Orchard Design

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Orchard Design
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Factor to consider.

• Depends on growers goals
• Maximize yield vs. management convenience
• Management efficiency, Fruit Quality, early
  return on investment.
• Above not always mutually compatible.

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Designing an OrchardObjectives -

• Utilize orchard space
• We must capture the greatest amount
• Sunlight exposure is directly related to fruit
  quality, bud formation, and fruitwood survival
• Competition for soil, moisture, nutrients, and
  light. (close planting vs wide)

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Close Planting Less soil per tree

• Vigorous management
• The more dense the orchard the more horticulture
  expertise precision.
• Also need to consider
• Pruning
• Thinning
• Harvesting
• Pest control
• Frost protection
• Irrigation method

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Close Planting Less soil per tree

• Cost per acre
• Initial cost per acre
• Timing to first return
• Expected life
• Volume or quality

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Types of Planting

• Low and Standard density
• Open center vase (Alternating)
• 16 x 22 square (feet varies)

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Medium and High Density Advantages

• Early yields
• Orchard efficiency
• Spray
• Ladder work
• Weed control
• Inverse fruit graded to vegetative growth

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Disadvantages

• High establishment cost
• Cant control vigor
• Life span

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Long Term Investment- 30 Years

• 1. Site selection
• Choose a proven area
• Risk involved in an unproven area
• Labor supply plentiful
• Thinning
• Pruning
• Harvesting
• Packing houses
• Tech people
• Farm Advisor
• Field management

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Long Term Investment- 30 Years cont.

• 2. Size
• Fresh 5 acres
• Commercial 15- 20
• 3. Weather
• Micro climate
• Need 1) Frost Protection
• 2) Dominant rest
• 3) Fog/ Chilling requirement ( hrs below 45 F)
• peaches nectarines 650-850
• before February 15
• Leaf buds more than flower buds

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Long Term Investment- 30 Years cont.

• Definite warm temperature can offset previous
  chilling
• Warm areas have low chillers less than 400 hrs
• Extreme Cold
• -Frost
• -Wind
• -Hail
• -Heat

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Long Term Investment- 30 Years cont.

• Water Supply
• Moistures peaches need 3- 5 of water per year
• Good drainage needed
• Past Crops
• Soil fumigation
• Nematodes
• Crop diseases
• Slope
• West slope more sun

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Soil Preparation

• Ripping
• Hard pan- ripper subsoil
• Plow pan- chisel
• Dry as possible
• Drainage
• Tile drains
• Leveling
• Furrow
• Flood
• Slope fall depends on
• Soil type
• Head of H2O

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Soil PreparationCont.

• Heavy soils/ slight grade
• Light soil steeper grade
• Irrigate a ripped field
• Eradicate Johnson Grass Bermuda Grass
• Fumigation
• Do after ripping before final leveling late
  summer- early fall
• Soil moisture low- soil warm

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Soil PreparationCont.

• Planting
• Design
• Direction NS
• Double Setting- 10 X 20 then 20 x 20 no economic
  advantage
• Cost of trees is doubled
• Add exp. To table out
• Stable out orchard
• Planting wire
• Digging hole, watch for setting
• No fertilizer at that time
• Dont let trees dry out
• Heel in trees or put in bins with shavings
• Plant January and before February 15!

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Soil PreparationCont.

• Delaying planting
• Cold Storage- April- May
• Crown gall
• Agro bacterium Radio Bacteria
• Fill holes- Spread out roots pack soil
• May add water- refill setting

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Newly Planted Trees

• Must be headed back 20- 24 clip side braches
• Protect trees by white latex paint or tree wraps
  and milk cartons
• Prevents sun burn and chewing by rabbits
• Protects tress from herbicides
• Caring for young trees
• Irrigating
• Fertilizing
• Protect trees
• Weeds
• Insects
• Suckers
• Intercropping
• Toss up

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Orchard Floor Management

• Complete Cultivation
• Bare non cultivating
• Pre and post emergent herbicide
• Partial non- cultivation

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Finally Fruit Growth and Development

• Fruit growth and development begins during the
  previous season- may June
• Stress at this time is bad
• Late fall and winter buds become dominant to
  emerge, they need chilling 650-1000 hours. If
  chilling is insufficient problems will arrive.
• Bloom period extended- difficult to control
  diseases
• X pollination
• Flower bud abscission
• Small fruit

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Finally Fruit Growth and Development cont.

