Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/635697
12 FEBRUARY 15, 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com control methods, continuing work already begun under the grant by Christian Aguilar, a WSU doctoral student in Wenatchee. Then, she will begin investigating how some of her research applies to pears, which have trouble with similar fungi. A companion scientist, Dr. Stefano Musacchi, also at the Wenatchee center, is conducting trials to find a new pollinizer that growers may be able to use instead of Manchurians. Sikdar and Klarer go through about 3,000 apples per month, harvested from test blocks in Yakima, Othello and Mallott. Sikdar keeps the fruit in Stemilt's research and development warehouse along the banks of the Columbia River. They bundle up to open their storage unit and haul out a pallet of blue boxes, each filled with fruit, taking a few at a time to the warmer confines of the stairwell. Apple by apple, they search the stem and calyx for signs of the rots, which appear as brown, rubbery spots on the skin. Sphaeropsis, as an added indicator, supposedly smells like bandages, Sikdar said. They take the infected apples back to the laboratory across town to verify the fungal strains by placing tissue samples on culture plates. The rest go back in storage until the next monthly inspection. Over time, Sikdar has developed a keen eye for rot. But sometimes symptoms are hard to spot, she said, and even then may look like other defects, such as sun- burn, leading Sikdar to speculate the diseases have been around for years undetected. "It's a very tricky one, which is why it went missing for so long," Sikdar said. • "If they're going to export fruit to China, they have to prune the crabs. It's not optional." —Mike Willett Call us FIRST for the largest selection of trees and rootstocks available NEW APPLE rootstock! 1-800-421-4001 Phone: 503-538-2131 Fax: 503-538-7616 E-mail: info@treeconnect.com Web: www.treeconnect.com From the breeders of Bud 9: • Vigor between M-9 T337 and M-9 Pajam®2 • Yield efficiency similar to M-9 T337 • Dwarfing • Cold hardy • Disease resistant • Fireblight tolerant B10 ® cv. Mich 96 USPP 21,223 Services are FREE TO GROWERS! Future contracts for cherries, pears, and apples; ALL ROOTSTOCKS. TECH-FLO ® ZETA ZINC 22 ASK YOUR P.C.A. OR CALL NUTRIENT TECHNOLOGIES TOLL-FREE: 877/832-4356 FOR THE DEALER NEAREST YOU. Just because you put a foliar zinc on doesn't mean the job's done. Some zinc products are so ineffective they are better suited as sun- screens or paint. In trial after trial, TECH- FLO ® ZETA ZINC 22 (22% Zinc) has been shown to be the most effective foliar zinc product on the market today, getting the zinc into the tree where it is needed. For the best value for your nutritional dollar, choose TECH-FLO ® ZETA ZINC 22. UNSURPASSED FOLIAR ZINC PERFORMANCE! …PUTTING ZINC ON PUTTING ZINC IN… PUTTING ZINC IN…