Elders Horticultural Agronomy Services in Barmera | Agricultural service

Elders Horticultural Agronomy Services

Locality: Barmera

Phone: +61 429 041 645

Address: South Australia 5345 Barmera, SA, Australia

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21.01.2022 Photos and a video of Kelly's Citrus Thrip larvae damaging Lemons which is their favorite citrus crop to get stuck into. These are a sap sucking insect and the cells they feed on collapse and die which can lead to extensive scarring as the fruit matures and expands. Only the larvae cause damage in this species of thrip unlike some other thrip species in citrus overseas. Damage that occurs under the calyx in smaller fruitlets is impossible to spot without removing the calyx a...nd checking underneath. This scarring then grows out as the fruit expands and is known as "halo" damage becoming easily visible. Really hot conditions will control these pests (2-3 days above 40C in a row) but until these hotter conditions occur chemical control is the only option. Matt Ward Elders Barmera

18.01.2022 Few photos of citrus pests found while monitoring on Friday. Descriptions are under the photos. As we come into calyx closure we have to keep a very close eye on scarring pests as the damage caused now is irreversible come harvest. Most of these patches needed controls applied. Matt Ward Elders Barmera

18.01.2022 As most Riverland winegrape growers would know Vine Scale was a huge issue last season in our region plus others. Due to mild conditions there was very little mortality in young scale as they emerged and there was a distinct lack of predator and parasite activity as well which was highly unusual. Any period of heat over 40 degrees generally kills off a reasonable proportion of young Vine Scale and we didn't get any decent hot spells until later in the season. Vine Scale weren...Continue reading

17.01.2022 Pictures of some early instar Light Brown Apple Moth larvae in Chardonnay today. This patch is now past the withhold period for Avatar and Proclaim so the only real option left is a biological control such as Dipel (Bacillus thuringiensis/BT). BT products can be effective but once we reach bunch closure they are near on impossible to get spray into bunches due to coverage difficulties. These particular products are only effective on Lepidoptera (Butterfly/Moth) larvae when ingested. Matt Ward Elders Barmera

16.01.2022 I had an interesting one a few months ago with some young Mandarin trees. I'm only posting this now as it has taken a few months to get the actual results. I've had the opportunity to look at all sorts of funky pests and diseases for the last 21 years but this one topped the lot. As you can tell by the foaming there is some pretty serious microbial action going on here creating a decent amount of gas with the sap/exudate. This generally means a bacterial infection but certai...Continue reading

14.01.2022 Not a good one in some young almonds today. Verticillium Wilt (fungus) is starting to take it's toll on a two year old patch and slowly killing trees off. Unfortunately there is very little you can do with this disease. It is a soil borne fungus and commonly seen on ground where stonefruit has been planted before. You can see the brown discoloration/staining in the wood where the tree is infected. Matt Ward ... Elders Barmera See more

12.01.2022 Now that some of the earlier citrus varieties are starting to colour up the effects of November's hail storm are becoming far more visible. The damage is very similar to Katydid damage that also occurs around the November/December period and it's important to know the difference between the two. All the damage in the attached photos is from hail and this will definitely drop the value and returns from this patch. Around 50% of this grower's navel crop was aborted by the tr...ee in the December/January fruit drop due to hail damage (some fruit drop is normal), however around 20% of the fruit remaining on these trees also has damage. This damage after the event was barely visible however like all damage on citrus it becomes larger and more visible as the fruit grows. The same goes for insect damage as what looks mild in November and December generally becomes easily visible later in the season. This is why it is extremely important to manage pests, particularly scarring pests, properly early in the season. Matt Ward Elders Barmera

11.01.2022 More Loopers causing damage today in late navels. This is at a property near Paringa. Despite causing fruit damage they aren't always found on the actual fruit. This patch will need to be sprayed ASAP to prevent further damage. If left alone they would probably end up damaging 10-15% of fruit which in this case would cost the grower around $2000-4000 per hectare. Depending on the chemical used costs of control will be $100-200 per hectare. These are a moth larvae (Lepidopter...a) and are easily controlled with a number of chemicals. The grub on the fruitlet in the photo is only around 3mm long. Matt Ward Elders Barmera

07.01.2022 It's that time of the year again where we start finding Powdery Mildew in the more disease prone varieties. Found this today at Winkie in Chardonnay. This is one of my "indicator" patches that I regularly check for this disease. CCW have also started to find Powdery Mildew around the Riverland. Growers need to ensure that their spray programs are adequate, chemical rates and applied volumes are sufficient, and that they trim canopies to make sure they are getting good spray... penetration. Due to the high spore load after last season we have to be right on top of it to ensure that it doesn't get out of hand and lead to levels that can be rejected come harvest. Matt Ward Elders Barmera

