2008 Mummyberry Forecast

For all Blueberry Growing Areas - Friday, May 16, 2008

With the warm dry weather this past week the mummyberry cups have dried up and are no longer producing spores. 

For the the majority of areas, there is little chance of mummyberry infection occuring.   Fields checked this week in Belfast, Jonesport, Cherryfield, Deblois and at the Blueberry Hill Farm had no mummyberries with cups.  If your field is very wet with poorly drained soil and is downeast, there is a low possibility of the fungus still being present and a low chance of infection with the coming rain this Sunday.

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For Union and Other Blueberry Areas - Tuesday, May 13, 2008

As of May 13^th, mummyberry fungus is finished producing spores in the Union area, so there is no more risk of mummyberry infection. Other blueberry areas are still at risk for mummyberry infection.

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For All Blueberry Growing Areas - Monday, May 5, 2008

As of Thursday May 1st, all regions still had mummyberry cups producing spores so fungus can still cause infection. With the rain in the last 24 hours, all regions will have had an infection period for the mummyberry fungus.  If you have sprayed fungicide within 7 days of the start of the rain on Sunday, your field will still be protected.  If you have not sprayed in the last 7 days, if you can apply fungicide within 72 hours of the start of the rain in your field, your plants will still be protected from the mummyberry infection. For example, if the rain started around 3 p.m. on Sunday in your field if you can spray before 3 p.m. on Wednesday your field will still be protected.

Any questions, please call the blueberry hotline at 1-800-897-0757 and select #3 or 207-581-2621 for Seanna Annis.

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For All Blueberry Growing Areas - Monday, April 28, 2008

The blueberry plants in all growing areas are now at the susceptible stage and the mummyberry fungus is producing spores in all areas.  The current rain event from Monday April 28th to Wednesday April 30th will produce infection of the plants by the mummyberry fungus.

If you have already applied fungicide since Monday April 21st, your plants will be protected for this fungus.

If you have not applied fungicide since Monday April 21st, you can still protect your plants by applying fungicide within 72 hours of the start of the rain in your area.  For example, if the rain started on Monday at 5 p.m., if you apply fungicide by 5 p.m. on Thursday May 1st your field will be protected from the infection by the mummyberry fungus caused by this current rain event.

Please follow the fungicide guidelines in Bulletin 219 (2008). More information on mummyberry disease is found in Bulletin 217.

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For  Knox, Waldo and Lincoln Counties - Thursday, April 24, 2008
The mummyberries have started to produce spores in these areas. Fog events over Monday or Tuesday night may have allowed mummyberry infection to have occurred. A fog of longer than 10 hours at 36F or 8 hours at 43F would allow the mummyberry fungus to get into the plants.  IF 40% or more of the stems in your field are susceptible, and you had a fog event described above, you will need to spray fungicides.

Please look at Bulletin #217 for temperature and leaf wetness duration information. Follow the 2008 recommendations for fungicide application for mummyberry control, Bulletin #219.