Home Fruit Production

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Home Fruit Production
? Varieties ? Pruning ? Spraying
Full flavored fruit

• John Strang
• University of Kentucky
• Department of Horticulture

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Site Selection Considerations

• Elevation slope (2-10)
• Soil Drainage (grey layer mottling)
• Tiling
• Soil Depth
• 2.5 for tree fruit grapes
• Small fruit
• Soil Type (sand vs clay)
• Soil pH
• 6.5 most fruit, 4.5-5.2 blueberries
• Soil Fertility
• Take a soil sample to County Ext. Office
• Water source
• Spray drift
• Children pets

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Aspects to Consider in Selecting Fruit Varieties
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Pests

• Deer
• apples, pears, grapes, blueberries, strawberries
• Birds
• blueberries, grapes, strawberries, raspberries,
  blackberries, Asian pears, apples
• Wild Turkey
• all small fruit
• Raccoons
• Grapes, plums
• Squirrels
• Peaches, plums, Asian pears
• Groundhogs
• apples, pears, plums
• Rabbits
• Girdle tree fruit trunks and eat blueberry wood
• Chipmunks
• strawberries

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Fruit Season of Availability(Western Kentucky)
(Central Ky. Dates are about a week later)
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Fruit Crop Bloom Sequence (Frost Injury
Susceptibility)

• Apricots
• Plumcots Apriums
• Japanese plums
• Hardy kiwi
• Sweet cherries
• Tart cherries
• European plums
• Peaches
• Pears
• Apples
• Strawberries Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Grapes

Earliest
Latest
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Frost Injury
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Fruit Pollination Requirements
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Pollination Charts

• Apples
• Pears
• Plums
• Sweet Cherries

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Fruit Crops with Reduced Spray Requirements

• Fall Bearing Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Gooseberries
• Strawberries
• Some Currants

• Pawpaws
• Persimmons
• Tart Cherries

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Tree Fruit Expected Yields/Plant
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Small Fruit Expected Yields/Plant
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Tree Fruit Life Expectancy
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Small Fruit Life Expectancy
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Disease Insect Resistance

• Select varieties with disease and insect
  resistance to reduce spray requirements

Apple scab
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Tree Planting

• Prune tree in the spring, not fall
• Rodent guard
• Gravel to reduce wallowing
• Weed control

• Maxine pear tree 25 years later

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Apples

• Pome fruit
• Grow and survive well
• Requires considerable expertise and dedication to
  produce good fruit
• Many varieties to select from

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Apple Rootstocks




G.11
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Apple Rootstocks
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Scion Variety Growth Differences
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Plant SpacingDont Plant Too Close!
Poor soil Fertile soil
Poor soil Fertile soil
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Apple Growth Types

• Conventional
• Spur type
• Stark Colonnade or Spire

20 yr-old Wellspur R.D./M.7
Wijcik Compact Mac
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Color Sports or Strains
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Scab Resistant Varieties
AS apple scab, CR cedar apple rust, FB fire
blight, PM powdery mildew
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Scab Immune Varieties
Pristine
Redfree
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Scab Immune Varieties
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Scab Immune (Insecticide Sprays Only)
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Scab Immune(No Sprays)
Total yield 6 year-old Liberty
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PearsEuropean or Asian?

• Primary concerns
• Fire blight
• Pear psylla
• Codling moth

Anjou, Bosc, 20th Century
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European Varieties(Fire blight resistant)
Magness
Honeysweet Potomac Blakes Pride Seckel -
small sugar pear
Heirloom -Kieffer
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Asian Varieties

• Fire blight
• Stink bugs
• Birds

Korean Giant
Chojuro Shinko
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Pear Rootstocks

• Quince A semi dwarf
• fire blight susceptible
• OH X F 333 50-65
• OH X F 87 65
• OH X F 97 full size also for Asian pears
• P. calleryana full size
• P. communis full sized
• Fire blight susceptible
• P. betualefolia full sized, Asian pears
• Increases fruit size on Asian pears

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Peaches

• Stone fruit
• High sites - flower buds and wood are often
  winter injured
• Well drained sites

