Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/654468
6 MARCH 15, 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com O nce a tool for stone fruit, the string thinner is gaining interest with apple and cherry growers for bloom control. Powered by a battery that fits in a fanny pack, the hand-held thinners offer a cost-saving middle ground between plucking blossoms by hand and tractor-mounted, motorized string thinners. After testing in 2015 on fraction-of-an-acre blocks, Starr Ranch Growers of Wenatchee, Washington, plans to use the hand-held thinners on a commercial scale in apples and cherries this year, Jeff Cleveringa, the orchard manager, told more than 400 attendees at the Interna- tional Fruit Tree Association conference in early Febru- ary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "It's quite effective and it's been working very well for us, and I think we're going to be expanding from testing to probably doing acres of it this year to help reduce our hand-thinning bill," Cleveringa said. The thinners, mounted on a pole up to 6-feet long, cost less than $1,000 each, compared with more than $10,000 for the high-end, tractor-mounted models of motorized thinners. They employ floppy cords that whirl around the stick and break up bloom clusters to control fruit size and crop load. For many years, growers of peaches, apricots and other stone fruits turned to string thinners — either motorized or hand-held — because they had few chemi- cal thinning options, Cleveringa told Good Fruit Grower. Now, apple and cherry growers are becoming fans, too, he said. The hand-held devices allow workers to thin with more precision, dropping more blooms from one part of the tree and less from another. The tractor-mounted versions create more uniform results, working best on flat fruit walls. Starr Ranches has cherry trees with wider spacing and cylindrical canopies, lending themselves to the control of the hand-held models. Also, the nimbleness of the hand-held tools allow IFTA Michigan conference Hand-held string thinners are gaining in popularity. by Ross Courtney Testing string THEORY "I think we're going to be expanding from testing to probably doing acres of it this year to help reduce our hand-thinning bill." —Jeff Cleveringa