Mummy berry management in rabbiteye blueberry with chemical fungicides, 2014

摘要

Fungicides were evaluated for control of mummy berry in an experimental block of a mature (>20 yr) rabbiteye blueberry variety ('Tifblue') located near Toccoa, GA. Except for Luna Privilege 480 SC, which was applied by hand as a concentrated drench (1pint final solution applied to the area around the crown and drip line near the crown), all products were foliar-applied with a 3-gal pump sprayer (35 gal/A spray volume). Application dates were 24 Mar (green tip), 31 Mar (10-20% bloom), 8 and 16 Apr (full bloom), and 21 Apr (late bloom), though not all treatments were applied on all dates (see table below). Treatments included an untreated control, Indar (fenbuconazole) at 1/3 the labeled rate, Proline (prothioconazole), Luna Privilege (fluopyram) atgreen tip and full bloom only, and Proline + Luna Privilege alternated with Proline. Six replications of each treatment were applied in a randomized complete block design, with each plot consisting of one bush; unsprayed bushes were left between sprayedbushes. All cultural practices were in keeping with blueberry production methods commonly observed throughout the Southeast. At the full bloom stage, all of the leaves and blossoms in each plot were evaluated for disease presence (28 Apr) in order to obtain the total number of strikes per bush. At the late green berry stage, 100 asymptomatic fruit were harvested from each plot for mummy berry assessments (17 Jun); each fruit was dissected and presence or absence of fungal colonization of locules was recorded.