Fruit Grower’s Journal

A sea of pinkish-white flowers, bees buzzing, then petal fall, then the wait – how many of those flowers will actually set apples.  If most of them set, the trees will never be able to handle the load.  If too few set, we will not meet market needs.

June drop.

We had great weather for setting fruit.  But fortunately, apple trees have a way of evening things out, especially if we give them a little help.  Most of the excess fruits on our apple trees have dropped or will soon, leaving us with just about the right number to insure good fruit size this year and, as importantly, enough energy left over to set flower buds for next year’s crop.

One pest that often causes unwanted June drop is the plum curculio. It has been active this year, especially in unmanaged trees, but its run for this year is thankfully about over.

This developing pear fruit has been a target for multiple egg laying efforts by plum curculio. If it does not drop, it will be severely deformed at harvest. Photo: W.Lord

Peaches often set far more fruit that the trees could ever handle. We hand thin peaches to insure good fruit size and quality.  Now is a great time to get started thinning peaches by hand.  Pick off the smaller ones or ones showing signs of insect damage.  As a general rule, a final spacing of 6-8 inches on average between peaches is ideal.

When you visit a farm to pick strawberries this month, you will see little if any evidence of the hard frosts that dogged growers during the bloom period.  That is because those growers spent several sleepless nights battling what several growers have characterized as the worst late frosts they have dealt with in over 40 years. Growers beat frost with water.  Sprinkler irrigation is turned on as temperatures drop near 32^oF and water is applied continuously until all the ice that forms as temperatures dip below freezing melts.  This can mean turning on the irrigation in the middle of the night and staying with it until well past dawn.

Sleep is not an option when the season’s crop is on the line.

Bill Lord, June 5, 2009