The level of fruit drop is almost complete across the state and in some cases we likely have some hand thinning ahead of us. Fruit is generally 20 mm or above which means it’s too late for most chemical thinners. If spurs in your trees look like those in the apple photo in Crop Conditions,[Read More…]
Pome Fruits
Diagnosing Phytophthora crown rot is difficult. First examine the crown and rule out any type of mechanical damage, including rodent damage. Early symptoms of root and crown rot include delayed bud break, small leaves (often with leaf discoloration), and twig dieback. Bark discoloration, unthrifty growth, and premature leaf drop may occur later in the season[Read More…]
Wet weather continues to be a problem, not just for foliar disease, but root and crown rot, as well. Phytophthora root and crown rot is observed in wet spots: low-lying areas of orchards with heavy, poorly-drained soils. These pathogens can infect all fruit producing plants. Occurrence of this disease is sporadic and tied to wet[Read More…]
Although not always possible, avoid planting in low-lying, flood prone areas. Control weeds around the trunk of apple trees, as many serve as alternate hosts for the crown rot fungus(especially nightshades). Reduce nitrogen application on young trees, and trees with excessive growth as they are more susceptible to crown rot. As there are different species[Read More…]
Remember that many chemical thinners don’t work very well when daily temperatures are below about 65 F. So here we are with warm days ahead, which means rapid fruit growth, perhaps up to 1 mm per day. Apple fruit here in Lafayette are about 12mm which leaves us some good options for chemical thinning. However[Read More…]
What an unusual spring it’s been. We started out extremely early, then it was cool for a month or so with hardly any Growing Degree Day accumulation, then warm again (see Figure 1). Just when apple crops started to get in the window for chemical thinning (around 12 mm), it became cool again. The good[Read More…]
WASHINGTON, Mar. 15, 2017 –America’s farmers and ranchers will soon have the opportunity to strongly represent agriculture in their communities and industry by taking part in the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the census, to be mailed at the end[Read More…]
Eastern Indiana Fruit Growers Association Hosting Orchard Garden tours at the “Slice of Paradise” 3912 S. Felton St., Marion, IN. Tuesday, May 23 at 6:30pm Dr. Rick Foster from Purdue University will be in attendance For more information, call 765-661-4597 Indiana Horticultural Society Field Day June 28, 2017 Tuttle Orchard Greenfield, IN More details to come but[Read More…]
The recent spate of cool, wet weather has left one organism happy, Venturia inaequalis, the fungus that causes apple scab. Most of the state just underwent an extreme scab period, and unfortunately, few of us could do anything about it because of the combination of rain and wind. The revised Mill’s table (from http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/tfabp/revmills.htm )identifies[Read More…]