It was a bit of a weird start to the season, with a lot of cool temperatures, resulting in a slow progression in both the development of highbush blueberries and apothecia cups that result in infection of monilinia blight (mummy berry). Farms should have put on 2-3 protectant sprays that would have protected the plants for the length of the infection period.
Most, if not all varieties should now be at or beyond F2 (Figure 1 and 2), and with the most recent stretch of dry conditions (25 May, 2020) there should be limited risk of monilinia blight infection periods.
Sajid is reporting from his monitoring that apothecia cups (the fruiting bodies that produce the infection spores) have dried up, eliminating the risk for infection (Figure 3).
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| Figure 1. Floral bud development in early maturity variety. |
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| Figure 2. Floral bud development in late maturity variety. |
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| Figure 3. Dried apothecial cups of mummy berry. |
Stay tuned to the
Berry Blog as we continue to monitor plant and pest development throughout the season.
