MN Fruit & Vegetable IPM News - Vol. 3, No. 3

Strawberry fields across the state experienced frost on Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21. In some cases, the center of the flower is brown (see image, left). In other cases the center of the flower is a small black dot. If the center of the flower is anything other than yellow, the fruit is dead.

Strawberry flowers are more complex than the blossoms of most other fruit. In fruit like cherries and blueberries, the flower is either dead or alive after a frost. In strawberries, frost often deforms the fruit, especially if the frost occurs in late bloom. I have already seen strawberry blossoms where only half the center is black. Those fruit will be partially deformed.

Other fruit crops seemed to have survived the frost with few problems. The lower leaves of many raspberries were damaged by the frost, but the flower buds seem to be healthy. Few blueberry blossoms were damaged by the frost.

Location	Date	Stage	Strawberry Bud Weevil	Tarnished Plant Bugs
			Clipped Buds/ft	Nymphs/flower cluster	Adults in fields
Faribault	5/17	20% bloom	0	0	0
Alexandria 1	5/20	30% bloom	5	0.1	3
Anoka	5/24	20% bloom	2 (sprayed)	0.1 (sprayed)	1
Hugo	5/23	20% bloom	0	0	0
Aitken	5/20	10% bloom	0	0	0
Bemidji	5/22	No bloom	0	0	0

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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 Jean Ciborowski, 651-201-6217, jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us, MDA, 625 Robert St. North, St. Paul, MN 55155-2538. 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: http://www.mda.state.mn.us/ipm/ipmnews/

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Strawberry Update for the Week of May 22nd

Strawberry Update for the Week of May 22^nd