• Fruit Growth stages
• Stone fruits
• Bloom1st week of march -gt Flower pollinated
  embryo fertilized- rapid growth (stage I). Growth
  at this point is due to cell division, lasts for
  about 30 days after full bloom any stress at this
  point can effect final fruit size. Temperature at
  this time determines time of harvest. Warmer
  temperature early harvest, 60 days after bloom
  pit hardens in California Agriculture between
  4/15 and 5/15.
• Stage II- pit hardening- the lag phase fruit size
  increases very slowly Stage is practically
  undetectable while the pit hardens the embryo is
  growing rapidly- stress has little effect.

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Finally Fruit Growth and Development cont.

• Flower and Fruit drop can occur almost anytime
  between bloom and harvest, after bloom lots of
  flowers and fruit drop un pollinated flowers or
  unfertilized ovules.
• Another drop in May (June drop) competition from
  nutrients carbs or growth hormones.
• Still another drop- pre harvest- short period
  that carries the fruit to (p) itself off the stem
• Stage III- 4-6 weeks before harvest- increase in
  size and weight each fruit may gain 10 grams
  fresh wt/ day with 1000 fruits/ tree this equals
  1 ton yield increase/ day.

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Finally Fruit Growth and Development cont.

• Cell expansion
• Need to () pressure in the fruit (H2O)
• Carbohydrates produced by leaf
• Hot weather in the leaf to more transpiration and
  water loss smaller fruit.

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Finally Fruit Growth and Development cont.

• Dry Farm-
• Ripped Ground 3x During
• Solid Shake
• January- Ridge up small
• Spacing
• 20 9 right for 6½
• 16 in row
• 130 trees/ acre
• Drip System-
• Emitters- 4 apart 1 gallon/ hr
• 4 hours every day, 8- 8½ hours.

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Peach

• One of the most popular fruits
• Native to China
• Scientific name Prunus Persica
• Persica- suggests Persia
• Persian Apple
• China- Persia- Europe- Mexico
• Spanish Missionaries introduced the peach to
  California in the 18th century and in the early
  1800s the Russians brought peaches to S.F. and
  planted them near Ft. Ross The gold rush spread
  them all over California.

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Nectarine

• Prunis Persceca var. Nectarine
• History unknown- nectarines probably arose from
  peach seeds
• Peaches and nectarines have similar leaf
  characteristics and growth habits.
• Nectarines lack pubescence (Fuzz)
• Different due to a single recessive gene
• Generally peaches and nectarines are grown with
  the same irrigation, nutrition and cultivation as
  well as harvesting method. Nectarines are more
  susceptible to brown rot and flower thrips.

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Peaches and NectarinesCont.

• California peaches and nectarines produced for
  fresh consumption are called FREESTONES- but
  you may have semi free, semi-cling, or cling with
  yellow, red or white flesh. Most cling are grown
  for canning- clings have non-melting flesh,
  Freestones have melting flesh.
• Fresh Cling Nectarines
• O Henry Loader Fantasia
• Elegant Lady Carson Flame Kit
• Flower Crest Fortuna May Grand
• Spring Crest Vivian Royal Grant
• Jane Lady Halford Fairlane
• Fay Elberta Corona
• Cortez
• Dixon

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Peaches and NectarinesRootstalks

• Why Rootstalks
• Do not reproduce the same characteristics as
  parents grown from seed
• Need to be vegetatively reproduced so that the
  trees are exactly the same as parent
• Resistant to nematodes or other soil born
  diseases
• All peaches and nectarines grown for commercial
  production are budded or grafted on peach
  seedling rootstalks
• Other Prunes species like apricot, plum have been
  tried but not successfully done.

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Peaches and NectarinesRootstalks Cont.

• Rootstalk Selection
• Compatible with scion species ex- peaches and
  nectarines are not compatible on most plum root
  stalks while plums are compatible on both peach
  and plum.
• Nematode and disease resistant
• Adapt to soil and moisture
• Support live root system
• Vigor