In this Issue:
VEGETABLE NEWS
STRAWBERRY NEWS
APPLE NEWS
Excerpt from: When to Prune Out Fire Blight: To Prune or Not to Prune
Weekly Trap Counts: July 11 - July 21, 2005
PLEASE NOTE: The Newsletter will not be published for the next 2 weeks. The next Newsletter will be available on August 12.
| Vol 2 No.11 | July 25, 2005 |
When to Prune Out Fire Blight: To Prune or Not to Prune
Mark Longstroth, Extension Educator, Van Buren County
(From: Fruit Crop Team Alerts from Michigan State University - Vol. 20, No. 10, June 14, 2005)
Below is an excerpt from a Michigan State article on fire blight (Erwinia amylovora). The article is well worth reading in its entirety and is available at: http://www.ipm.msu.edu/CAT05_frt/F06-14-05.htm. The article provides a great deal of very useful information about this important apple disease. The web site also includes links to other fire blight articles and references.
The question of pruning out fire blight strikes during the growing season, leaving them until the winter or using the "ugly stub method," has long been debated. The answer to this question depends upon the number of strikes and the weather conditions suitable for infection. While growers usually consider pruning out blight when it is severe, I think the greatest benefit comes from pruning out blight in years when there is only a little blight. Under dry conditions when only a few strikes occur, immediately pruning down to non-infected two-year-old wood will reduce the potential spread of the disease. This strategy also works when infections are light or are located in only an isolated area of the orchard. (See web site for complete article.)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Co-Editors: Bill Hutchison (hutch002@umn.edu), Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, Jeanne Ciborowski, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Ag. Resources Management and Development Division, and Suzanne Wold-Burkness (woldx018@umn.edu), Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota
The Newsletter is published weekly from May through August, cooperatively, by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the University of Minnesota (U of MN). Reports are posted on the U of MN and MDA web sites on Fridays. If you have suggestions and/or comments, please send your contributions by 4 p.m., Wednesday to Jeanne Ciborowski, 651-297-3217, jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us , MDA, 90 W. Plato Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55107-2094. You can access the Newsletter at the U of MN web site in htm format at: www.vegedge.umn.edu/MNFruit&VegNews/mnindex.htm and at the MDA web site in pdf format at: www.mda.state.mn.us/biocon/fruitreports/
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