NC State summer vineyard tour - 27 July

NC State University grape experts will be leading a tour of muscadine and vinfera vinyards on 27 July. We'll be hosted by Cauble Creek Vineyard and Morgan Ridge Vineyard, both in Rowan County.

 I will be discussing the Grape Root Borer Volunteer Monitoring Network (GRB*VMN) and kicking off 2012 monitoring!

 Preregistration is required by 24 July. See the program below for the registration form and details on the other presenters.

North Carolina hops arthropod summary

Developing hops cones at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Lab, Raleigh, NC. Photo; HJB

In preparation for the upcoming NC State Hops Field Tour next week, I have been crunching some data from our hops observations from last year at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Lab hop yard.  The results so far have been very interesting.

Background
Our goal, as part of the larger NC State Hops Project, was to learn what arthropods (insects and mites) were present in North Carolina grown hops and which of these insects may become pests in commerical production.We knew from work in the Pacific Northwest that twospotted spider mite and hop aphid were potentially significant pests of hops that occur in North Carolina, but we didn't know what other insects pests may be present.  We utilized the research hop yard at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Lab, which included 10 different hops varieties planted in four, five plant plots, to conduct our observations.  We sampled insects and mites in two ways: 1. We collected 10 leaf samples from each plot weekly and counted the number of spider mites, predatory mites (good guys), aphids, and leafhopper nymphs, and 2. We placed a yellow sticky trap in each plot, which was changed weekly.  We then counted the number adult leafhoppers, thrips, aphids, and beneficial insects (in this case, ladybugs) on each trap.

In addition to leaf samples and trapping, we rated defoliation on plants due to caterpillar or beetle (most commonly Japanese beetle) feeding.  We visually divided the three middle plants in each plot into thirds and rated percent defoliation on the upper, middle, and lower third of each plant.  While both caterpillars and Japanese beetles were present throughout the growing season, overall defoliation was minor (less than 1% each week) and localized on the top third of plants.

One plot at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Lab, early 2011. Photo: HJB

Results
While we observed spider mites and aphids in our samples, as expected, we also observed two other groups of insects that we did not anticipate, thrips and leafhoppers, because they are not considered pests in the Pacific Northwest. 

Looking first at our leaf observations, we found differences in spider mite densities throughout the season between varieties.  We express the number of mites multiplied by the days between observations and totaled over the season as "mite days" to compare infestation over time. Click on the images below to enlarge them.

Cumulative spider mite days in hops varieties during the 2011 growing season. Centennial had far few mites than other varieties observed, with Zeus also trending lower.

While Centennial had fewer mites than other varieties, more aphids and leafhopper nymphs were present on leaf samples.  This is a very interesting difference, because foliar feeding aphids may not necessarily be problematic in hops (presence in harvested cones is the real concern) and we do not know whether leafhoppers are a pest in eastern hops or just commonly present.

Aphid and leafhoppers nymphs per leaf in foliage samples during 2011. Note that Centennial has by far the greatest numbers of either aphids or leafhopper nymphs.

While spider mites were present pretty much continuously throughout the growing season, leafhopper nymphs appeared only for a few sampling dates across all plots.  The presence of leafhopper nymphs suggests that they are reproducing on hops, which also does not seem to occur in the Pacific Northwest. Predatory mites were present in on some dates but in very low numbers, and aphid numbers were generally low across the board.

Spider mites, mite eggs, leafhopper nymphs, and aphids in leaf samples across all varieties.

The most frequently captured leafhopper species in traps was the versute leafhopper, Graphocephala versuta, a distinctive species common throughout the eastern US.  We do not know if the leafhopper nymphs present on leaves are also this species.

Graphocephala versulta. Photo via BugGuide, © Troy Bartlett

The most common insects captured overall on our yellow sticky traps were thrips.  Thrips on sticky traps cannot be identified to species, and yellow is attractive to pest and non pest thrips alike, so we cannot say if the thrips we captured were potential pests.  However, thrips were not commonly observed on leaf samples, and typical "silver-leafing" thrips damage was not observed on leaves.  Aphids were also captured on traps but were less common on leaf samples.

