Project Description
Summer Fruits, New Varieties
Featured stories about summer fruits and new varieties appear in this issue.
Designer apples
WSU apple breeder Bruce Barritt and Sue Gardiner, plant gene mapping scientist with HortResearch in New Zealand, discuss how to take leaf samples for
The next new variety
Cameron Peace, geneticist with WSU, checks seedlings As Washington State University's apple breeder Dr. Bruce Barritt surveys the 30,000 selections in his evaluation plots, he
Planting a rose garden
In a strawberry patch next to an apple orchard, technicians David Roys (left) and Cathy Peters and entomologist Tom Unruh inspect plants for strawberry leafrollers.
A bed of roses
Dr. Tom Unruh checks if strawberry leafrollers in wild rose bushes are parasitized by the wasp Colpoclypeus florus. Wild multiflora roses planted near orchards can
Mechanical blossom thinning tested on peach
Peach and nectarine growers in Pennsylvania have been testing a mechanical blossom-thinning machine that the state's Ag Innovations research team imported from Germany. Katy Lesser,
HOT TIPS on heat stress
Two Washington State agricultural workers have died of heat stress in the past decade. In one case, it was mid-May and about 78°F in Yakima.
Bartlett tops pear tree sales
Bartlett is still the most popular pear variety being planted in Washington, but sales of d'Anjou nursery trees have picked up in recent years, a
Record fresh Bartlett crop forecast
Pear producers in Washington and Oregon expect to harvest a record fresh Bartlett crop this year and more winter pears than in 2006. The first
Bright idea for improving biocontrol
Sunflowers planted near stone fruit orchards could help a parasite of the oriental fruit moth to survive the winter. Planting sunflowers next to a peach
Going all organic
Douglas Fruit Company, one of the largest stone fruit growers and packers in Washington State, is aiming to convert most of its production of peaches,
Fuji tops apple plantings
Fuji is the top apple variety being planted in Washington State. Red Fuji and early Fuji varieties together account for 22 percent of the trees
Commission mulls assessment vote
The Washington Apple Commission is exploring the idea of asking growers to add up to 1 cent per box to its assessment rate. The current
Collaboration is Key
Working together makes us all more successful. The fresh pear industry in the Pacific Northwest is finishing the season with some of the best returns