Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/459886
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER FEBRUARY 15, 2015 31 are planted with the most popular seedling, semi-dwarf and dwarf varieties: Our Fields Prunus avium/P. mahaleb M.106/M.7/M.26/B.118 Prunus EMLA Colt OHxF Series Geneva® Series M.9 Clones We also grow a great selection of rootstock varieties for apple, peach, pear and plum including: Like our rootstock, our service will grow on you. All fruit tree rootstock is Oregon certified virus-free. MALUS ANTONOVKA MALUS DOMESTICA PRUNUS PERSICA 'LOVELL PRUNUS CERACIFERA PRUNUS MARIANA PRUNAS MYROBALAN PYRUS CALLERYANA PYRUS COMMUNIS PYRUS USSERIENSIS APPLE PEACH PLUM PEAR PROVINCE QUINCE CANBY, OREGON WWW.WILLAMETTENURS ERIES.COM ( 503 ) 263-6405 TOLL FREE: ( 800 ) 825-2108 Tips for controlling FIRE BLIGHT W hat should you do this season if your pome fruit orchard or a neighboring orchard had fire blight last year? First, make sure all of the blight strikes were cut and removed from the orchard after harvest or during pruning. Next, put on a copper spray during dormancy, says Tim Smith, Washington State University Extension educator for Douglas and Chelan counties. "Copper sprays have been proven to make a difference in reducing the number of bacteria that make their way to the flowers," he said. Biofungicides and biological products have a preventive action and should be applied when the CougarBlight Decision Aid System model says risk is coming in the next few days. Products like Blossom-Protect (Aureobasidium pullu- lans) and Serenade (Bacillus subtilis) should be applied before it rains and infection takes hold. Also, they usually need reapplying every few days. "But the day it rains is when growers often respond," Smith said. In that case, an antibiotic should be applied to combat infection of flowers. Fungicide labels must be checked when spraying during secondary blooms because many products are restricted for that time period, he said. —M. Hansen Washington, with its dry climate, is blessed to be in a low-fire blight environment. 3. It is a flower infection model only. The flower is the most common site for bacteria in the tree and infections start with the flower. "The model has nothing to do with shoot or vegetative infection," he said, adding that the model begins when flowering starts and continues as long as there are flowers or when flowering resumes for second bloom. "So you have to be looking for when the first true flowers open and then start count- ing. Some of the worst infections have occurred from the secondary or side blooms." Smith warns growers not to discount secondary bloom as a source of primary infection. "Odds are that the weather is warmer during secondary bloom, which the disease likes. Also, remember that young trees get a lot of secondary bloom." 4. It models the rate at which fire blight bacteria can grow, not the infection process. When trees bloom, bacteria begin to ooze from can- kers that developed from strikes the previous season. Flies are drawn to the musty, sweet goo that tastes like molasses (Smith knows because he has tried it), and they deposit bits of goo and bacteria all over the tree, including stigma surfaces. Infection can occur if mois- ture washes bacteria down from the stigma to the young fruitlet and if the bacteria population is high enough. TJ MULLINAX/GOOD FRUIT GROWER 2UFKDUGZRUNHU-RVH6HUQDWULPV¼UHEOLJKWGDPDJH GHT