Dr. Tree Fruit and Don
This podcast focuses on providing timely commercial tree fruit production advice for beginning industry professionals and seasoned growers. Educators from Penn State Extension and faculty from Penn State University’s horticulture, entomology, and plant pathology departments drop in to give insights and observations about what is going on in the orchards.
Dr. Tree Fruit and Don
Season 6, Episode 18 - Dry Fall, Fast Maturity
Kari, Greg, Shan and Don share a fast, practical harvest update focusing on EverCrisp and Fuji maturing ahead of color and what that means for storage. We also cover late pest pressure, storage rot prevention, and label uncertainty.
Photo Credit: Lindsay Brown, Penn State
Music Credit: “The Raven and the Swan” by Josh Woodward is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License. Courtesy of FreeMusicArchive.org
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Flight Seasonalities of Main Fruit Pests During the Growing Season
Alright, welcome back once again, everybody. I'm Don Seafert. It's the Dr. Tree Fruit and Don podcast. It is Thursday, October 2nd. I am here with Dr. Carrie Peter. Say hi, Carrie.
SPEAKER_00:Hi there.
SPEAKER_03:Dr. Greg Kralchek. Say hi, Greg. Hello, everyone. And Dr. Sean Kumar. Say hi, Sean.
SPEAKER_01:Hello, everyone.
SPEAKER_03:So it seems like today might be a pretty quick update, even though we haven't talked in a while. It's been pretty dry. So I know Carrie, you said you don't have a ton necessarily to talk about. But we will start with Sean. And Sean, I guess you probably want to give us an update kind of where we're at on harvest and where things are moving along.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Thanks, Don. Yeah, following up on what Don said, I think it's been very dry. We had uh one or two showers uh, you know, once a week or something last week and this week. And so that has given us some respite. But the uh lack of water has had effects on sizing, fruit sizing, especially towards our uh mid-varieties. Uh, we have we are seeing some issues in sizing, but overall, this year still seems to be a very good crop year for apples in general in Pennsylvania. And I just wanted to uh kind of give you an overview of where the seasons are. Most people are uh still finishing up picking their reds, and they should be done this week, or or some people might have finished last week, some people, some people might finish next week. But we're closing in on finishing up the reds, and we're slowly moving towards some of the later varieties. And so I just want to quickly touch base on our maturity reports and see where some of the varieties are at. In Adams County, we tested Evercrisp, uh, which is currently at a start of five. So they are ready to be harvested. In fact, uh I think it's best to harvest them now before you have uh something like a rain shower, especially after such a long period of drought. Then they the Evercrisp is one of those varieties that is prone to cracking. It is better to harvest them slightly earlier between uh starch index of four to five uh max. Don't let it go past five. And so it's important to harvest Evercrisp. It's probably going to be two or three picks for Evercrisp because only the first pick is ready, as far as we've seen in one or two orchards, uh, that there seems to be a big gap between the first pick of Evercrisp and then the following picks. So just to be aware that you might not be ready for Evercrisp now, uh, or some orchards, Evercrisp was ready even last week. Uh, but those first pick apples, it's very important to pick them now because uh in Adams County in the orchard we tested, they were already at a starch index of five. Uh uh good size, like they were three three inches, a little bit over three inches, and the color development was not as much, so it is only at 50%. So the natural inclination is to wait for the color to develop in Evercrisp uh because we want better color. Uh and so the natural tendency is to wait, and the fruit will also then increase its maturity and it'll be sometimes it can reach six, which which at that point it is overmature. Although it can still store for a few months, Evercrisp it can store for a few months just in regular cold storage. It's important to keep note that they might not store well in uh for longer than January, longer than uh if you want them to store that long. So it's important to harvest them at the right stage. Although this is one of those varieties that is notorious for waiting uh for color development in order to pick your apples. So uh Evercrisp is one of those varieties where you can try some of the color improvement uh techniques. One is extending uh that you could use like three to four weeks before harvest, and uh and so that is something that uh has been done in Evercrisp and it's it's been shown that it really helps improve color so that you're not waiting for them to develop color uh and in the meantime losing storage capacity for those apples. Now moving on to Aztec Fuji, which was the second variety that we tested in Adams County, they seem to be moving along quite fast as well. When they were tested on the 21st of September, they were only at a starch index of 3.3, but they've moved to a starch index of 5.2 when they were tested a few days ago. And so the Aztec Fuji's again are moving quite fast, and uh they have really good bricks. And uh the red color again is at a similar stage as the Evercrisp, a little bit higher at close to 60%. So there is still room for color development in Aztec Fuji, but the same uh I'm emphasizing this because uh we are noticing a lot of this happening in uh Adams County and surrounding countries that where we are for we are uh growers are