Insect captures in yellow sticky traps throughout the growing season, 2011.  Thrips numbers should be multiplied by ten to get the actual number observed per trap.

This first year of observations is intriguing, and I am excited to share them in greater detail next weekend!  I am also excited to compare these results to data from from other components of the NC State Hops Project, including fertility and yield (posted here).  Cascade* and Zeus were the highest yielding plants in 2011 and Zeus had low mite numbers.  Mites are attracted to and reproduce more on stressed plants, and I suspect that yield relationship is more due to the fact that these varieties were vigorously growing and generally happier in NC than the others, therefore hosting less mites.

It's very important to note that these insect observations are only from one field season, so while they are interesting, they don't necessarily tell us what to expect in the long term.  It's also important to understand that presence does not necessarily mean pest.  While we observed large numbers of thrips in yellow sticky traps, we did not necessarily see large numbers on foliage nor did we see any evidence damage, and while leafhoppers are common in and around NC hops, we do not know they are causing significant damage.

Update, 14 July
For those of you unable to attend today's field tour, you can view the slides from my presentation here.

Update, 31 July
As the commenter below pointed out, Centennial was a poor producer, while Zeus had relatively high yields.  Cascade, the other relatively strong yielding variety, had mid-range mite populations and low populations of other leaf feeding pests.

More information

Two Opportunities to Visit the NC State Research Hop Yards - NC Alternative Crops and Organics

NC State Hops Project
All hops posts - NC Small Fruit & Specialty Crop IPM

Blueberry Field Tour - May 15th

The 2011 Blueberry Field Tour will take place as the Ideal Track at the Horticultural Crops Research Station, Castle Hayne, NC on May 15th beginning at 3pm. Faculty from the Entomology, Plant Pathology, and Horticulture Departments at NCSU as well as NCDA & CS personnel will be in attendance to share information on ongoing research and extension projects.

I will be discussing our IPM program at the research station, blueberry maggot, and spotted wing drosophila monitoring and management. This last topic has become extremely important in the last week, and it's crucial that blueberry growers be prepared to detect and manage this new pest. Damage has already occurred in other southeastern states, and we have the ability to prevent similar injury in North Carolina. Hope to see many of you next Sunday!

More information
Blueberry Field Tour invitation

Spotted Wing Drosophila Workshop - March 24

The first of three spotted wing drosophila (SWD) workshops will be held next Thursday, March 24 at the Piedmont Research Station near Salisbury, NC. The workshop will run from 10am-2pm, and the program will be as follows:

SWD Identification Workshop Program
10:00-11:00 SWD Adult Biology and Identification
11:00-12:00 SWD Larval Biology and Identification
12:00-1:00 Sponsored Lunch
1:00-2:00 SWD Monitoring Demonstration

Registration is required, and the workshop is restricted to 30 participants. Priority will be given to Cooperative Extension Agents from NC, SC, and VA. Funds are available to support agent travel to the workshop.

To register for the workshop, email Hannah by Monday, March 21st.

Commercial Blackberry and Raspberry Field Day

The first NC Commercial Blackberry and Raspberry Field is being held Thursday, October 21 at the Sunny Ridge-Owls Den Farm in Lincolnton, NC from 9am to 12pm.  Antendees can rotate through a series of concurrent sessions on insect, cultural, fertility, and weed management followed by an equipment demonstration.  The program, which includes directions and presenter information can be found here.

I will be sharing information on our native caneberry pests as well as lots of updates on spotted wing drosophila.

Western NC Hops Tour handout

This past Saturday I attended the second Western North Carolina Hops Tour.  We visited 2 small, recently established hops plantings, and after the tour, I visited a third.  I'll have a longer post on the tour itself, but I wanted to share the link to the handout I prepared for this event.  It's a summary of some of the arthropods we have seen this summer in samples from hops plantings. 

