The UF/IFAS Blueberry Breeding Program has released a new pesticide module as part of its UF/IFAS Blueberry Growers Guide app. This new module is a quick reference guide for certain information on pesticides labeled for highbush blueberry in Florida, including:
As late spring and early summer approach, it’s time to start thinking about managing chilli thrips. This has been reported as the most significant insect pest on blueberries in Florida, often taking repeated applications of different insecticides to achieve and maintain control.
The UF/IFAS Blueberry Breeding Program is releasing a new pesticide module on February 6, as part of its UF/IFAS Blueberry Growers Guide app.
Are they right for me?
December – January
Botrytis blossom blight is an early-season disease impacting southern highbush blueberries. Although not frequently observed causing severe damage in Florida fields most years, infections starting during bloom can later develop into gray mold, which has become an important postharvest disease. The fungal pathogen, Botrytis cinerea, typically infects wounded or senescent floral tissues. As a blueberry bush blooms, white bell-shaped corollas (the fused petal of the flowers) should drop from the flower following pollination but before they senesce (turn brown). However, frost damage can wound plant tissues, delaying petal drop and facilitating infection of the flowers, undeveloped fruit, and damaged twigs and leaves. The pathogen survives in these dead and wounded plant tissues on the blueberry bush and on nearby weedy plants as well. Spores from these sources are abundantly produced when cool, wet periods occur during blueberry bloom through harvest.
This year is one of transition for the FBGA Board membership. Several old hands who have guided us through challenging years are stepping down to focus on other important obligations with their endorsement of the concept that new board members bring new perspectives and ideas to refresh the board and broaden its inclusion of other growing regions.
Proper Irrigation Is Critical for Blueberries in Late Winter and Spring
Virtually all blueberry fields in Florida are subject to late winter or early spring freezes that can cause serious reductions in yield. Below is a list of activities for freeze preparation. The list was originally published by Mike Mainland in the North Carolina Blueberry News, Vol. 7, No. 1and has been modified by IFAS faculty and FBGA board members.
The blueberry bud mite (Acalitus vaccinii (Keifer), is an important pest of southern highbush blueberry in Florida. It belongs to a group of microscopic mites known as eriophyid mites. Adults are about 200 microns long, cigar-shaped, wormlike in appearance, transparent and mostly colorless, and disperse primarily by air. All four life stages of the blueberry bud mite live together in large clusters within the scales of the blueberry bud and reproduce there rapidly, with each female laying up to 200 eggs. The length of time to mature from egg to adult is approximately 15 days at 66°F (19°C). The bud mite population has been observed to peak as early as February in Florida, then decline during the hot summer months of June through September. During fall and early winter, all four life stages can be present in low numbers between the scales of dormant floral buds.
The UF/IFAS blueberry breeding program has developed many southern highbush blueberry cultivars, which make up most of the commercial production acreage in Florida today. In 2021, the program released “Sentinel,” a vigorous, early-season, high-yielding cultivar that has scored high in consumer taste panels. It has performed well in both North-Central and Central Florida trial sites, and trials are being conducted in South-Central Florida to determine its production in that region.
As we rang in the new year, many of us were thankful that Jack Frost was no longer nipping at our nose … or crops, for that matter.
December – January
As 2022 comes to a close, the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) is preparing to launch a number of promotion programs to help ensure a successful 2023 for the blueberry industry!
Thursday, March 9, 2023
The evergreen production system for southern highbush blueberry (SHB) is used extensively in the south-central and central regions of Florida. Under this system, blueberry plants do not go dormant and are harvested early in the season. One of the primary management requirements in the evergreen system is to keep the foliage healthy and intact through the harvest season. A significant challenge to accomplishing this is fungal leaf disease, especially rust. This article will provide some background and information on this disease, as well as a suggested fungicide program to minimize the incidence and severity of rust.
By now I hope you have scheduled a day to join your fellow Florida Blueberry Growers at our Fall Conference and Trade Show on October 20. If you come, you’ll get to meet with fellow growers with whom you have a great deal in common. They share many of the same challenges and rewards of growing blueberries in Florida that you do. You’ll learn about the latest research and advice from experts that are targeted specifically to growing blueberries successfully in our climatic conditions. I promise you’ll get more out of your participation at the conference than it costs you in the small amount of time and expense you invest.