being forced to wait for color development uh while sacrificing on uh the maturity. And so this is again another example where they're already at a starch index of five, Aztec Fuji, at least the first pick is, and so uh it's important to harvest them uh depending on how you plan to store them. It's important to think about that. And Fuji is something that you know it's good to be harvested at four, maximum five, and they should be harvested by then. And so uh it's important again to think about uh ways in which you can increase color for Fuji. And uh with Nitney, they're still at 2.8 starch, and so there's still some time for them to develop, and uh they're still maintaining a firmness of 20 pounds, and so there's still some time. Fuji's also has a uh decent firmness of about 18 to 19 pounds, and so uh they still have if you absolutely have to wait for a week uh for them to develop more color, I think it should be fine, especially for short-term storage, uh two, three months. I think that should be fine. Uh, but if you're storing for longer, especially past January, uh you really have to pay attention to the storage and furnace to make sure that you're harvesting at the right time, irrespective of whether they've developed that color or not. So that was for Adams County. Now, uh excuse me, in Burks, where Don you tested uh similar varieties, Evercrisp and Fuji. Uh similarly, actually, this is a funny story when Don brought the uh starch index values last week. This was 22nd of September, uh, the starch index was approximately five and a half or to five point eight for Evercrisp. And I was shocked. And in fact, I told Don, Are you sure this is Evercrisp? And then he confirmed, yes, this was Evercrisp. So it seems like there is an early crop of Evercrisp that's almost two to three weeks ahead of uh the rest of the apples on the tree. That could uh relate to when we had the frost or also relate to thinning practices that could have resulted in this sort of a wide difference between the first pick and the following picks. But uh just a good example to keep note of some of your apples where you're expecting to harvest them sometime in the second week, third week of October, but they might be ready two, three weeks earlier just because of the conditions of that year, at least for the first pick. And so uh on average, Evercrisp, it seems to be uh hovering around four to five uh storch index. And so it's good to keep track of that as well as Aztec Fuji, where it is at a similar stage to uh to Adams County, really, in terms of firmness and sorry, in terms of starch index. And so these two varieties are something to keep note of. Uh Granny Smith was also tested in birds, and so we're seeing that uh they still have some time to develop. Uh they have a starch index of 2.5, they still have uh probably a few weeks, and uh depending on where you plan to use it for storage. So if they are for long-term storage, then the grannies need to be harvested uh somewhat soon, like sometime next week, week after. And if they are more for short term within the next few months, you still have some leeway for granny Smith. And uh uh I did want to mention specifically a little bit more about Evercrisp, but we're the other issue that we're noticing in Evercrisp and is water core. Uh so water core is one of those uh physiological disorders that you could potentially see when you have a drastic change in the weather. For example, we've had such a dry period uh this August, even though we had cool weather, we it was accompanied by dry weather because we didn't have any rain, and then we had one or two showers last week, this week, and uh even before. And so that kind of drastic change in uh the water status can result in uh the sudden accumulation of uh sugars and sugars in the fruit in a particular area and then cause water core. And but it is if for Evercrisp, uh while there is some cause for worry, you don't have to worry too much because sometimes the water core sort of dissipates during storage, because if it's given enough time, sometimes and if it's not as severe, sometimes these sugars are able to dissipate into the surrounding uh surface and uh surrounding parts of the fruit where the sugars are not concentrated. Uh, and so they're able that diffuses over time sometimes during storage. So uh just something to keep note of, especially if you have a rain forecast uh in in say in a week or so, and you think that they're at a starch of four or four or five. Uh the all the always the safest thing to do is to harvest them before, especially if you have had such a dry spell of so anything that is mature or overmature, uh especially like Evercrisp, they are prone to cracking. And so uh there is potential to see that. So it's just important to keep note of that. Aztec Fuji is being harvested in Adams County right now, and so uh we are still in the thick of harvest with some of our mid to late season varieties. And uh that's all I have as an update. Uh Don, if you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise, I think we are good.
SPEAKER_03:No, that sounds really good. Thanks for the uh update and the clarification on uh some of the stuff. And yeah, no, the uh conversation we had last week about the Evercrisp was really funny because I was like, no, I'm I'm very confident that was an Evercrisp block, but I'll I'll call him and and yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because I couldn't believe that they were close to six. Six is basically overmature, and this was like 21st of September, and so there's just shows like every year, depending on the thinning regimen on when you get frost. Sometimes you can have the first and second-third picks be so widely variable in Evercrest.
