Facts for Fancy Fruit 99-07 June 2, 1999 Crop Conditions: In the south apples are about 10-20 mm in size, which is getting on the late side for any further chemical thinning, whereas in the north many fruit are around the 10 mm stage. There is still time for chemical thinning if required, but from what weÕve seen fruit drop on apples is heavy in many places around the state, so further thinning may not be necessary. Strawberry harvest is underway in the south and quality and yield are excellent. Grapes and brambles are past bloom for the most part. Both crops look to have a heavy fruit set so yields should be relatively high. Blueberry harvest should begin soon in the southern part of the state and by the end of the month in central and northern areas. WeÕre expecting near average yields this year. Weather Update: The 6 to 10 day forecast calls for above normal temperature and normal precipitation. The 30 day outlook calls for normal temperature and precipitation and the 90 day outlook calls for below normal temperature and normal precipitation. Apple Diseases: What To Do? Now is the time growers need to be walking their orchards looking for symptoms of apple scab, fire blight, powdery mildew, and rust. When looking for diseases select those blocks which are most disease prone. Ida red, Jonathan, and Romes are ÒgoodÓ trees to inspect for disease doings; they are all highly susceptible to scab, blight, mildew and rust. If you do see symptoms of any of the above mentioned diseases we suggest the following: a) apple scab - If scab is detected, the safest bet is to apply Rubigan or Nova in combination with a FULL rate of captan to provide optimum protection of the developing fruitlets; b) fire blight - immediately cut out blighted twigs 10 to 12 inches below any sign of infection, being sure to sterilize pruning tools between each cut; maintain good control of sucking insects which are primary carriers for secondary spread of blight; and apply streptomycin within 24 hours following injury from hail storms. Special attention should be given to young trees and trees on M9 and M26 rootstocks or interstems; c) powdery mildew - maintain mildewcide sprays until terminal growth stops; d) rust - relax and enjoy the colorful display of orange spots on leaves and/or green depressions on fruit--- no further infection from rust will occur this year, therefore rust is one disease you donÕt have to worry about any longer. -Pecknold Ugly Stubs & Fire Blight: Growers should be especially alert for fire blight symptoms in late May to early JuneÉ.this is generally the time fire blight makes itself known. Look for new growth that appears wilted and crooked at the tip with browning and wilting of leaves. Efforts to limit secondary spread by cutting out fire blight strikes are most successful if these strikes can be removed immediately after they appear. Cut out blighted twigs 10 to 12 inches below any sign of infection; however, if the infected shoot is associated with the main trunk or a major scaffolding limb you may want to try the Òugly stubÓ cut to help avoid possible canker formation. Do not cut flush with the trunk or major limb, but instead leave a naked 4-5 inch branch stub. Marking the ugly stubs with flags or a bright colored paint when the cuts are made can help in relocating them during the winter pruning operation, when the ugly stubs are removed, without fear of canker formation. -Pecknold Pesticide Use Survey: Purdue Pesticide Programs and Agricultural Statistics Service will conduct a survey Indiana grape growers. During June and July the Agricultural Statistics Service will be contacting growers by telephone. The survey results will present information on grape production in Indiana and highlight current pests and pest control methods. The survey results will enable regulatory agencies, public policy officials and environmental groups to discuss pesticide-use issues more knowledgeably. The survey is confidential. All grape growers are encouraged to participate. June is Indiana Wine and Grape Month: Wineries from the shores of Lake Michigan to the banks of the Ohio River will be offering visitors a chance to get away and help celebrate this special month! Proclaimed by Governor Frank OÕBannon as Indiana Wine and Grape Month, many of the stateÕs 19 wineries will be celebrating by hosting special activities. For more information and a free Indiana Wineries brochure, contact the Indiana Wine Grape Council at 800-832-WINE or 765-494-3842. Care of New Grape Plantings: There have been several new vineyards planted around the state in the past few years. Those planted this spring should be growing well. Depending on the date of planting, vines should be at a point where they will need some initial training. Some of the vines we planted four weeks ago have shoots just growing out the top of 30 inch grow tubes. Other varieties are quite a bit behind this, but should catch up fast. Be sure to provide support for these shoots to avoid damage from the shoot scraping across the edge of the tube. Either use a string tied between the mid and upper trellis wire (if the trellis is