Degree accumulations are very high, and last night's thunderstorms provided ample wetting to wash the bacteria into the apple blossom nectaries. Out in Force Scab pressure is very high. These 2 facts put central and eastern MA right in the middle of the accelerated phase of ascospore maturation, and western orchards are not far behind. The bad news is that last night's rainfall may have been long enough to cause an infection period. We don't have that data yet and the storm seems to have been patchily distributed across the region.
Peaches are also at petal fall and brown rot risk is currently high.
Healthy Fruit is written by Dan Cooley, Ron Prokopy, Jon Clements, Starker Wright, Arthur Tuttle, Wes Autio, and Duane Greene except where other contributors are noted. Publication is funded in part by the UMass Extension Agroecology Program, grower subscriptions, and the University of Massachusetts IPM Program. A text version can be e-mailed to you if you contact Doreen York . Please cite this source if reprinting information.