Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/61297
Soils & Nutrients PLANNING new apple orchards C ornell University pomologist Dr. Terence Robinson would never tell apple growers what to do…exactly. Their decisions are strictly up to them, he tells them. But, when in the next sentence he starts, "In my opinion," or "We recom- mend," don't be surprised. He firmly states his views and backs them up with Cornell pomologist Terence Robinson shares his thoughts about making profitable orchards. by Richard Lehnert slides showing experimental results, graphs showing yields, and charts showing economic data that he has steadily built over a dozen years. Robinson is a popular speaker on the winter horticultural meeting circuit. He and his colleagues at Cornell—Steve Hoying, Mike Fargione, Mario Miranda, Alison DeMaree, Kevin Iungerman, and others—have been experimenting with and developing an orchard design system called tall spindle, and a management system to go with it, for almost two decades. Robinson has the model orchard firmly in his mind, and he gives a passionate talk as he conveys the image to growers. Robinson gave one of those talks to apple growers during the Mid- Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey, Pennsylania, in February. Not too old "For those growers who think they can coast along with their existing plantings or are too old to change, I hope to change your minds," he said. He described a "50-40-10" plan for orchard planting and renewal, in which growers make some new plantings every year. He recommends that half the new plantings be made using solid-performing wholesale varieties, while 40 percent are planted to the best new high-price, high-demand varieties, and 10 percent are new varieties that look promising, but are gambles on the future. Here are his recommendations, step by step: —Conduct a continual replanting program."I'm con- vinced that every apple grower should be planting some new orchards every year," he said. "It allows you to stay on the cutting edge of new varieties and new fruit systems, and to take advantage of the new things you learn each year." —Replant 4 to 5 percent of the farm annually. This keeps the nonbearing percentage under 15 percent and allows the entire farm to be replanted over 20 to 25 years, he said. —Plant fresh fruit blocks at a density of 900 to 1,300 trees per acre in the tall spindle system. Trees should be 3 to 4 feet apart with 10 to 12 feet between rows, and a thousand trees per acre is probably the most profitable density. —Plant processing fruit blocks at a density of 500 to 700 trees per acre in the vertical axis system. Trees should be 5 feet apart with 13 to 14 feet between rows. 24 APRIL 15, 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER Terence Robinson travels widely and speaks frequently, his laptop computer keeping him in touch with home base at Cornell University.