SPEAKER_02:Oh well, it's October. It is the reason I'm saying this is the weather, it's still not like in October. However, most of the insects are done with their activities for the season. I mean, one thing is that OFM will probably be active for some time, you know, if we have at least like for this weekend, you know, we're talking about 80s, back to 80s, so we might still see some OFM flying, but I think this is really something that should not really be of big concern unless there was a big problem earlier on. The only insect that actually will still benefit from those 80s or 70s in the weather is brown marmorated singback. Um we are right now at the point when adults are trying to get as many resources as possible and get ready to survive the winter. Because of this, and because of the good quality food that they can find in the orchards, they basically can actually still cause damage. So you might start seeing injury right now, and if you do on some of the cultivars that you're harvesting, it means that the injury actually happened in sometime in mid-September. And the same since, you know, again, I don't know how much we can trust the forecast, but right now it looks like for the next two weeks the forecasts stay on the warm side with no rain and so on. So if some of those cultivars are expected to be in the orchard, you know, for another two, three weeks, and you either trap and see that the BMSB is around, or you know, from the past, from the history that this block or that block was specially prone to show the injuries. It's still possible to control them with insecticides. I mean most of the effective insecticides have 14-21 days PHI, which I think it's a little bit too long, and especially what Sean was mentioning about uh harvest coming slightly earlier than normal and somehow being unpredictable. But if you really need to control BMSB and you feel because they are close to woods, or you can see a lot of them most neonicotinoids fail, delay, admire pro, they have seven days PHI. So those are really the only tools that are left to control brown marmorated thingbug adults. Uh we have this project funded by Sharp this year where we're trying to again go back to nets, the insecticide treated nets, and we started it late, but we still have those nets in the field. And this week counts uh two, three hundred dead adult stinkbags per net since last week. So this tells you that some locations, and this is not everywhere, because we also have location when we're talking maybe 10, maybe 15 per trap, but some locations are getting those 200, 150, 300 adults per week. So it means they are out there, they are feeding, they're feeding very actively because, like I said earlier, they have to get enough food, build enough fat bodies so they can survive the winter, so they can be active in the spring. But it's a it's a really judgment call and how much you worry about it, and what is the purpose for the fruit. You know, fresh market is one thing, uh, processing might be another thing. The shortest pH i is seven days. And again, those are only neonicotinoids. Acyl, belay, admire pro. So those are the things to think about eventually when you have time dealing with it when at the same time you are harvesting fruit. Uh, another thing I want to mention today, and this is just to clarify something. Uh back in 2024, when we learned in the spring that yes, we can start using chloropyriphos again, there were those basically four formulations that were still on the market that were available. And they at the time EPA ruling was that remaining remnants can be used until June 30th, 2025. So what it means is if you still have it most likely it is illegal to use it. I'm using the phrase most likely because I was just trying to find the label on the web, and there is not a single one left that you can find on the web, which kind of suggests that the June 30th was never extended and Lord's Ban is no longer a viable. Saying this, there was another ruling at some point, but I didn't get to it this morning when I was trying to prepare for this call, that was saying that something might be a viable longer. Uh I will try to clarify it and make sure before our next uh update, and so we'll have the final update about Chlorpyreforce. But if you anyone of you still have pilot Chlorpyriphos 4E, LambdaForce or Warhawk, just make sure that you it's still legal to use it. And at this moment I don't have this information. The last information I had say it is illegal to use it because the remament's supposed to be used before June 30th of this year. So those are the only two updates I have about insect right now. Uh I don't know if there are any questions, Don, or anyone else?
SPEAKER_03:No, that was I I think the uh Corpyrophos kind of clarification, because I know we had touched on that last time we had talked.
