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…]
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
We are pleased to announce that the fruit and vegetable growers will be joining together for a summer field tour being hosted by Tuttle Orchards in Greenfield, IN on Wednesday, June 28. Topics to be covered include fruit production, vegetable production, farm marketing, and agritourism. There’s something here of interest to everyone so I hope[Read More…]
Indiana Horticultural Society Field Day June 28, 2017 Tuttle Orchard Greenfield, IN More details to come but mark the date on your calendar and plan to attend Indiana Winery and Vineyard Association Summer Meeting and Vineyard Tour July 18-19, 2017 Brown County Inn, Nashville IN More details to come, but mark the date on your calendar[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…]
Grapes are at the 8-10 inch shoot stage in southern Indiana and 6 inches or less in northern Indiana. Brambles are blooming in the south and approaching first bloom in central and northern areas. Blueberries are at petal fall to full bloom across the state. There are a few reports of damage to grapes and[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…]
Grapes have grown quickly this past week and most varieties are now past bud burst. The earliest have 4 to 6 inch shoots at this time. Blackberries and raspberries are also growing rapidly, with new primocanes emerging from the ground and laterals on floricanes out to 4 inches or longer. Flower buds are visible on[Read More…]