established) or tie the shoot to the stake supporting the grow tube. We use ÒtapenersÓ for quick, easy tying of shoots to the support, but any type of tie will work so long as it doesnÕt girdle the shoot. Shoots should be removed along the trunk of one and two year old vines to concentrate growth along the top wire for cordon establishment. Shoot removal usually needs to be done two or three times during the season. Control weeds! I canÕt overemphasize the importance of controlling weeds in new grape plantings. Despite the depth of the root system, vines do not compete well with weeds. Cultivation or post emergent herbicide application will be necessary if pre-emergent material wasnÕt used at planting or has lost effectiveness. Glyphosate (e.g. Roundup) can safely be used on vines in grow tubes, but extreme care must be taken using glyphosate around unprotected vines. If grasses are the main weed problem then grass-specific herbicides such as Poast, Fusilade, or Prism may be better choices. See the weed control section in the 1999 Commercial Small Fruit & Grape Spray Guide for complete information. -Bordelon Fruit Drop on Apples: Despite the good weather and mostly good flowering, fruit drop appears to be pretty heavy in many places. This coupled with the warm early weather should result in a large fruit size year. Unfortunately crops in some places look like theyÕll be somewhat short of a full crop. ThereÕs not much we can do about that at this stage, except perhaps hold off on any further applications of chemical thinners until fruit drop is a bit further along so we can see what weÕve got. -Hirst Young Tree Care: If you planted apple trees this spring, donÕt forget about them. A little care and attention now will pay big dividends in terms of tree development and getting the trees into bearing early. Now is a good time to select your scaffold branches and apply toothpicks or clothespins to flatten out the branch angles. If you have an excessive amount of bud break on the trunk (too many potential scaffold branches), then IÕd reduce this back to about 8 now by pinching out unwanted shoots. This helps the tree divert itÕs energy into the 8 you want to keep. Of those 8, youÕll want to gradually reduce this back to 4 later on in about the 4th or 5th year, but leaving around 8 gives you plenty of options and allows some extra branches for early fruiting. Also good weed control around young trees is essential if you want to get the most out of them. -Hirst Strawberry Prices: The southern Indiana crop is one or two weeks ahead of normal and the early spring and dry conditions have lead to a large crop of berries of excellent quality. Eastern Flower Thrips have caused some damage in the central part of the state, but overall the damage doesnÕt appear too severe. Most berries grown in Indiana are sold Pick-Your-Own, or ready picked at the farm. How much should you charge? Dr. Richard C. Funt, Extension Specialist at Ohio State University reminds growers that the OSU economic analysis indicates that there is a loss of investment with 5000 pounds/acre and $.80/lb pick-your-own price. This translates to a similar loss if ready-picked berries are sold at $1.55 per pound or $2.25 per quart. He reports that prices in his area are near 1998 levels for pick-your-own, ranging from 75 to 95 cents per pound and from $1.75 to $2.40 per quart ready-picked. That doesnÕt leave much of a margin for profit. Know your yields and set your prices accordingly. DonÕt drop your price to stimulate sales. You have to sell a lot more berries at a lowered price to make the same profit. -Bordelon IHS Summer Meeting: Planning for the summer meeting is pretty much complete and we are looking forward to meeting at County Line Orchard and experiencing some of Dave and Bonnie McAfeeÕs hospitality (and they have plenty!). A BBQ and round table discussion will be held during the evening of June 29 and a full day of tours and presentations is planned for June 30. The McAfees are among the best marketers in the state and will share their experience and innovative ideas with us on subjects such as school tours, corn mazes, petting zoos, you-pick, using the internet, etc. Whether youÕre a new fruitgrower or have been in the business for 30 years, there will be something we can all learn from the McAfeeÕs operation. County Line Orchard is in Hobart, IN (Lake County), about 1.1 miles south of S.R. 6 on County Line Rd. Summer Meeting Agenda Tuesday, June 29, 1999 Meet at County Line Orchard Apple Barn 6:00 pm Hamburger cookout. 