Dormant to Delayed-Dormant Sampling

During the dormant to delayed-dormant period, take a beating tray sample for pear psylla. Also take a shoot sample to examine fruit spurs (short shoots containing the flower buds) and terminal buds for mites, psylla, scale, and scab lesions. If mealybugs are a chronic problem in the orchard, look under the tree bark at the base of the main scaffolds.

Record your observations (example form—PDF).

For orchards less than 20 acres, a smaller sample size may be taken than indicated below, but adjust the treatment thresholds to your sample size.

Beating Tray Samples

In December, monitor overwintering psylla adults with 100 beating tray samples per 20-acre block. Each sample is three taps.

Shoot and spur Samples

Once during the dormant season (December through early March), collect one shoot with a fruiting spur from the treetop and one from eye level from each of 50 trees in a 20-acre block, for a total of 100 spurs. (If you sample before February, pear psylla adults may be in the orchard but not their eggs. Also, pear rust mites become more evident in February when the buds begin to swell.)

Use a 14 to 20X hand lens to examine the fruiting spur for:

• European red mite eggs
• Pear psylla eggs
• Pear rust mites
• Pearleaf blister mites
• Predatory mites

Examine the shoot for:

• San Jose scales
• Pear scab twig lesions

Count the number of spurs or shoots infested with these pests. Keep records of your results (example form—PDF).

• Pest monitoring form (PDF)
• Photos of pests monitored during dormancy/delayed dormancy