Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/654468
www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower MARCH 15, 2016 7 ROSS COURTNEY/GOOD FRUIT GROWER Grower Jake Rasch demonstrates his use of string thinning on second-year peach trees while Dr. Bill Shane, right, of Michigan State University discusses orchard management as part of the International Fruit Tree Association Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "This made me money the first year," Rasch said of the thinner. for a quick reaction, letting workers thin early, as blos- soms hit the pink stage, Cleveringa said. That reduces bloom stress on trees and allows side blooms to replace any king blooms that the string thinners inadvertently knocked off. Chemical thinners need to set on a tree for a while, leaving growers to guess on bloom timing based on weather and pollen tube models. "It's fairly predictable, but not guaranteed," Cleveringa said. Cleveringa warned the conference crowd to watch their timing. Thin too late and you damage the fruit, he said, showing a slide of a scarred apple that developed from a king bloom thinned at petal fall. "This is what happens if you're late," he said. Michigan growers use string thinners, too. "This made me money the first year," said Jake Rasch, a sixth-generation grower, holding a thinner over his head during an association conference tour of his Kent City farm north of Grand Rapids. While Jake Rasch demonstrated the techniques on a young Glenglo peach tree, his brother, Nick, explained that the Rasch Family Orchards sends out thinning crews in teams of four, two on a platform and two on the ground. They attach the pole thinners to an electric drill, powered by a generator. "And you get fruit size because you get your bloom off earlier," Nick Rasch said. He also likes how it allows for quick adjustments com- pared to the uniformity of a Darwin. "You can kind of select a little bit better which limbs need some blossom thinning and which ones don't," he said. Back in Washington, about 10 growers in the state are using the hand-held string thinners for apples,