Fruit and Vegetable News

Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator Apples Pest highlight: Dogwood borer (Article) Apple maggot development Grapes Learn the anatomy of a grapevine (Video) Training young grapevines (Article) Honeyberries Netting honeyberries/haskap (Article: UW Extension video) General fruit Spotted wing drosophila Minnesota drought map update UMN fruit crop reporting tool  Apples Pest highlight: Dogwood borer Images: Top left: Dogwood adults stuck to a sticky trap that was baited with dogwood borer pheromone lure. Dogwood borers ( Synanthedon scitula ), also known as clear wing moths, are a pest that are native to eastern North America. Apple trees are one of their hosts, especially in high density orchards with dwarf trees. Dogwood borer adult populations have emerged and trapped in an orchard in SE Minnesota.  To learn more about dogwood borer and how to manage this pest, check out this week’s article below: Article : Dogwood borer infestation in SE ...

 Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator Images: Top left: Dogwood borer traps are designed for adults and best used with pheromones. Top right: Dead larvae were found underneath bark on a damaged rootstock shank and graft union region a few days after treatment of the bark. Bottom photos: Damage to the graft union and rootstock shank on dwarf apple trees can lead to vulnerable spots on the tree.  Introduction Dogwood borers ( Synanthedon scitula ), also known as clear wing moths, are a pest that are native to eastern North America. Adults have primarily black bodies with yellow highlights on their abdomen and legs, and mostly clear wings. To the untrained eye, they can appear similar to a wasp, but they are entomologically classified in the moth order (Lepidoptera).  They are a pest of apple trees, usually impacting dwarf trees that produce burr knots, which are aerial roots that form on a tree in high humidity, shady conditions, and c...

Marissa Schuh and Annie Klodd. Originally published 2020, revised 2025. With the end of asparagus harvest in sight on many farms, we are in one the the most important windows for weed management. This article will review a range of weed management approaches for this perennial crop. Asparagus ferns in a field. Photo: Annie Klodd. Because asparagus has green tissue from April to November, one of the biggest challenges is managing weeds within the asparagus rows. Growers must look for methods and windows of time for weed management that do not harm the growth of the plant. They also must develop a strategy for perennial weeds such as Canada thistle and quack grass, which thrive in asparagus beds due to the open soil and lack of tillage. Managing weeds between the rows is much easier in comparison to the rows themselves. Aisles can be kept weed free without the use of herbicides via cultivation, flaming, mulching, or cover crops. Non-chemical weed management Cultivation: Cultivation...

Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator.    Images: Left: It’s possible for grapevines to be planted and trained without a trellis for their first year. Middle: During the second year of training, grapevine shoots can be grown out from single or double trunks to begin cordon establishment. Right: multiple cordons can be trained onto the fruiting wire during the second year and reduced to one on each side during pruning before the third season starts. After the new canes have been selected to become cordons, the next step is to allow shoots to emerge from each node to become spurs the following year.  Training, trellising, and determining the canopy height Grapevines require more intensive training than other fruit crops, and they have great flexibility to adapt to various training systems and trellis designs. Training systems (the shape of the grapevine) and trellis designs (the hardware that supports the grapevine shape) go hand-in-han...

Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator.   About spotted wing drosophila (SWD; Drosophila suzukii ) Image: A spotted wing drosophila adult male showing a dark spot on each wing. Spotted wing drosophila (SWD ; Drosophila suzukii ) is an invasive fruit fly that has become a major fruit pest. It tends to impact raspberries (also known as spotted wing candy), blackberries, blueberries, and table grapes, but an also affect honeyberries. SWD is a tricky pest to manage due to a few biological advantages: Its serrated ovipositor (a saw-like egg-laying mechanism) allows adult females to lay eggs in unripe fruits, whereas most fruit flies can only lay eggs in overripened, soft fruits.  Eggs are laid within fruits, but when larvae mature, they can either pupate within the fruit or drop out and fall to the ground if the fruit is mushy.  SWD life cycles are temperature dependent, but much shorter than other pests. This means they can have many ...