Thursday, June 9, 2016

Spraying for pecan nut casebearer

    We began spraying for pecan nut casebearer this morning (photo at right). After discovering 1% cluster damage yesterday and checking the weather forecast for the next week, I decided we better get started.
    Temperatures for today (June 9) thru Sunday ( June 12) are predicted to reach the low 90's each afternoon. Insect development is stimulated by warm temperatures so this year's casebearer infestation should build quickly. In addition, rain is forecast for early next week so I added a fungicide to this spray to provide protection against infection by pecan scab.
    For casebearer control, I decided to use up some of the insecticides we had on hand. Part of the orchard will be sprayed with Eraser (Chloropyrifos) and part with Warrior II (lambda-Cyhalothrin). For a fungicide, we applied Quilt which has two active ingredients: propiconazole and azoxystrobin. We also added a non-ionic surfactant to the spray tank.
   We like to get started spraying as early in the morning as possible. At this time of day, the winds are calm and the humidity is high. Both of these factors contribute getting better coverage of the leaves throughout the entire tree canopy. You can see in the photo above that early morning spraying creates a mist that swirls through the canopy covering both upper and lower portions of the leaves.