Good Fruit Grower

July 2013

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Summer Fruits WINNING orchard designs Hex and quad V systems produce more, better-colored peaches. Hex V peach trees performed best in trials. It took fewer trees to fill the space, reducing cost, but getting six good scaffolds properly oriented was a challenge. fter four years of collecting data, Penn State University horticulturalist Dr. Jim Schupp has arrived at some conclusions about how peach growers should grow peaches to make the best possible returns. "All our systems made money, but some made more than others," he said of the trials comparing four styles of plantings and two varieties. In his trials in peach orchards planted in 2007, he's found that the best orchard designs are the hex V planted on a 10- by 18-foot spacing or the quad V planted at 7 by 18. To generalize, Schupp found that these two tall, upright V systems had the highest yields and the best-colored fruit, but not the largest fruit. But scaffold number affected yields—the larger number of scaffolds on the hex V and quad V systems yielded more. The reason for the higher yields appears to be because the trees fill their space more quickly, he said. The open vase system, which had the lowest yields, took longest for trees to fill their space. "The V systems have filled their space and may have peaked in their yield per acre," he said during a session at the International Tree Fruit Association's Boston meeting earlier this year. "The open vase trees still have more than two feet to go to fill the space, and I expect their annual yield to keep rising." Photo courtesy of jim schuPP Photo courtesy of jim schuPP by Richard Lehnert Quad V peach trees performed almost as well as hex V on yield and the peaches were somewhat larger. GROWERS' FIRST CHOICE FOR DEPENDABILITY Built in the USA . . . Built to Last! 3210: 10.5' Width 290 Series 5', 6', 7' Width 3008: 8' Width 5 Year Limited Gearbox Warranty ABERDEEN CHEHALIS ELLENSBURG LYNDEN OKANOGAN POULSBO OLYMPIA QUINCY SUMNER Your Orchard Specialists . . . 24 July 2013 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com

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