Wednesday, June 6, 2018

First nut entry by pecan nut casebearer


    When we scouted our trees this morning we found 3 pecan clusters infested with pecan nut casebearer larvae (3 out of 300 clusters inspected). Casebearer damage is easy to spot. The larva always enters at the base of the nut and creates a pile of brown frass in the narrow axis between the pedicel and nut (photo at right).
   We plan to spray our grove over the next few days adding an insecticide for casebearer control and a fungicide for scab control. The weather forecast for this weekend is hot and dry. To get the best spray coverage of the pecan foliage, I'll start spraying at daybreak and quit when temperatures top 80 degrees (F).