Ohio

North-central Ohio Apple and Peach IPM Programming

Principal Investigator:

Ted W. Gastier, OSU Extension, Huron County

Cooperating Investigators:

Dr. Celeste Welty, Extension Entomologist
Dr. Michael Ellis, Extension Plant Pathologist

Scout Technicians:

Eugene Horner, Extension Program Assistant
James Mutchler, Extension Program Assistant

Abstract:

Sixteen apple growers and nine peach growers enrolled 25 apple blocks and nine peach blocks in the 2002 North-central Ohio Tree Fruit IPM Program. This program, now completing its 12th year, provided weekly orchard visits during the growing season for the purpose of monitoring arthropod pest populations as well as beneficials. The reports generated by these visits were intended to provide growers with a tool for making judicious orchard management decisions for environmentally and socially acceptable fruit production while providing sustainable income for the grower families. Tree fruit production in five counties, representing approximately 700 acres, was included in this program.

Methods:

Apple pests, including codling moth, lesser appleworm, obliquebanded leafroller, Oriental fruit moth, redbanded leafroller, and spotted tentiform leafminer populations were monitored with "Multipher 3" pheromone traps. San Jose scale populations were monitored with tent pheromone traps. Apple maggot flies were trapped with essence-baited red spheres. Other pests, including apple rust mite, European red mite, green apple aphid, potato leafhopper, rosy apple aphid, white apple leafhopper, and wooly apple aphid were monitored by visual observation of five trees in each block. Populations of beneficials, including brown lacewings, cecidomyid and syrphid fly larva, green lacewings, Multicolored Asian lady beetle, native lady beetles, predatory mites, and Stethorus punctum were noted during the same visual observations.

Peach pests, including lesser peachtree borer, Oriental fruit moth, peachtree borer, and redbanded leafroller were monitored with "Multipher 3" pheromone traps. Other pests, including European red mite, green peach aphid, and two-spotted spider mite were monitored by visual observation of five trees in each block. Populations of beneficial arthropods were visually monitored.

Weekly orchard reports were compiled and included in the Ohio Fruit ICM News published weekly (in season) and distributed by surface and e-mail. The Fruit ICM News was also posted to the Internet by Bruce Eisley at this site: http://ipm.osu.edu/fruit/index.html IPM funding helped support a part-time secretary, Cathy Weilnau, who prepared the newsletter for distribution.

Results & Discussion:

The 2002 growing season was successful in spite of hot, dry weather during late June through August. However, the apple harvest yielded an unusual amount of fruit damage attributed to codling moth. The CM management regimen, based on the Michigan degree-day model, is now being challenged in Ohio as well as other mid-west apple producing states. The possibility of lesser appleworm or Oriental fruit moth damage has been discounted by careful identification of trapped adults.

Enrolled growers have been saving an average of two cover sprays each year through this program. In the past, some growers have suggested a 2500% return on their investment of program fees through cost reduction of materials, grower application time, and machine costs. We will need to more thoroughly examine optional management materials and application scheduling in light of this year's codling moth damage and resultant fruit losses.

Particular attention was paid to lady beetle populations after the 2001 invasion of Multicolored Asian Lady beetle (MCALB) into ripening peach fruit. Soy bean fields near or adjacent to orchard blocks were noted early in the season and observed for soybean aphid populations as a pre-cursor to MCALB. Interestingly, few if any soybean aphids ever appeared and populations of MCALB were greatly reduced in the monitored orchards (as well as other locales). Native lady beetle populations had also decreased, but not to the extent that MCALB had. We are hopeful that the natives can remain established and return to populations observed during the first ten years of this program. Populations of Stethorus punctum were smaller than usual probably due to low European red mite pressures.

For further information contact Ted Gastier Ohio State University Extension, Huron County or the Ohio IPM Office.

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