SPEAKER_02:Uh I think that's like a super, super helpful clarification because I know that was kind of muddied last time, and and again, I will try to have this final I I will basically check check with uh someone from the pesticide uh office at EPA or USDA to make sure that we understand it correctly because that was out, back in, out again, then there was a timing, and at this moment I don't know what is the final version of it. But I I will have it for the next update. So awesome.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, really appreciate it. And uh last but not least, Carrie.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, well, so uh I think the last time we had an episode was in August, I believe. And so in August, we at least in Adams County we had a total a whopping total of 2.18 inches, and I know at least half of that came one day in the middle of the month, and um so and then in September we had even less rain, and that was 1.59. Again, this is in Adams County, and again, one inch of that came all in one day, and so as far as where we stand disease-wise, I would still encourage growers to make sure that any fruit that is destined for some kind of length of storage, that they should hopefully have a semi quasi-fresh fungicide spray on it right before they harvest. And I'm thinking of some of these later varieties like Aztec Fuji, even Evercrisp, um, Pink Lady that's coming up. Um, you know, even though we haven't had a lot of rain, that fungicide that you may have applied in August, and you feel like you can really stretch your fungicide sprays now due to the lack of rain, it is still going to degrade and break down because UV is a great degrader of pesticides. Uh so I would highly encourage you and and also uh you know extend the advocacy beyond the packers because I know the packers want their growers to have a fungicide spray close to near harvest. So the fungicide sprays that are ideal are stuff like Marivon that has a zero-day PHI, Luna Sensation is a 14-day PHI, flinxra is a 14-day pH i. The strobularin, the frac 11, in those products is pretty potent when it comes to suppressing a lot of these storage rots that could possibly pop up, um, that could possibly be latent. And that's what I'm really concerned about is some of these later varieties going into storage, possibly with not much on them, based on what happened early in the season. So even though it's been dry in August and September, I think the damage may have been done with regards to any kind of rot having a late possible latent infection. And so uh we had a very wet May, June, and July. Uh, and so then of course the spigot just sort of sort of turned off. But just as a word of the wise, and you know, try to get out there. Uh, I I've have not heard many sprayers out there in Adams County. I mostly see a lot of the bins in the orchard, so I can definitely understand why people aren't spraying. But uh I I would encourage I would encourage you to um um I would encourage you to make sure that you have um something on your trees. Uh with that said, uh I right before we started today's podcast, we were talking about some varieties having potential cracking, like on the shoulders, near the stem, and possibly rot starting there. Another reason to possibly have a control of fungicide on the fruit to sort of limit that potential of rots. And this is especially important if any of your fruits are destined for processing, especially if you are still wanting to push and move those fruit that could potentially have cracking that may not be ideal for fresh market. It's going to processing, all the more reason to make sure you have some kind of fungicide on those fruits. Um, so that's, I mean, it's been pretty quiet. It's been pretty slow. Um, we've been rating our um field trials that we've been doing as far as product trials, and I am seeing a lot of really unusual spots that have given me pause. Um, some of it, I think it might be late season apple scab, but maybe something else. Um, not quite sure yet. We're we're actually growing some of this uh fungi out to see what's going on. So I don't know if there's something new that this season has brought. We shall see. Um, but um, but that's about it as far as my update. But to sort of follow up on the conversation of the pesticides and pesticide label registrations, just to kind of give a quick update of what I know about your Xyram, your thyram, your furbam, your Mankazeb, your captain, all those broad spectrum fungicides have been under um re-registration review over the last two years. And all I can say is that nothing has been finalized, finalized, like a final ruling for anything. Xiram, thyram, and furbam have been proposed to have the registrations revoked. Uh, but there's not a final, there's nothing finalized about that. So um, and less that's in the last month. And and because when I was uh we were in the midst of uh revamping and updating the tree fruit production guide for the next round of edits, uh, I basically included in everywhere how everything is as of August 2025, things are are basically proposed to be canceled. I do know that Xyram is still out there and that you are still able to be using it this year. Uh, but that's about it. That's all I know. Nothing's been finalized. And as far as when we're supposed to hear something official, official, uh, the EPA said the end of this year, maybe the beginning of 2026. So time will only tell. So the second I know, I will make sure to put up an update about those broad spectrum fungicides. Uh uh as far as what we know at the moment. I know um Mangazeb and Captan definitely were being scrutinized a little more closely, um, especially for apples with regards to maybe more PPE or additional PPE, re-entry times being extended, pre-harvest intervals being extended, and such that, but nothing has been nothing's been mentioned, nothing has been updated. So unfortunately, that is where things stand with those broad spectrum fungicides. But um, but just stay on alert and hopefully in a few months we will have something official to report. That's it. Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Sounds good. And I know this is probably gonna be our last one for a little while, uh, until we kind of do an end of season thing. Because I know Carrie, you and Greg said that it's gonna be hopefully fingers crossed, pretty quiet for you guys.
SPEAKER_00:Uh until Yeah, hopefully we'll see. I mean, it's calling for I see rain is forecasted for the sixth, I think, but that's just one day.
SPEAKER_03:One day, one single day.
SPEAKER_00:I I I will also say that people should still be mindful of the conditions because you just never know. And um, you know, it might be dry the rest of the month and it might be a repeat of September and August. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So, but we we're gonna do like a big kind of overview of the season uh in November, and um yeah, I'm kind of looking forward to that. And uh I those of you that signed up to do uh a grower QA, uh that is still on the docket. I just need to uh actually sit down and and get a hold of you guys. So um cool. Thanks everyone for jumping on here this morning. I will try and get this edited really quick so folks can be listening to this. And thank you guys so much for jumping on, and thanks everybody for listening. So say goodbye, everybody.
SPEAKER_00:See you later. Thank you. Bye.