7:00 pm Roundtable discussion led by Peter Hirst Bring your observations on the 1999 season and your concerns. If you have slides or pictures to share of the season so far, bring them along. Hopefully Dr. Ashworth will be able to be with us. 9:00 pm Adjourn Wednesday, June 30, 1999 Meet at County Line Orchard Apple Barn. 8:00 am Registration and Coffee 8:50 am Introduction of exhibitors 9:00 am Visit market and other facilities 10:15 am Break 10:30 am Visit the orchards 12:00 Lunch on the grounds 1:00 pm IHS business meeting 1:30 pm Presentations by Purdue staff 3:00 pm Tour A Either: JohnsonÕs Strawberry Farm - featuring plasticulture grown strawberries. The season will probably be over but we can still see how these berries are grown and marketed. or: School tour organization. See how the McAfees organize themselves and their clients to be able to serve so many people in such a short season. (Bonnie has been the key.) 4:15 pm Tour B Either: Marketing: ÒSelling the SizzleÓ: Apples, Pumpkins, petting barnyard and the ÒexperienceÓ. or: Simulated school tour. Get a first hand idea of what is offered to the students and their teachers when they arrive for a tour. 5:30 pm Final comments and Adjourn Notes: Registration will be $2.00 per family. Lunch Wednesday will be priced to just recover costs. Pesticide Container Recycling: The Office of the Indiana State Chemist is offering pesticide container recycling at several locations across the state August 3 through September 9. Contact the OISC at 765-494-1594 for the date of a location near you. Questions and Answers: Growers often have questions about articles that appear in this newsletter, or topics we donÕt cover. If you have a question or a topic you would like to see discussed, send it to one of us by mail or email and weÕll be happy to do an article for the next issue of the newsletter. Subscribing electronically: To subscribe (or unsubscribe) to Facts for Fancy Fruit, send a message to fff@lists.hort.purdue.edu with the subject or body ÒsubscribeÓ (or ÒunsubscribeÓ). You can also use the form at the web site http://www.hort.purdue.edu/fff/mailinglist.html to submit your subscription. Electronic access is free of charge. Coming Meetings: June 8 - Eastern Indiana Hort. Society Twilight Orchard Tour and Program. From 6 p.m. until about 9 p.m. in Jay County. The host will be Carl Funk of 4682 West C.R. 350 South, Portland, Indiana. Between Redkey and Portland on S.R. 67 at Como go 1/2 mile east on C.R. 350 South. Besides the orchard and seasonal farm market, the Funks raise various vegetables. They own 70 hives of honeybees which they lease for pollination. Anyone interested in fruit or vegetable production is invited to participate in this free program, for which no reservations are needed. Contact: Harold Brown at 765-747-7732. June 10 - Blueberry Growers of Indiana Summer meeting. LuedtkeÕs Blueberries, 725 East 1400 North, Wheatfield. 4:00 pm Farm tour, 5:00 pm Pot luck dinner, 6:00 pm BGIN business meeting. Contact Melvin VanKley at 219-956-3687. June 17 - Illinois Summer Horticulture Field Day. Edwards West orchard, from US 20 west, north on Meridian Road to Cemetary Road then west to the orchard. The hosts, Mike and Lynn Edwards have about 3000 semi-dwarf apples on M.26 rootstock, a donut kitchen, cider mill, grading and packing area, a retail and gift shop and displays of farm related antiques. School tours are an important part of their business, along with a petting zoo, play maze, a wood train, farm tractor displays and pony rides. Advance registration is $10 per person, or $15 on-site. Call Don Naylor, executive secretary of the Illinois Hort. Society at 309-827-2393 for further information. June 22-23 - North Central Horticultural Risk Management Workshop, Marriott Hotel, 305 E. Washington Center Road, Exit 112 off I-69, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The focus of this workshop is Òmanaging the variations in profits and protecting business equityÓ and is intended for Extension Educators and Specialists. Contact David Petritz at 765-494-8494 for additional information. June 27 - Indiana WinegrowerÕs Guild Summer meeting, Huber Orchard & Winery, Starlight, IN. Contact Bruce Bordelon at 765-494-8212. June 29-30 - Indiana Horticultural Society summer meeting, McAfee Orchard, Hobart, IN. See program in this issue. Contact Peter Hirst at 765-494-1323. July 8 - Southeast Indiana Fruit Growers Twilight Orchard Tour. Chateau Pomije Winery, New Alsace. Contact Dan Baugh at 812-926-1189 or Karen Witt at 765-647-3511 July 14-17 - American Society for Enology and Viticulture/Eastern Section 24th Annual Conference and International Oak Symposium, St. Louis, MO. Contact: Ellen Harkness, Dept. of Food Science, Smith Hall, Purdue Univ. W. Lafayette, IN 47907-1160, Phone 317-494-6704, FAX 317-494-7953 Email: harkness@foodsci.purdue.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce Bordelon, 1165 Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1165, 317/494-1301, e-mail: bordelon@hort.purdue.edu Peter Hirst, 1165 Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1165, 317/494-1323, e-mail: hirst@hort.purdue.edu Paul Pecknold, 1155 Dept. of Botany & Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1155, 317/494-4628, e-mail: Pecknold@btny.purdue.edu Rick Foster, 1158 Dept. of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1158, 317/494-9572, e-mail: Rick_Foster@entm.purdue.edu Disclaimer: Reference to products in this publication is not an endorsement to the exclusion of others that may be similar. Any person using products listed in this newsletter assumes full responsibility for their use in accordance with current label directions of the manufacturer.