Reliance
Very hardy tree Marginal quality fruit
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Select Hardy Varieties

• Many Varieties
• Biscoe
• Blushing Star
• Contender
• Madison
• Redskin
• Encore
• White Lady (W)

Particularly winter hardy
White Lady (W)
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Nectarines

• Varieties
• Harko
• Mericrest
• Redgold
• Sunglo

• Peaches w/o fuzz
• Differ from peaches in only one gene
• Much more susceptible to
• Brown rot
• Japanese beetles
• Green June bugs
• Less winter hardy than hardiest peaches

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Peach Rootstocks

• Dwarfing rootstocks not used on peaches
• Hardy long lived rootstocks
• Lovell seedling
• Halford seedling

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Genetic Dwarf Peaches
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Primary Peach Pests

• Insects
• Peach tree borers
• San Jose scale
• Plant bugs
• Plum curculio
• Oriental fruit moth
• Green June bug
• Japanese beetle

• Diseases
• Peach leaf curl
• Brown rot
• Scab
• Bacterial spot
• Powdery mildew

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Plums

• Stone fruit
• Plant European plums
• Usually on myrobalan or peach rootstocks

European Stanley
Japanese Santa Rosa
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European Plum Varieties

• Stanley (prune plum)
• Bluebyrd
• Bluefre
• Green Gage

Myrobolan Rootstock
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Primary Plum Pests

• Scale
• Peach tree borers
• Plum curculio
• European red mite
• Japanese beetle

• Black knot
• Brown rot

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Tart Cherries

• Stone fruit
• Survive well
• Small trees

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Tart Cherry Varieties

• New Varieties
• Balaton Sweeter fruit
• Surefire Late blooming

• Rootstock
• Mahaleb

Montmorency
Surefire
Balaton
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Tart Cherry Pests

• Plum curculio

• Brown rot
• Leaf spot
• Powdery mildew

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Sweet Cherries

• Stone fruit
• Do not survive well on heavy soils
• Crop loss due to winter and spring freezes
• Fruit crack in rain
• Brown rot
• Birds!

Compact Stella (Older variety)
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Sweet Cherry Varieties

• Black Gold Late blooming, requires pollinator
• Hedelfingen Late maturing, crack resistant,
  requires pollinator
• Lapins Stella cross, self fertile, crack
  resistant
• Stark Gold Sweet Bird resistant, requires
  pollinator
• Starkrimson Dwarf, self fertile, crack resistant

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Pawpaws

• Native American fruit, attractive small tree
• Few pests, no sprays
• Purchase grafted varieties
• Harvest when fruit begin to soften

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Pawpaw Varieties

• NC-1
• Overlease
• Shenandoah
• Sunflower
• Susquehanna

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American Persimmons(Oriental persimmons not
hardy)

• Native American Fruit
• Varieties
• Early Golden
• Morris Burton
• Yates

Oriental
American
No spraying required
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Blackberries Raspberries
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Terminology

• Bramble canes last for two seasons.
• Primocane The first year shoot or cane on a
  bramble (blackberry or raspberry).
• Floricane A flowering and fruiting cane the
  season after it was produced. (Often called
  fruiting cane.)

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Erect Thorny Blackberry Characteristics

• Trellis not required
• Hardiest varieties winter injured at about -17 F
• First berries to be harvested
• Fruit are sweet
• Seeds are relatively small
• Most growers and pickers do not want to deal with
  the thorns

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Erect Thornless Blackberry Characteristics

• Trellis ?
• Winter injured at about -10 F
• Second in sequence to be harvested
• Berry sweetness is as good or better than that of
  thorny varieties
• Seeds are larger than those of thorny erect
  varieties.
• Generally have the lowest production of the
  blackberry types

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Semi-erect Thornless Blackberry Characteristics

• Trellis required
• Winter injured at about -10 F
• Third in the berry harvest sequence
• Fruit are generally tart until very ripe
• Berries and seeds are large
• Most productive varieties.

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Blackberry Types Cultivars

• Erect Thorny
• Chickasaw
• Kiowa
• Erect Thornless
• Apache
• Ouachita
• Natchez (new) ?

