Observations from Belchertown

Some late-summer observations at the UMass Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown:

• Flyspeck on Zestar! I expect summer diseases -- sooty blotch and flyspeck, fruit rots, etc. -- to be problematic this year with the wet weather we have had. Continuous fungicide coverage has been necessary to prevent these summer diseases.
• Frog-eye leafspot -- a classic symptom of black rot fungus, another disease that loves a wet summer. Mostly a non-issue unless it infects fruit as most season-long fungicide programs keep it at bay. Cultivar susceptibility seems to vary widely, this on Zestar! But Honeycrisp (see below) and Cortland seem to be particularly susceptible. (Among others I suppose.)
• Cherry leaf spot -- this one snuck up on me. Here, in a cherry orchard planted in 2001, I have not had much of a problem yet. But I suspect inoculum build-up and a wet summer have combined to cause a problem. Should I have maintained fungicide sprays after harvest? Of course. Did I? Noooo...not a good thing as it can lead to premature defolation which can pre-dispose trees to winter injury.
• Turkeys (feathered types) love Honeycrisp -- need I say more? But I am not happy, they have managed to pretty well destroy the fruit at (their) 'peck-level,' these on 3rd leaf Honeycrisp in a tall-spindle planting with relatively low branches. I figure each fruit is worth about a half-dollar at retail. That makes them a serious pest in my book, far worse than the fruit I have lost to plum curculio or apple maggot. Arghh...
• More black rot on Honeycrisp? -- I am wondering if this is black rot moving in where the infamous Honeycrisp 'Yellows' has presumably made the foliar tissue susceptible to infection? I don't know, but I don't like it. Honeycrisp does maintain 'mummies' which I think continue to Honeycrisp's susceptibility to black rot. (Also see my web gallery of Honeycrisp disorders.) Honeycrisp is the apple we 'love to hate.'
• On a brighter note -- I am a bit enamored by the appearance of these 'Snappy Mac' from Stark Brothers Nursery. Supposedly a limb sport of Rogers McIntosh from the lower Champlain Valley of New York, they color much earlier and better than Rogers. Who says we can't grow good colored Macs in Massachusetts?
• OBLR damage -- a little oblique-banded leafroller damage to Honeycrisp, this apple was a 'double,' which OBLR seem to prefer. An emerging insect pest. Many, and rather complicated, control options.
• Active scab in August? -- yup, more wet-weather woes. These trees did not have a real strong fungicide program. Fruit is not particularly susceptible when it starts to color, but I would still include Captan and/or Pristine in a summer fungicide program to slow or halt it's spread. (Three weeks of dry weather would help too.)

Are we having fun yet?

Two new Fruit Advisor web pages

I have finished two new UMass Fruit Advisor web pages recently:

2008 Peach Harvest Record, UMass Cold Spring Orchard. I maintain a nominal peach harvest and testing program, concentrating on newer varieties. A small sample of peaches (usually 5) is collected at what I think is optimum harvest time, and the Peach Harvest Record form filled out. More...

Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for tree fruit growers: links to information. Consider these a short list of links to quality information on Good Agricultural Practices that might be of particular interest to tree fruit growers. There has been much abuzz about GAPS lately -- I hope some of these information sources help. More...

What's with these apple prices?

I was in a Big-Y 'World Class' Market here in Amherst, MA this afternoon, and was quite taken aback by the pricing on some of these apples I saw (click on the link for a picture):

Fresh sweet Jazz apples, $3.69/lb.

Organically grown sweet crisp Fuji apples, $3.99/lb.

Organic Royal Gala apples, $5.99/lb.

Organically grown Gold Delicious apples, $3.99/lb.

New Zealand Braeburn apples, $1.88/lb. (regular price $2.49/lb.)

Organic Red Delicious apples, $3.49/lb.

Granny Smith apples, $2.29/lb.

$5.99/lb. for Organic Royal Gala apples???!!! Is anyone buying these things? (To be honest, it looks like the most popular item was the NZ Braeburn for $1.88/lb.) And we sell direct-market, locally grown, 'world class' quality apples for about an average of $1.00/lb. There is a disconnect here, and I am sure there are many reasons and opinions for and about it, so I'd like to hear them. I have to ask again -- Organic Royal Gala apples, $5.99/lb., is anyone buying these? Oh, and notice Big-Y is pretty good about adding value to some of the apple variety descriptions. Ciao.

Jon Clements for what???

Hail damage to apples...

Hail is one of the most short-term devastating weather events that can happen to an apple grower. It's so bad we usually don't like to talk about it. But this year, it has been so widespread -- from New York, to Michigan, to parts of the the Northeast (including New England and mid-Atlantic region) -- that it is likely to put a dent (no pun intended) in the production of marketable apples in the U.S. (On top of a spring freeze which diminished the Washington apple crop.) Hail is a good reason to purchase crop insurance. (Enough said.) Growers who have been hailed usually attempt to make the best of it by hand-thinning out obvious culls (pictured above), but that is a labor-intensive (= costly) input that at best might help them break even. It is truly sad. A few growers have asked me what they should do in terms of a spray program -- particularly for diseases -- when they have been hit by hail? First and foremost, they must apply streptomycin in orchards with a history of/or potential for fire blight infection. This has to be applied within 24 hours of the hail. Other than that, Cornell's Dr. David Rosenberger published a synopsis of what kind of spray program should be maintained in a hail-damaged orchard in Scaffolds Fruit Journal recently.

On the bright side, most growers try to make the best of it, and highlight the fact "we still have apples!" (Which is true.) But it's tough and I feel for them...

UMass Video Fruit Advisor, July 1, 2008: Lorsban trunk spray for peachtree borer

What shall we do with a drunken sailor...