It’s a short one this week!
With regard to cranberry bloom progression, we have had growers telling us that they are seeing a lot of variability in the field - with some beds still at hook or scattered bloom while others are already setting fruit. In some cases, even the same variety is looking remarkably different across different sites.
Many growers have already started making fruit rot fungicide applications (beginning at 10-50% through bloom). Remember that the Keeping Quality Forecast this year is “Very Poor”. Growers have been mixing phosphonate fungicides (like Rampart) with Quadris Top or Proline. It is unclear if there is an added boost for fruit rot prevention from mixing (there is some evidence there may be), but it does allow growers to target both diseases with a single spray.
The honeybees have arrived, and along with the bumbles are out there working. Many growers have found active scale crawlers and are managing this pest. Cranberry fruitworm moths are flying around but remember they need slightly sized up pinheads to lay their eggs on! Time your Altacor application for fruitworm at 50% “Out of Bloom” (OOB) for most cultivars, especially those that have quickly sizing fruit. To calculate the % OOB, the number of fruit (including pinheads) is divided by the number of hooks (fruit, pinheads, flowers, and pods) and multiplied by 100. See this article for more details on the calculations.
If you plan on making an early fruit set fertilizer application at 75% through bloom, some varieties (especially on newer beds) may be getting close!