Disease Management

  • As blueberry development is currently in full swing, it is a good time to review some aspects of the mummy berry situation from spring 2014. Where fungicide applications were minimal or absent in 2013 and 2014, mummy berry was back with a vengeance (Fig. 1); this included some organic sites. However, most producers seem to…

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  • We have not had a major freeze on our rabbiteye blueberries, and I am hopeful that cold damage will be minimal this year. Cold damage (even a light frost) substantially increases the likelihood of mummy berry disease. However, even without cold damage, we still have rainfall and temperature conditions that can combine to increase infection…

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  • The following information applies to our major commercial blueberry production region in the southern part of the state, but other parts of the state will soon progress into a timeframe in which mummy berry disease could be an issue. Based on the best information we can derive from the literature at large, cold-damaged, exposed tissue…

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  • Proline (prothioconazole), a Bayer product, has been registered for blueberries. This is another demethylation inhibitor (DMI), FRAC Group 3 fungicide – similar to Indar, Orbit, and Quash, though it is listed in a triazolinthione chemical group, as opposed to a triazole group. In Georgia, we do not have blueberry research data with this fungicide, but…

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  • Last year, I visited a blueberry site with significant mummy berry pressure in one of our southern Georgia counties.  Based on the producer spray records, the materials applied and application timings were on target; there initially appeared to be no good reason for the level of mummy berry observed – assuming all was accurate.  At…

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  • Exobasidium leaf and fruit spot has been an infrequent and geographically dispersed disease of blueberries in the Southeast.  However, during the 2011-2013 harvest seasons, we have had frequent reports of the disease in rabbiteye and highbush blueberries. Although scattered, where Exobasidium leaf and fruit spot occurs it can cause significant losses (60-70% in specific locations),…

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