Horticulture Notes

Orchard Visits

In order to gain knowledge on the status of Vermont's apple orchards, and to get to know you, the apple growers, better, Lorraine and I are planing orchard visits.  We will be mailing you a postcard with a tentative date for our visits. Please let us know, by answering and returning the postcard, if you do wish us to come to your orchard and if the date is appropriate.

1998 Early Edition: National Apple-Crop Outlook

The following information was gathered from replies obtained from the Virtual Orchard on Jon's inquiry: I'd like to do a short update for our newsletter on the 98-apple crop prospects at this point. It is a general assessment of the crop outlook so far. And remember, there is still june drop before we can have a better estimate of the crop situation.

MICHIGAN: Visited by some early frost, the Delicious and Mac crops are reported to be light in the Southwest corner of the state. Rome and Golden have fared much better and look good, which is more typical of all varieties in the remainder of MI. Expect overall production to be on the moderate side.

MID-WEST: Generally looking good with reports from Ohio and Minnesota.

NEW YORK: Western NY is variable. Similar to MI, they also had early frost. Hudson and Champlain Valleys' apple crops appear average, despite near record early bloom. Other tree fruits in Hudson Valley--pears, plums, cherries--are having problems (frost, rain), although peaches look OK.

MID-ATLANTIC: Pennsylvania and New Jersey reports are variable, however, overall the situation is looking quite light. PA suffered frost in late April, which appears to have really knocked-out colder blocks. Cloudy, rainy post-bloom weather hindered fruit set. A little further south in Virginia and West Virginia, the situation is not much better, but NC looks promising at this point.

WASHINGTON: Details are sketchy, but rumors of a very, very, very large potential apple crop abound. I am not really sure they want to tell us just how BIG it will be.

NEW ENGLAND: Massachusetts and Connecticut are looking light, especially on Macs. Poor pollination and fruit set weather during early-mid May are being blamed. Maine, New Hampshire reports are still trickling in, but it appears southern areas were plagued by the same post-bloom wet weather as southern New England, and will be light. Maine looks average, but frost did hit some orchards worse than others.

Here in VERMONT, overall fruit set is somewhat below average with some areas of the state with better set than others. In the eastern and southern parts of the state, there was poor pollination weather, and fruit set was less than optimal. Some orchards are seeing fruitlets with incomplete seed numbers. Most orchards are reporting about 80%-90% of last year's crop. There might be some hail damage in some of these orchards,as there have been some reports of trees being uprooted from the high winds during the weekend. In the Shoreham area, the crop is lighter than usual due to frost in late April with Empire having poor set. Some orchards in Northern Vermont experienced worse frost damage in late April than the rest of the state, and fruit set may be 50% of normal in these orchards.

  Factors affecting Fruit Set

Due to some frost damage and poor pollination conditions in some areas of the state, fruit set has been variable, and questions have arisen as to what environmental and cultural conditions may lead to poor fruit set.
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anthers to the stigmas, which may or may not be on the same flower or on the same plant. Most flowers require pollination to set fruit. There are exceptions, such as the navel orange, which is considered a partehnocaroic fruit. In this type of fruit there are no seeds. Most apples need cross-pollination because they are self-unfruitful. In other words, they can not be pollinated by their own pollen. They must be pollinated by another variety. For best fruit setting, the pollen variety should bloom a day or two earlier than the main variety.
Fertilization occurs when the sperm (within the pollen grain) unites with the egg (within the ovule) to form the seed. Some years there appears to be a snowball bloom along with optimum pollination and weather conditions yet, there is no heavy fruit set. Under such circumstances, pollination may take place, but for various reasons, such as frost damage to the pistil, fertilization does not occur. If fertilization does not take place, no seeds will form. Fruit rarely develop without seeds. Apples often contain 10 seeds, though certain varieties such as Jonagold may only have 3 or 4 and Northern Spy sometimes has as many as 20 seeds. If there are fewer than three seeds, the apple fruitlets usually drop. Misshapen or lopsided fruit occur when there was inadequate pollination.
Tree factors affecting fruit set other than pollination

• Cultivars that are self-fruitful tend to set more heavily than those that are self-unfruitful.
• As bloom density increases the percentage of fruit set decreases due to competition among flowers. The carbohydrate rations and growth regulator substances manufactured by the plant usually only satisfy less than 20% of the growing fruitlets. Therefore, most of the fruiting clusters are shortchanged and drop their fruitlets.
• In a tree with heavy bloom, only 10% percent of the flowers will eventually develop into fruits. More set, 15 to 20%, may be needed in trees with sparse bloom.
• Young trees, especially on vigorous rootstocks, often set poorly.
• Trees on semi-dwarf and dwarfing rootstocks tend to set more fruit than seedling rootstock.
• The quality of the fruit cluster buds. As a rule, the smaller and poorer quality cluster buds show a greater fruit drop or produce smaller apples. The following are common characteristics associated with good and poor quality fruit buds.

Cluster fruit bud characteristics:

  Cultural factors affecting fruit set

Shading has a marked effect on fruit set, especially as the light levels drop to less than 40% of full sun. Shaded fruitlets have less cell division than exposed fruitlets.

