Making the decision on when to harvest can be a very tricky and complicated issue. The longer you intend to store the fruit, the more precise your timing needs to be. For summer apples, most growers only intend to store fruit until their higher quality fall apples come on stream, so storage times beyond a[Read More…]
Peter M Hirst
Facts for Fancy Fruit Editor & Professor of Horticulture
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Area(s) of Interest: Commercial Tree Fruit Production
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Area(s) of Interest: Commercial Tree Fruit Production
Control Of Preharvest Drop with NAA: Preharvest drop refers to the process where fruit fall from the tree prior to harvest. Not all apple varieties are affected, but with some, such as McIntosh and Pristine, pre-harvest drop can be extreme. Several growth regulator materials are available to growers to help reduce pre-harvest drop. These materials[Read More…]
Facts for Fancy Fruit is a newsletter for commercial and advanced amateur fruit growers. It provides timely information on pest control, production practices, and other topics likely to be of interest to fruit growers. All growers and interested persons are welcome to subscribe. Subscriptions are $15 per year. Subscribers will receive 12-15 issues biweekly during[Read More…]
USDA to Host Two In-Person Listening Sessions for Producers in the RMA Springfield, Ill. Region to Hear About Crop Insurance Coverage for Prevented Planting SPRINGFIELD, Ill., June 27, 2023 –The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is inviting agricultural producers from throughout the Springfield, Ill. Region of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio to participate in one of[Read More…]
July 14, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm Jacobs’ Family Orchard 4676 North 75 West New Castle Indiana 47362 https://jacobsfamilyorchard.com The summer tour for Indiana fruit and vegetable growers will be held on Friday July 14 at Jacobs’ Family Orchard near New Castle, IN. While primarily apple growers, growing over 30 cultivars, The Jacobs family also[Read More…]
We’re getting close to the time when growers need to make chemical thinning decisions – for many the most perplexing and risky decision they will make all year. This is usually a tricky call to make. Remember that only about 5-10% fruit set is usually enough for a full crop. In other words, 90 out[Read More…]
Once flowers open in the spring, we’re hoping for warmer weather so the bees will transfer pollen and for rapid pollen tube growth. As we all know, apples require cross pollination, so for example Golden Delicious pollen will not fertilize Golden Delicious flowers. We rely on bees and other insects to transfer pollen from one[Read More…]
Something happened when the calendar switched from March to April. Spring finally sprung. As we discussed in the last issue of FFF, spring temperatures are so important because the rate of crop development in the spring is directly related to how warm it is. Here in Lafayette, April average temperatures have been in the 50s[Read More…]
Dear Indiana Horticulture Society Member, We as a society have some decisions to make and I feel that these could really make us stronger as a whole. During our wrap up meeting at this years Hort Conference, there were many views and ideas shared with the group. The general consensus was that this organization does[Read More…]