• Semi-erect Thornless
• Triple Crown
• Chester
• Trailing
• Boysen (not hardy)
• Marion (not hardy)
• Primocane Fruiting, Thorny
• Prime-Jim
• Prime-Jan

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Raspberry Varieties

• June Bearing - Red
• Reveille (heirloom)
• Lauren
• Titan
• Taylor
• June Bearing - Black
• Bristol
• Jewel (most disease resistant)
• June Bearing - Purple
• Royalty

• Fall Bearing - Red
• Jaclyn (new early maturing)
• Autumn Bliss
• Caroline
• Autumn Britten
• Fall Bearing - Yellow
• Anne

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Autumn Bliss Jaclyn(Fall Bearing)
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Anne Recommended (Fall Bearing)
Fall Gold
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Titan replaced by Lauren(June Bearing)
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Jewel(June Bearing - Black)
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Royalty(June Bearing)
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Fall Bearing Red Raspberry
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Bramble Flowering
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Thornless Semi-Erect Blackberry Training

• Double T 4 Wire Trellis
• Reduces cane tying
• Lower wires 2 apart and 2.5-3 from ground
• Upper wires 4 apart and 5 from ground

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Thornless Semi-Erect Blackberry Training
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Blueberries

• One of the few native American fruit crops
• Increasing in popularity
• Types
• Lowbush
• Highbush
• Rabbiteye
• Southern Highbush Pentaploids
• Huckleberry

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Recommended Varieties

• Late
• Nelson
• Brigitta
• Darrow
• Elliott
• Aurora ?
• Dwarf Container Grown
• Tophat
• Northblue

• Early
• Duke
• Spartan
• Patriot
• Midseason
• Bluejay
• Ozarkblue
• Sierra
• Bluecrop
• Chandler ?
• Bluegold
• Draper ?
• Toro

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Purchasing Plants

• Purchase two-year-old bare root or potted plants.
• Purchase from reputable nurseries that practice
  virus testing.
• Blueberry viruses can destroy a planting if they
  are brought in.
• Plant more than one variety to provide for cross
  pollination and group varieties by ripening date
  to make harvest easier.

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Flower Buds
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Dont Crop Plants Too Early.
Expect 4 years for first fruit production
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Recommended Varieties (Varieties are very site
specific)

• Early
• Earliglow
• Evangeline
• Midseason
• Darselect
• Redchief
• Allstar (C. W., Ky.)

• Late
• Jewel
• Ovation

Best tasting
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Plant Disease Resistance
Ssusceptible, Ttolerant, Rresistant, Uunknown
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Fruit Quality
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Everbearing Strawberries(Dayneutral - flower
under long days)

• Three production peaks during summer
• Spring, Mid summer, Fall
• Varieties
• Tristar Small to Med. fruit
• Tribute Med. to large firm fruit
• Seascape (new)

Tristar
Tribute
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Varieties
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First Season Flowering

• Bloom removal important in matted row system
• Sacrifice second year yield

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Renovation

• Mow plants above crowns 4 days later
• If serious foliage disease
• If using sinbar herbicide
• Rotovate to narrow rows twice if needed (row
  width 7- 18 in.).
• Apply N or complete fertilizer
• Apply herbicide and irrigate to activate

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Insect Disease Control

• Rarely any insect or disease problems first
  season
• Strawberries are minimally sprayed in Ky. Must
  select disease resistant varieties
• Most important sprays are 1-3 fungicide sprays
  during bloom for botrytis fruit rot.
• Observe planting frequently looking for problems

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Botrytis Fruit Rot Fungus

• Most serious disease problem
• 2-3 weekly fungicide sprays at bloom

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Slugs

• Poison Bait
• Deadline M-Ps
• Prozap Snail Slug
• Sluggo
• Broadcast before berries form or apply between
  rows after berries form. Best in evening after a
  rain
• Beer traps

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Strawberry Sanitation Measures

• Rotation - reduces diseases insects
• Weed control reduces insects mites
• Straw mulch reduces fruit diseases
• Remove overripe and diseased fruit
• Renovate beds after harvest