07.01.2022 Was out in a few vineyards today and have found early signs of young Grapevine Scale crawlers that have emerged over the last few days. This was in a Chardonnay patch that had massive Grapevine Scale numbers and associated Sooty Mould last season. These vines have not yet reached the Wooly Bud stage therefore Chlorpyrifos can still be used. The young scale are marked by a yellow circle in one of the pictures below. They are extremely small and difficult to detect if you don't... know what you're looking for. The vast majority of Grapevine Scale "crawlers" will have emerged over the next fortnight in our region. Therefore to gain the best possible control chemicals need to be targeted at these young stages as per my recent post regarding Grapevine Scale. I also found a number of lady beetle larvae under the adult scale bodies having a good feed on eggs that hadn't hatched yet :) One key to locating these newly emerged scale is to look for ant activity that feed on the honeydew from the young scale. Ants are a dead giveaway that young scale have emerged and in close proximity. Matt Ward Elders Barmera

06.01.2022 Just looking at a patch of Navelina oranges between Loxton and Berri and this season's Gall Wasp are starting to emerge. A few exit holes were evident on this year's galls and once the bark was removed other adult wasps started climbing out and flying off. This gall was off a northern facing slope on the north west corner of the tree. Extra sun exposure leads to faster wasp development. Wasps from galls on the south eastern corner of the tree are developing around 1-2 weeks s...lower. This patch was treated with Samurai last season at the correct time with the correct rate. Despite control being acceptable it goes to show that relying on a single control method will not be 100% effective in the long term despite thoughts to the contrary. We are currently doing work incorporating a couple of different chemical actives through the season at specific times and early results are promising. Keep in mind though that no current controls (even in combination) are 100% effective against this extremely difficult to control pest. If we can maintain current levels and maintain orchard health and productivity we're doing well to be honest. There is some interesting work in the pipeline for Citrus Gall Wasp and long term it will be the only sustainable control. Early days yet and fingers crossed! Matt Ward Elders Barmera

02.01.2022 Just a few photos below of some Washington Navel oranges and an issue called albedo breakdown. This is caused predominantly by a lack of calcium in the albedo layer (rind) when the fruit is forming. This is a big problem when packing and exporting navels as it leads to higher incidence of fruit breakdown in transit. It is a common problem across a few varieties of navels such as Washingtons, Lengs, and Thompsons. Citrus fruit when developing go through a stage prior to golf b...all size where they have an increased demand for calcium. Sometimes the tree itself simply cannot supply enough calcium necessary and this leads to albedo breakdown. There are a number of ways to increase calcium in the albedo layer to limit the chance of this happening and the only way you can overcome this issue is by taking action prior to golf ball sized fruit (around Christmas/New Years). Once you are past that size nothing can be done to fix this issue. Not many people realise this but under a decent microscope small "cracks" in the albedo layer are visible as early as January with no external signs at all. You can spray on a Gibberellic Acid (GA) solution at 10-20ppm which will help accumulate calcium in the albedo layer but this only has an effect where the spray has actually contacted the fruit and if enough calcium is available to start with. In the photos below the albedo breakdown has occurred on the back of the fruit where this grower achieved poor coverage with GA when spraying. The front of the fruit was fine. The other option is to foliar apply calcium in solution (generally Calcium Nitrate) although at least 3 applications will be required. It pays to remember however that the GA option only works if there is sufficient calcium available to the tree. Time and time again we see growers relying on GA to stop albedo breakdown without taking into account that there may not be enough calcium available to start with. As you can see from the attached test results the amount of calcium available in soil solution in this particular patch is very low. As some of you may also notice sodium is high which coincides with a lack of calcium as a rule. If calcium levels are increased sodium will decrease. Sodium in high concentrations is harmful to plants. So in summary Gibberellic Acid sprays are a great tool for preventing albedo breakdown in navel oranges but they will only be effective if adequate calcium is present to begin with. Matt Ward Elders Barmera

01.01.2022 It's been a long and difficult season for winegrape growers in most Australian regions. Baumes have been slow to develop and in over 21 years of doing this type of work I've never seen a winegrape season with so many issues. Because of slow sugar development a lot of varieties have been hanging on late meaning that both the vines and crop have been getting tired (for want of a better term), and exposed to the elements for longer than normal which has increased the disease ris...k. The attached photos are from a Riverland Colombard patch that was looking fine last week but had severe splitting from the rain that has fallen since the weekend. Within two days of the berries splitting Botrytis sporulation has appeared everywhere due to ideal weather conditions and high sugar levels in the grapes. All that this particular grower can do is spray PMS (Potassium Metabisulphite) at high volumes and rates in an attempt to dry some of these split berries out. The photos here are not representative of the entire patch and are definitely a worst case scenario. I'm sitting on the fence however as to whether this patch will make it through or not. It's a difficult decision for growers to make but sometimes you simply have to admit defeat and realise that any extra time or money spent on a patch will be wasted. In this particular case the grower applied all recommended controls through the season for Botrytis but any effects from these have well and truly worn off this late. Matt Ward Elders Barmera