This handout is designed to serve as a tool for folks with hops plantings to identify the arthropods they may see on their hops, not as an exhaustive list of hops pests or management recommendations.  It's also extremely important to make sure that the right culprit is implicated in damage seen.  One thing that was very clear on Saturday is that some hops varieties are not very happy in NC.  This is not surprising given that commerical hops varieties are adapted to the Pacific Northwest, which has very different day length and climate. Leaf and cone yellowing and drying are more likely due to senescence,  nutrient issues, water stress, or other abiotic problems than insects--certainly based on the density of arthropods observed in the planting.

Hops Tour Handout - Insect Identification in NC Hops

Tobacco Tour 2010 completed - pictures to come!

The 2010 Tobacco Tour proceeded this week Tuesday and Wednesday and visited 10 locations encompassing 20 Crop Sciences, Plant Pathology, Bio & Ag Engineering, and Entomology extension and research projects.  Over 120 people attended the eastern tour on Tuesday, and 50 people participated in the western tour Wednesday.  I, and Monique Rivera, took lots of great pictures, which I will post soon!

Reminders!

Our second SWD webinar is tomorrow at 2pm. See here for details and email Hannah for more information.

The NC State Tobacco Tour is July 19-21. Find the schedule and register here. Registration closes Friday!

NC Tobacco Tour July 19-21st

Field sites on the 2007 Tobacco Tour. This was my first official event as a new NCSU faculty member--before my official start date of Sept. 1, 2007. Photo: HJB

The NC Tobacco Tour will take place July 19-21. The Eastern NC Tour will begin with a sponsored dinner on July 19th in New Bern, NC and continue to field sites on July 20th. Our program will be presenting projects on thrips flight prediction, tobacco splitworm ecology (Monique's project), and new insecticides & threshold revisions (Richard's projects).

Our Stokes County trial location, after transplant. Photo: HJB

The Western NC Tour will take place on July 21st, and we will be visiting a lepidopteran management trial in Stokes County.

You can find all the tour details here.

NCSU Tobacco Tour Information

A successful Small Fruits Field Day

Small fruit field day attendees travel by tractor to the IR-4 blackberry planting. Photo: HJB

The 4th NCSU/NCDA & CS Small Fruit Field Day was held yesterday, June 22nd, at the Sandhills Research Station in Jackson Springs, NC. Although temperatures were in the 90s at the start of the event, we had an excellent turn out. About 175 growers, master gardeners, cooperative extension agents, research station personnel, and others joined us to learn about cultural, disease, weed, and insect management in blackberries, blueberries, and grapes. Following remarks by NCSU CALS Research Director David Smith, Assistant NCDA & CS Commissioner Richard Reich, and station superintendent Jeff Chandler, attendees were loaded onto tractor trailers and cycled through presentations by NCSU extension specialists.

Gina Fernandez, NC State Horticulture Department, fresh off sabbatical in South Africa, discussed blackberry and raspberry variety selection and cultural management. Bill Cline, NC State Plant Pathology, covered blueberry disease management. Connie Fisk demonstrated proper muscadine grape training, and Katie Jennings shared information on weed management in small fruits. Both Connie and Katie are also in the NC State Horticulture Department. Roger Batts, from the IR-4 Program, who conducts much of his work at the Sandhills Station, explained IR-4's mission (more here) and detailed the new pesticides that will be soon available due to their work.

One of the highlights of the Small Fruits Field Day is the opportunity to taste in season fruits straight off the plant! Here attendees sample Kiowa blackberries, a thorny variety known for its large fruit. Photo: HJB

In addition to these presentation, I presented 2 of the projects we are working on at Sandhills. We have a spider mite management trial which is currently underway, and we are waiting for the Japanese and green June beetles to show up for a second trial. I will be placing Japanese beetle lures this Friday to foster a population--don't try this at home!

I also described a small blackberry psyllid trial we plan to begin and out ongoing spotted wing drosophila monitoring program. You can read more about blackberry psyllid here. This is an interesting, little studied potential pest of caneberries.

