I knew it was only a matter of time, but it looks like spotted lanternfly is knocking on my door. They’ve found a breeding population in Fitchburg, MA. Only 20 miles from my house!
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Uggghhhh, not cool. I’ve been having enough trouble with SWD this year. Didn’t really need another invasive pest.
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After this year, I do not care anymore 
. NOTHING is growing without protection here. Nothing. I lost all unprotected apples to apple maggots. Plums were picked with the tree this year (hooray, some open space here now!) - not a single one without damage. Peaches almost all got rot. Peppers that was troubled by aphids in the beginning of the summer to extent I had to take the cover off, so lady bugs could have a meal, now are finished by pepper maggot. And I am not talking about rabbits 
.
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sorry to here that. my brother had similar problems in CT. hate to hear of another invasive bug marching north.
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Two individuals identified recently in RI.
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We just got the news from UMass today, too. Agree that it is only a matter of time.
@galinas I feel for you, in fact, for us. We can surely commiserate. When I was a fruit growing newbie, I thought I could grow common fruit trees (apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries) with little to no spray. Well, I was totally wrong.
The rain this year has added insult to injury !!
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Let me add a few more MA members @JinMA , @Johnthecook , @Vlad , @Colleen7 . I know I still miss a few but can’t think of the names right now,
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Ugh.
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We should stick together and have our own forum!
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Yes not good. Been a good apple year here on the Cape, I’m sure two years from now they’ll be breeding here and it will up the work of spraying.
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Anybody else feel like their apples aren’t as good in Mass as last year? We were in a drought so I had to water my apples last year and the flavor seemed better. All the rain I got I’m not sure it affected the flavor. Just not as good Really. Maybe it’s my imagination😂
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My trees aren’t bearing yet, but I can attest that the apples from the local u-pick were outstanding last year. The Galas were like a whole different apple! I think the overall quality is still pretty darn good this year.
I feel like a lot of my fruit ripened on the early side this year. So it was trickier to know when to pick what at the right time.
Several of my apples have ripened. They tasted less intense in some varieties less sweet. We have rain all summer into fall.
I hope rain will subside to give my late ripening varieties a chance to get better but so far, it does not look like rain will stop anytime soon.
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Yes two weeks earlier I think or more.
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Yes I think all this rain affected the flavor.
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They’ll be annoying for a couple years, then you barely see them. I live at the epicenter and barely see them anymore.
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Just saw the local.paper has an article about it: Spotted lanternflies seem to be on decline in Berks
Like I said, the site of introduction is only a few miles from where I sit.
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Very curious. That’s the sort of thing I expected would happen eventually, but good to know that it’s relatively fast. I wonder if we’ll get periodic explosions going forward?
I doubt it, they’ve just become a background annoyance like stink bugs.
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