The 35 days post-bloom period is important to production from two respects:

First, fruit cell division, which occurs during this period, affects ultimate fruit size and condition, and

Secondly, spurs not producing apples in ‘98 are establishing fruit buds for ‘99. Ideally, the more spurs that come in contact with light, the better off each crop will become in terms of potential profitability. Therefore, summer pruning (thinning out or cutting back) of current shoots or younger branches to provide better light distribution is a benefit where crop loads are justified.

Nutrition is a crucial factor in fruit set. Deficiencies in nitrogen, boron, zinc, and manganese will reduce fruit set.

Ringing (removal of a section of bark around the trunk or scoring (cutting the bark) can improve fruit set. Ringing is done 7 days after full bloom.

Branch bending can increase flower bud formation and fruit set. Bending can be done in the spring, prior to bloom or in August when the majority of the shoots have formed terminal buds, and the cambium is still active.

Summer Checklist for Commercial Orchards

• Thin apples as soon as you can. Hand thin apples, if necessary, keeping as many "King" fruit as possible. If this is not possible, select a "lateral" fruit. If it is convenient to space-thin your fruit (often not the case when thinning a lot), gap apples about 6 to 8 inches apart (remember, a minimum of 18 leaves are needed to support one growing fruit)
• Nutrient sprays include Solubor (boron), magnesium, calcium, and a touch of nitrogen. Do not apply nitrogen after July. Ground applications on a "need basis" include lime (magnesium or calcium), potassium, magnesium or a touch of calcium nitrate. See recommendations in PRODUCT LABEL and those published in the March VT Apple newsletter.
• Control weeds inside row strips and mow row middles.
• Install mouse guards if needed. Also, remove and replace troublesome mouse guards.
• Evaluate orchard performance near harvest time. As you observe any problems situations in your orchard, make a note or mark the tree(s)in question for follow-up attention at the appropriate time.
• Remove and destroy dead trees or branches.
• Prune waterspouts and root suckers.
• Prepare new orchard sites for future plantings. This could involve a variety of programs: installing water drainage; removing vegetation or stumps; leveling the soil; planting green manure cover crops; having the site checked for apple replant disease symptoms; ordering the cultivar/rootstock combinations needed; ordering posts or trellis materials; etc.
• Summer pruning needs to be done in July and August. This issue will be addressed in the July issue of the Vermont Apple Press.
• Position limbs and leaders for improving tree structure, position to reduce vigor and increase fruiting. Generally, the steeper the angle of the shoot, the stronger it will grow and the less fruit it will bear.

Popular methods used in limb spreading

FDA Fresh Juice Proposal Draws Industry Fire

by Steven F. Justis

Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food & Markets  

On April 24, the Food and Drug Administration published two sets of proposed regulations addressing the safety of fresh juices. In what many saw as an open display of contempt for industry input, FDA reduced the usual comment time on the labeling issue from the normal 75 days to only 30 days.

Both the U.S. Apple Association and Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords submitted requests for an extension of the comment period for the labeling proposal, citing the heavy seasonal workloads typical to those in the apple industry. FDA refused both requests, stating that "some juice and juice products have been the vehicles for outbreaks of serious illnesses from foodborne pathogens" and that the "urgency of the matter is sufficient justification for shortening the comment period" to 30 days.

US Apple, working with the ad hoc Fresh Juice Proposal Task Force, prepared a twelve-page response to FDA outlining the many erroneous statistics, statements and assumptions used in formulating the proposed rules. Highlights of US Apple’s comments:

• FDA seriously overestimates the health risks associated with fresh juices.
• The severity and tone of the proposed warning label is punitive and unprecedented.
• FDA’s proposal for a HACCP program plus a "kill step" is unprecedented.
• FDA disregarded the results of its own inspection program in 1997,which found no cider samples positive for pathogenic bacteria.
• FDA conducted consumer focus groups in an unscientific, biased manner to determine labeling recommendations.
• FDA ignored the numerous improvements made by the industry over the last 18 months, including establishment of GMPs, industry training and other actions.

US Apple recommended that FDA develop an interim consumer advisory label to replace the proposed warning label. The association also recommended additional risk reduction methods, including continued producer education, and strict adherence to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Sanitary Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs) for fresh juice production.

The comment period for FDA’s proposed HACCP rules will remain open for comment through July 13. Cider and other fresh juice producers are encouraged to submit their comments to FDA, with copies to Senator Jeffords on or before that date

Contact Information

A Commitment to Excellence and Service:

We a committed to excellence and service to you. If you have any questions, problems or want to arrange for an orchard visit regarding your concerns, please call or write.

For horticulture questions contact:

M. Elena Garcia
Tree Fruit Specialist
Plant and Soil Science Dept.
306 Hills Bldg.
University of Vermont
Burlington VT 05405-0082
Phone: 802/656-2824
Fax: 802/656-4656

E-mail: elena.garcia@uvm.edu

For IPM questions contact:

Lorraine P. Berkett
Plant Pathologist and IPM Specialist
Chair, Dept. of Plant & Soil Science
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
Phone: 802/656-0972
Fax: 802/656-4656

E-mail: lorraine.berkett@uvm.edu

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification, no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied. Always read the label before using any pesticide. The label is the legal document for theproduct use. Disregard any information in this newsletter if it is in conflictwith the label.

(06/08/98  by M. Elena Garcia and Lorraine Berkett)