Transcript Small Fruits

Small Fruits
Chapter 44
The Bramble Fruits
Black berries, red raspberry, black raspberry boysenberry dewberry,
loganberry, and tayberry
Location of the
planting
Location that is higher than the surrounding
area or with a slight slope should be chosen.
Brambles are not as subject to spring frost
damage as strawberries and blueberries.
Do not plant next to wild raspberry or black
berry plants due to disease.
Nor in an area where potatoes, tomatoes,
peppers, egg plant, or tobacco have been
planted in the past 5 years.
Soil For Planting Site
Be sure to have soil with high drainage
capacity and be high in organic matter.
Organic matter increases the
moisture-holding capacity of the soil.
Subsoil drainage is more important
than soil type.
Soil Preparation
If possible begin preparing the soil for
blackberries or raspberries one to two
years in advanced.
When planting, plow the soil to a depth
of seven to nine inches.
Test the soil before planting.
Bramble fruit grows well pH as low as
6.0 to 6.5
Planting systems
The most effective trellis system for
erect-growing brambles is one with two
parallel liners.
Then lift wires 24 to 30 in. high and
space the posts 15 to 20 ft. apart.
Pruning Blackberries
During growing season place the
canes 24 in. or longer.
In early spring remove all canes that
are a half in. or less in diameter by
cutting off at ground level.
After harvest continue the growing
cycle by cutting back all new canes to
the 24 in. height
Pruning Red
Raspberries
During growing season the canes are
thinned to stand to closer than 4 to 6
in.
After harvest remove old canes, mow
the rows the a height of six in. each
spring, then remove all canes for new
canes and to come in.
Semi trailing Blackberries and
Boysenberries
Laterals are shortened on all canes to 10
inches in the early spring.
After harvest remove all the old canes that
have fruited immediately after harvest and
destroy them.
Fertilizing
Apply lime, phosphorus and potash after
planting, side dress a nitrogen fertilizer 6 in.
from the plant at a rate of 40 ponds of
actual nitrogen per acre.
Harvesting
Pick berries what they are fully ripe, but
still firm.
Raspberries should be picked every few
days, as with Blackberries.
Directly after picking, put in shade.
Berries picked in the morning keep
better than berries picked after the sun
has heated them.
Insects and Diseases
Diseases are more effective to Bramble fruits
than insects.
Buy and plant only disease-free plants
Burn all diseased plants
Remove all canes after harvest
Keep planting free of weeds and fallen leaves.
Use pesticides when necessary and obtain a
spray schedule from the local extension
service
Grapes
• Choosing A Plant Site
• Soil Preparation
• Planting
• Trellis Construction
• Training and Pruning
• Fertilizer
• Harvesting
• Weed Control
•Insects and Diseases
• Propagation
Grapes
Grapes are rapidly becoming a home
grown fruit.
They are consumed fresh as juices
and wines, raisins, jam and jelly, and
as frozen products.
Grapes are Native to the U.S.
Choosing a Planting Site
A level site or steep slope that is higher
than the surrounding area is important to
reduce danger of frost damage.
Soil should have good drainage capacity
and be high in organic matter.
A soil that is hardpan (compacted clayey
soil).
Rock or wet subsoil close to the surface
are not suitable.
Soil Preparation
Grapes shouldn’t be planted directly
into soil that has been is sod for years.
Such land should be planted with a
cultivated crop such as corn for 1 year.
Any phosphorus or potash fertilizer
needed should be plowed or disked
into the soil before planting
Planting
The ideal grape plant at planting time is
1 year old.
Don’t allow roots to dry out during the
planting procedure.
Immediately after planting, prune to a
single stem with 2 or 3 buds remaining.
Vines should be cultivated soon after
planting to kill germinating weeds.
Trellis Construction
Grapes are trained to grow on a trellis
so that the vines are given proper
support.
Generally a 2-wire trellis is used,
wooden, concrete, or steel posts are
placed about 20 feet apart with the
end post 3 feet deep to remain secure.
Number 9 wire is used for the top with
number 12 on the bottom.
Training and Pruning
Grape vines are trained to fit the trellis.
There are several systems of training.
The four-arm knitting system is the most
common.
After the first growing season the most
vigorous cane is selected and tied to the
top wire.
Training and Pruning
It is cut off above the top wire and all
other canes are removed.
When pruning during the dormant
season of the 2nd and 3rd year select 4
vigorous canes for arms.
Vines are pruned each year late in
winter or early spring before growth
begins.
Training and Pruning
Select 4 other canes located as close
to the arms as possible and cut each
back to 2 buds each. These short
canes are called renewal spurs and
the buds on them will develop new
canes to serve as the new arms for
the vine the following year.
Training and Pruning
A new system called the Geneva
Double Curtain system allows more
light to the plants and gives higher
production since it has 2 fruiting
canopies per row.
Fertilizer
Fertilize grapes early in the spring with
500 lbs. of 10-10-10 fertilizer.
Fertilizer should be broadcast because
grape roots tend to spread over a wide
area.