The field day was sponsored by FMC, DuPont, SunnyRidge, Valent, the North Carolina Commercial Blackberry and Raspberry Growers Association, and the North American Rasberry and Blackberry Association. Thanks to these sponsors for their generous support!

Small Fruit Field Day reminder!

The NC State Small Fruits Field Day will be held June 22nd at the Sandhills Research Station, Jackson Springs, NC.  This field day will include presentations on blueberry and caneberry variety selection & culture; muscadine culture; disease, insect, and weed management; and much more.  We will also have blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries on hand to taste along with dinner, topped off with homemade blueberry ice cream.  This is always a well attended field day and will have topics of interest for homeowners, master gardeners, and growers alike.  No preregistration is required, and pesticide re certification credits will be available.

We will begin at 4pm with registration and hands on displays, and the formal program will begin at 4:30pm.

For more information
Contact Hannah Burrack or Julia Korengay  
Small Field Day post card (to print or share)

Small Fruits Field Day - June 22

The NC State Small Fruits Field Day is scheduled for June 22nd at the Sandhills Research Station in Jackson Springs, NC.  This will be a twilight meeting, beginning with dinner at 5:00pm.  The schedule is being confirmed, but will include presentations on muscadine grapes, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries from entomology (me and others), plant pathology (Bill Cline), and horticulture (lots of folks).

Muscadine Field Day a Success!

The Muscadine Field Day at Castle Hayne had a great turn out Wednesday! Even though advertising budgets are tight and the field day was only publicized electronically, about 70 growers, agents, NCDA & NCSU attendees heard talks from Jim Ballington, Barclay Poling, Connie Fisk, me, and Bill Cline.

Poling discussed pruning technics in muscadines (also in the NC muscadine production guide--which will be getting a much needed update this winter).

Bill Cline discussed late season diseases (mainly ripe rots) and some problems that are NOT disease related like the injury on these Carlos, which appears to be due to a broad mite. There's always something new to learn about!

Muscadine grapes have the fewest severe insect threats of all the crops I work on. The most common questions I get in reference to muscadines this time of year are about bees and wasps on ripe fruit. Most growers and homeowners want to know if they can treat these bees and wasps, which I highly discourage. I did manage to find some other interesting insects in the variety block (while conducting a very scientific flavor comparison).

The upper photo show a leaf roller larva (these are caterpillars which feed on leaf tissue), and the bottom photo is likely a grape berry moth larvae found inside a grape. Although grape berry moth (GBM) can be serious pests of grapes, they are generally rare in NC, and Bill says this is first he's seen in this block. I suggest that growers concerned about GBM use pheromone traps to monitor whether they are present before deciding whether to treat.

No field day would be complete without dessert! Connie provided ice cream with muscadine dessert sauce from Duplin Winery.

I'm also looking for a good grape for my yard, and Southern Home (an "ornamental" muscadine) is at the top of my list. They have interesting foliage--fig leaf in horticultural parlance--and sweet aromatic black fruit. Now to find a spot to plant one.

Tis the season for muscadines: upcoming events

A late fall shot from 2007, the last muscadines of the season hanging in there!

It's less than a week until the muscadine field day, and other muscadine events are also on deck this month. The Castle Hayne Research Station will host NCSU's annual Muscadine Field Day on Sept. 16. Morning sessions will be devoted to cultural, disease, and insect management presentations (expect lots of hands on information from me!). Following this talks, we will tour the station's muscadine trials and have the opportunity to taste test selections in the variety trial (always my favorite part).

For those of you that can't wait until next week (or can't make the trek to Castle Hayne), the State Farmer's Market in Raleigh is celebrating Grape Day on Friday, Sept. 11th. Rounding out the month, the NC Muscadine Festival will take place Sept. 26th in Kenansville, NC.

Connie Fisk, NC Extension Associate for muscadine grapes, maintain a great website with this information and more.