Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/40315
Misshapen and small fruit can be identified by thinners as early as 40 to 45 days after full bloom. Good cross-pollination with Ya Li ensures that Forelle pears have good size and shape at harvest. •When trees are in production, spray with a rest breaker, such as 3 percent Dormex (hydrogen cyanamide) six weeks before anticipated full bloom. The rest breaker condenses the period of flowering, and causes spur leaves to emerge early, resulting in uniformly large fruit at harvest. • Place five beehives per hectare at 5 percent full bloom. •Natural fruit set might not guarantee a full crop. But if you spray 15 ppm gibberellic acid per hectare (as ProGibb SG) at about 80 percent full bloom, you can be assured of a good fruit set and full crop. GA3 can result in heavy fruit set, which requires fruitlets to be Clusters are thinned to mostly singles. Early thinning removes misshapen and small fruit, and allows the remaining fruit to grow to the desired market sizes. Avoid the Orchard of No Return Replant disease can take the profit out of any orchard. Soil fumigation services offered by Trident manage replant disease and other soil-borne pathogens. Trident offers custom applications of Telone® C17, Telone C35, and Pic-Clor 60. hand thinned. Thinning allows you to select large fruitlets with the best shape. •Hand thin fruit early (40 to 45 days after full bloom). Thin to mostly singles and a few doubles in a cluster, removing small and misshapen fruitlets first. Fruit must be medium to large at harvest. • In summer, keep canopy height at 60 percent of the actual width of the rows. If rows are 4.5 meters (15 feet) wide from center to center, the actual width between opposite trunks in the row is 4 meters (13.5 feet). Max- imum tree height is therefore 2.4 meters (8 feet) measured vertically. • Remove or stub strong shoots in spring and summer to keep the canopy thin and open. Dappled sunlight must reach the ground at all times. Good light distribution throughout the canopy allows fruitlets to continue • Row and broadcast applications available • Specializing in tree fruit, hops, grape, berry, and nursery crops Telone® II, Telone C-17, and Telone C-35 are registered trademarks of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Telone II, Telone C-17, Telone C-35, and Pic-Clor 60 are restricted-use pesticides. Soil Fumigation Specialists Serving the Northwest for 26 years orchardfumigation@tridentag.com NORTHWEST, WA: Tim Purcell..........Mobile 360-630-4285 EASTERN WASHINGTON: Robert Rauert....Mobile 509-728-2004 EASTERN WASHINGTON: Jason Rainer.......Mobile 509-731-5424 THE DALLES & HOOD RIVER, OR: David Sbur ..........Mobile 971-563-8848 24 SEPTEMBER 2011 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com courtesy bas van den ende courtesy bas van den ende courtesy bas van den ende