Control of Blueberry Maggot on Blueberries, 1995

Abstract

Abstract This study was conducted in a ‘Bluecrop’ blueberry field in full production, near Whitesbog, NJ. Blueberry bushes were approximately 5 ft tall and spaced 9 X 4 ft apart. Treatments were applied to 108 ft X 275 ft plots with a Rears 50 gal airblast sprayer at 140 psi, calibrated to deliver 60 gal of spray solution per acre. There was a single replication of each treatment. Four unsprayed rows (36 ft) along the length (108 ft) and 12 unsprayed bushes (48 ft) along the width (275 ft) served as buffers between treatments. Insecticides were applied once on 3 Jul, 14 days after the first BBM fly capture in Pherocon AM traps. Samples of ripe blueberries were harvested on 14 Jul from each of the 12 rows in each treatment (12 samples/treatment). Berries were collected from the top, middle, and bottom third of each bush in a row. From each sample, a 1 -pt sub-sample was cooked and the fruit pulp filtered through a screen mesh and thoroughly checked for BBM larvae.