Blackcurrant scouting round #8

This will be the last industry scouting report for the season. The main questions pest-wise for post harvest are:

1. When are the scale crawlers active?
2. Are the predators going to take care of the spider mites?

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We now know that scale crawlers are currently active, and if you’ve got a block with historically bad scale, we discussed the post harvest control options (https://berryworldnz.wordpress.com/2025/01/28/post-harvest-sprays-for-blackcurrants/)

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As for spider mites, in the blocks I’ve looked at, the level of predators seems pretty good. But in the monitored blocks, that ratio isn’t looking so high.

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I’m afraid making an informed decision on the necessity of a post-harvest miticide will entail looking at each block, as we don’t think a single block on a farm is a fair representation. Also, the leaf damage seen at this time of year is largely historical (leaves with spider mite bronzing don’t re-green), and the visual damage doesn’t represent what’s currently crawling around under the leaves. So get out the 10x lenses, and remember what a predator mite looks like!

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