May 15th 2010

Classified Ads

Keeping cherry growing profitable

Tracie Arnold, Washington State University, Prosser

Clonal research takes years and money

To a grower, the right wine grape clone can improve yield, advance or delay ripening, and reduce susceptibility to rots. For a winemaker, the right clone can add complexity to the wines. But with so many clones of a given cultivar available, how do you choose? And, with the performance of clones so dependent on the growing region, how do you choose the best for your site? For detailed information about wine grape varieties and clones, visit the National Grape Registry Site http://ngr.ucdavis.edu/index.cfm.

Melissa Hansen

Cigar box labels preceded fruit box labels

John Baule of the Yakima Valley Museum tells the story behind fruit box labels.

John Baule

Grape clones: Learn by doing

Without published research on which grape clones are best suited to Washington State conditions, growers must rely on the experiences and knowledge of others.

Melissa Hansen

Wanted: Endangered apples

Craig Idlebrook

Maine apples wanted

Craig Idlebrook

Preventing pear rot

by Geraldine Warner

You hear that buzz?

SweeTango apples will, nature cooperating, begin flowing to market in commercial quantities in late August, and, if plans work out, consumers will “pull” these apples from retail shelves, spurred by their desire to have something new and special. If all goes according to Tim Byrne’s plan, there’s going to be a lot of SweeTango buzz for two or three months this fall, and producers won’t have to “push” the apples through the system.

Richard Lehnert

Geneva releases FOUR new rootstocks

Four new rootstocks have been released from the Geneva, New York, breeding program

Richard Lehnert

Use fungicides ­judiciously

by Geraldine Warner

Good Job

Moth poses little risk in Taiwan

by Geraldine Warner

Protect trees from weeds and pests

This is the tenth in a series of articles covering all aspects of planning and establishing a competitive orchard. Weed and pest control is important in young orchards

by Geraldine Warner

Cherries still top summer produce item

Market research conducted during the 2009 season on behalf of the Northwest Cherry Growers shows that cherries maintain the number-one retail produce spot during the month of July, with an average dollar per square foot contribution of $208, possibly the highest number that retailers see all year. The Northwest Cherry Growers, the promotion arm for sweet cherry growers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Montana, took advantage of last year’s large sweet cherry crop to collect data that will be useful in the coming years as production increases. NWCG collects annual category performance data, but took the opportunity last year to expand the type of market research and update a shelf-space study last conducted in 2002. NWCG spent $133,000 on the market research, which was conducted by The Perishables Group.

by Melissa Hansen

Exploring tunnels

ennis Hoxsie has both moral support and helpful advice from Dr. Greg Lang, the Michigan State University horticulturist who was bitten by the high tunnel bug six years ago and has been intensively researching them ever since. What Hoxsie wants to do—have high quality sweet cherries earlier than those around him—has been one of Lang’s goals as well.

by Richard Lehnert

Benefits of tunnels

High tunnels will reduce damage to sweet cherries from rain, birds, diseases, and insects, and reduce pesticide use. Under high tunnels, no sprays were needed over the last five years for either Japanese beetles or cherry leaf spot.

by Richard LehnertHighTunnelSidebarGregLang Greg Lang explains how he removes buds in order to develop a whorl of limbs around the tree axis.

Like firecrackers for the 4th of July

by Richard Lehnert

The KGB revealed

In the late 1990s, Oregon cherry growers began planting pedestrian orchards, ­utilizing training systems developed in Europe to grow small trees that could be harvested without ladders. For growers, the incentive to plant pedestrian orchards included higher early yields, potentially higher yields at maturity, easier maintenance, better spray penetration, and fewer ladder accidents. But growers also realized that pickers were able to significantly increase their productivity in these orchards.

A research report from Lynn Long, Oregon State University Extension

Wasps ruin cherry crop

Cherry growers in British Columbia, Canada, are battling a pest that last year forced several of them to walk away from their crop before ­picking. The European paper wasp (Polistes dominulus) was first reported to be causing damage in the province in 2003, but it became a serious problem in the Creston Valley three years ago, reports Duane Holder of FarmQuest Consulting, Ltd., in Creston.

by Geraldine Warner

Cherries with stems

by Richard Lehnert