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Reasons for Pruning

• Reduce tree size
• Control tree shape
• Make trees structurally strong

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Reasons for Pruning

• Improve light penetration
• Flower bud initiation
• Fruit color
• Pest control

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Reasons for Pruning

• Removal of diseased wood
• Fruit rot control

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Reasons for Pruning

• Partially reduce crop load

• Facilitate cultural operations

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Reasons for Pruning

• Keep the crop close to the ground

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When to Prune

• Dormant season
• February bloom
• Prune old trees first
• Young trees last
• Exceptions
• Peaches after bloom

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Pruning Equipment
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Types of Cuts
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Types of Cuts
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Avoid Leaving Branch Stubs
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Pruning
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Pruning
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Remove Narrow Branch Angles
Strong
Weak
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Branch Spreading
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Branch Spreading
Too little

• Opens tree up for sunlight and spray penetration
• Reduces shoot and limb vigor
• Encourages flowering

Too much
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Apple Limb Spreading
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Apple Pruning
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Central Leader Tree
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Pear Pruning Multiple Leader
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Pear Pruning Multiple Leader
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Peach Pruning Open Center or Vase
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Peach Pruning
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Peach Pruning
55 Chevy?
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Tart Cherry Pruning
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Tart Cherry Pruning
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Tart Cherry Pruning
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Pruning ?
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Spraying Home Fruit

• Early sprays are the most important
• Safety protective clothing
• Re-Entry Interval after spraying
• Home orchards exempt from worker protection
  standards
• All pesticides have a 12-96 hour REI for
  commercial growers
• Suggest that you stay out of sprayed areas for at
  least 12 hours and until pesticides are dry
• Immunox excellent for
• Apple scab, rust powdery mildew
• Grape black rot powdery mildew

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Maintain Excellent Early Insect Control Program

• Dormant oil spray
• Scale, aphids, mites
• Apple
• Rosy apple aphid, tarnished plant bug, plum
  curculio, codling moth (1st generation)
• Peach
• Catfacing bugs, plum curculio, oriental fruit
  moth
• Plum
• Plum curculio

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Maintain Excellent Early Disease Control Program

• Apple
• Scab, cedar apple rust, fire blight
• Stone fruit
• Peach leaf curl, brown rot, powdery mildew, black
  knot
• Grape
• Anthracnose, black rot, powdery mildew, downy
  mildew, phomopsis cane and leaf spot
• Strawberry
• botrytis

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Bagging Apples, Pears Grapes

• An early spray schedule is necessary prior to
  bagging.

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(Immunox)


(Thiophanate-methyl)
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Pesticide Formulations

• Liquid
• Wettable Powder
• Dust

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Carbaryl (Sevin)

• Works great on grapes for Japanese beetles and
  Green June bugs
• Component of many all purpose spray mixtures
• Flares Mites on Apples, Pears and Peaches
• Apple and Pear Thinning
• Sevin will only thin up to about 30 days after
  full bloom
• It will only thin apples and pears

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Home Fruit Spray EquipmentHose end sprayer

• Inexpensive
• Easy to operate
• Not much range

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Home Fruit Spray Equipment

• Improves spray distance
• Often runs spray on the operator

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Home Fruit Spray EquipmentHand pump sprayers

• Relatively inexpensive
• Reduces spray drift on operator
• Short range spraying

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Home Fruit Spray EquipmentBackpack sprayer

• 100 range
• Reduces spray drift on operator
• Improved spray height with spray wand extension

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Home Fruit Spray Equipment Battery powered

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Home Fruit Spray EquipmentBackpack mistblower

• Expensive
• Heavy
• Will concentrate spray
• Difficult to calibrate

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Commercial FruitAir blast sprayer
It is difficult to justify this type of sprayer
for a small planting.
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Fruit Video Tapes/DVDs

• Fruit Tree Pruning
• Pruning Apple Trees to A Central Leader System
• Training and Pruning Peaches for Maximum Quality
• Blueberry Pruning
• Pruning Grapes
• Bagging Apples for Insect and Disease Control
• Grafting and Budding Pecan, Fruit and Ornamental
  Trees

Available through County Extension Offices No
charge
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