. For example if the rain started in your area at 5 am on Tuesday you have until 5 am on Friday of this week to apply fungicide to kill off the infection and protect your plants.

Remember whether infection did occur in your field will depend upon 1) how far along the plants are in your field, 2) the actual temperature during, and length of time of rain or rain and fog in your field, and 3) of course, have you had mummy berry disease in your field in previous years .

Please check Factsheet #217 at the Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for more information on the chance of infection depending upon temperature and length of leaf wetness. Please see Factsheet #219 for recommended disease control methods.

2009-04-27T12:47:00.004-04:00

Mummy Berry Forecast for Monday April 27 to Wednesday April 29th

For Knox, Lincoln, Waldo and southwestern Hancock.
Union, Rockport, Camden area.
There are still active mummy berry cups in fields in these areas. Most plants are likely susceptible to the fungus now.

Belfast, Orland areas
Mummy berry cups are now active in your area. And if you have an early or particularly wet field, they may have been active by yesterday (Sunday April 26th). Most plants are close to or are susceptible by now. IF your plants are susceptible, more than 40% of stems had flower buds at the crown stage (please see post on Monday April 20th on how to evaluate this).

Overall forecast for Knox, Lincoln, Waldo, southwestern Hancock
There was little chance of an infection period within the last 3 days, since few fields were likely to have rain longer than 6 hours (the minimal length of plant wetness required to get infection at 65 F). IF your field had FOG you might have had an infection period. Please look at the chart in Factsheet #217 to check the length of time for plant wetness and temperature during that period.

There is a chance of infection periods sometime within Monday night through to Wednesday morning, depending upon whether you have fog or rain in your field and the temperature. The chart below show the plant wetness up to 65 F. At 72 to 80 F, which is forecasted for some areas Tuesday, the fungus only needs 3.5 hours of plant wetness to get infect the plants.
You will need to keep track of the approximate length of time of continuous rain and fog in your area and the temperature during the rain and fog to tell whether your field has had an infection period.
IF your plants are susceptible, more than 40% of stems had flower buds at the crown stage (please see previous post on how to evaluate this), AND you have had mummy berry disease in that field before, then the fungus could have infected your plants.

To control this disease you should apply fungicide within 72 hours of the START of the rain/fog period in your field. For example if the rain started in your area at 5 am on Tuesday you have until 5 am on Friday of this week to apply fungicide to kill off the infection and protect your plants.

Remember whether infection did occur in your field will depend upon 1) how far along the plants are in your field, 2) the actual temperature during, and length of time of rain or rain and fog in your field, and 3) of course, have you had mummy berry disease in your field in previous years .

Please check Factsheet #217 at the Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for more information on the chance of infection depending upon temperature and length of leaf wetness. Please see Factsheet #219 for recommended disease control methods.

2009-04-22T07:40:00.003-04:00

Mummy Berry Forecast for Wednesday April 22nd
For Knox, Lincoln and lower Waldo county.
There has been an infection period for the mummy berry fungus in most of the region around Union, Rockport area.
IF your plants are susceptible, more than 40% of stems had flower buds at the crown stage (please see previous post on how to evaluate this), AND you have had mummy berry disease in that field before, then the fungus could have infected your plants.

With the rain and heavy fog in this area there will have been long enough period of leaf wetness for the fungus to have infected the leaf and flower buds. To control this disease you should apply fungicide within 72 hours of the start of the rain/fog period in your field on Tuesday. For example if the rain started in your area at 5 am on Tuesday you have until 5 am on Friday of this week to apply fungicide to kill off the infection and protect your plants.

Remember whether infection did occur in your field will depend upon 1) how far along the plants are in your field, 2) the actual temperature during, and length of time of rain or rain and fog in your field, and 3) of course, have you had mummy berry disease in your field in previous years .

Please check Factsheet #217 at the Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for more information on the chance of infection depending upon temperature and length of leaf wetness. Please see Factsheet #219 for recommended disease control methods.

2009-04-19T16:30:00.004-04:00

Mummy Berry Forecast for Monday April 20th to Tuesday April 21st
For Knox, Lincoln and lower Waldo county.
Mummy berry cups producing spores were found in South Hope on Wednesday April 15th. The blueberry plants were not susceptible at that time since less than 40% of stems had flower buds at the crown stage.

There is a chance of an infection period occurring around the Union area with the rain forecasted to start Tuesday night. Whether infection does occur will depend upon the actual temperature during and length of time of rain or rain and fog in your field.

Whether you need to spray fungicides for mummy berry control will also depend upon how far along your plants are. IF more than 40% of random stems (4 out of 10) in your field have buds at the crown stage (see photo) your plants are now susceptible to the fungus.

If the weather forecast suggests rain or rain and fog for longer than 10 hours you should check the forecast for the temperature during that period. AT about 36 F, 24 hours of leaf wetness is required for infection. At 43 F, only 10 hours of leaf wetness is required to cause infection.

Please check Factsheet #217 at the Wild Blueberry extension site (http://wildblueberries.maine.edu) for more information on the chance of infection depending upon temperature and length of leaf wetness. Please see Factsheet #219 for recommended disease control methods.

Welcome to the new Maine Wild Blueberries blog

2009-04-16T11:53:00.000-04:00

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