Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/572389
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER OCTOBER 2015 27 "That's sort of a bad thing to say about some of my peers, but I've seen some blocks that looked horrible. I should probably feel good that it looks like it does, but it's not good enough." Shorter trees Matson noticed that his Honeycrisp trees rarely grew up to the top wire of his trellises, at 12.5 to 13 feet. Borrowing ideas from growers Dan Plath and Travis Allan, he planted a block in 2012 with a shorter trellis. To make up for the theoretical loss in height of the canopy, he planted the rows closer together. Trees are 18 inches apart with 10 feet between rows. Trees were trained as central leaders and branches were clipped off to reduce the number of fruiting sites and delay cropping. However, the branches that grew back were only about 8 inches long and weren't filling the lateral space. Matson decided last winter to cut back the trees and regrow them with two leaders per tree so that the short shoots would fill the space perfectly. In recent blocks, some trees were planted as finished trees and some as sleeping eyes. A sleeping eye is a dor- mant budded rootstock that is grown in the nursery for only one season compared with two seasons for a stan- dard nursery tree. Matson plants sleeping eyes as early in the season as practical, usually the end of March or early April, using grow tubes to create extra warmth to encour- age them to grow. When the grow tubes are removed, the trees are supported by individual stakes until the trellis is installed. He generally uses bamboo stakes but recently has been investing in steel stakes for situations where the trellis installation might be delayed. The metal stakes work well. Being more rigid, they can be inserted deeper in the ground. Matson said he's unlikely to plant any more Honeycrisp trees on M.9 Nic 29 and his most recent plantings have been on Geneva 890, which he hopes will generate a more vigorous tree. There is no silver bullet for getting a Honeycrisp orchard to fill its space, he concluded. "It's a lot of little things. If you get behind and try to play catch up—I don't think you can do that." • PHOTOS BY TJ MULLINAX/GOOD FRUIT GROWER IFTA tour members at one of Jason Matson's orchards in Selah, Washington. Milton Knouse was looking for research-proven, innovative ways to increase quality, effi ciency and productivity on their 600-acre fruit farm when he began using AgroLiquid products. He was initially impressed with height growth in his young trees, but then, "I noticed the lateral limb development in the trees, which means more fruit bearing surfaces for increased production… you can actually measure the difference." Milton has also realized an increased fruit size using AgroLiquid products, "The bigger the fruit, the more bushels you produce. We were quite pleased with that." When selecting your fertilizer products, remember that for more than 30 years, AgroLiquid has provided the research-proven performance growers trust. To learn more visit agroliquid.com QUALITYProducers Trust Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers "...more fruit bearing surfaces for increased production…" Milton Knouse Knouse Fruitlands Inc. Good Fruit Grower_Milton_2/3.indd 1 9/10/15 7:22 AM