Harvesting
Grapes are harvested when they are
ripe.
This stage is often difficult to detect
since some grapes change color and
appear to be ripe a month before they
are actually ready to pick.
The best test for table grapes is to
taste them for sweetness or check
color of seed.
Harvesting
Seed color changes from green to
brown as the fruit ripens.
Reasons for picking early include
grapes cracking or splitting open as
ripening progresses, rotting in rainy
weather, or danger of a early frost.
Weed Control
Generally accomplished through
shallow cultivation and the use of the
grape hoe.
Insects and Diseases
Grapes are sprayed for both insects and
fungus diseases.
At least three spray applications are
needed for good control.
Major diseases that require control are
black rot, powdery mildew, and downy
mildew.
Major insect pest are the flea beetle, leaf
hopper, berry moth, and Japanese
beetle.
BLUEBERRIES!!!
Intro. To Blueberries
• One of the easiest and most rewarding
small fruits to grow
• Make an attractive landscape plant
• Most blueberries sold are from wild
plants
• Three major types – highbush,
lowbush and rabbiteye
Highbush Blueberries
•Location
•Grow naturally in an area from North Carolina
to Maine
•Planted where soil is moist and acidic
•Berries have a better flavor where days are
long and nights are cool
•Require some winter cold to break the winter
rest period
Highbush Blueberries
•Soil
•Grow best in moist, acidic soil
•pH range of 4.6 to 5.0 is best
•Soil should have good drainage
•Should be high in organic matter
•Organic matter helps moisture retention
Highbush Blueberries
•Planting
•Should be spaced 4 or 5 feet apart in rows that
are 9 or 10 feet apart
•Done early in the spring
•Irrigation
•Blueberry is not drought resistant
•1- 2 inches per acre every 10 days
Highbush Blueberries
•Mulches
•Use straw, sawdust, or wood chips to conserve
moisture and control weeds
•When organic mulches are used, Nitrogen
fertilizer must be applied
•Mulches are best weed control since cultivation
damages the shallow root system
Rabbiteye Blueberries
•Has a natural range in Georgia, Alabama,
Florida
•Not as sensitive to soil conditions as highbush
•Grows from eastern North Carolina to central
FL. and west to Arkansas and east TX
Rabbiteye Blueberries
•Culture
•Planted in midwinter in rows 12 feet apart w/
plants spaced 6 to 12 feet apart
•Pruning usually not done
•Propagated by offshoots, which grow up from
the roots as far as 8 feet from the plant
Rabbiteye Blueberries
•Varieties
•Woodward-good flavor
•Tifblue-excellent flavor
•Homebell-very vigorous growth
Harvesting
•hand picked
•Machine harvesting is used in some places
•Yields range from 50 pints per acre on a 2
year-old planting to 6,000 pints on a 6 year-old
planting
Pest Control
•Weeds
•Controlled by mulching, shallow cultivation, or
use of weed killers
•Diseases
•Stem canker causes the most damage
•In NJ, most serious diseases are stunt virus and
mummy berry
Strawberries
STRAWBERRIES
• A perennial plant.
• The leaves die back to the crown when
temperatures drop below 23 degrees F
• Roots live from year to year and new
leaves and blossoms grow from the crown
each spring.
RUNNERS
Runners are what strawberries naturally
propagate.
Plants send out runners from early
summer till fall.
strawberries are grown areas in the
pacific coast states and the eastern
united states.
65% of all strawberries grown in the US
are grown on the pacific coast.
GROWING AREAS
Strawberries are grown in California
by means of a hills system.
Kept cold in storage until summer
Set in single or double rows.
Central Coast- Plants are planted in
early August and don’t produce
runners. Harvest from april-november
Growing Areas
Central valleys- Harvest season is
April, may, and part of June. Plants are
set in fields in mid-July
Santa Maria- harvest begins in April till
summer and fall
Southern California- strawberries are
harvested for only a year.
Oregon- largest acreage of strawberries.
Harvest from may till early July.
Washington- harvest from June to mid-July
Strawberries grow best in a loam or sandy
loam soil.
It’s important to supply the soil with organic
matter
Drainage is important for good growth
Soil preparation for planting strawberries
should begin in one or two years before
actual planting date.
Best time to plant is early spring
Systems
• Five planting systems:
Hill System
Spaced Matted-Row System
Matted-Row System
Four rows, double rows, and single row
Single-row planting
Cultivation
Cultivation should be 6 weeks after
they are placed in the soil
Should be shallow no more than 1 to 2
inches
Additional cultivation may be needed
when the chemical weed control
begins to fail
Mulching
Extensively used in eastern growing
regions
Controls freezing and thawing of the
soil, which pushes plants out of the
soil and exposes roots to drying
Black plastic makes excellent mulch
Frost and Winter
• Planting on high grounds prevents most
damage to spring blossoms
• A heavy mulch applied after the plants
have been hardened off to winter
conditions saves it from loss
All strawberries are picked by hand
since no machine is available that can
do it properly
If stems are too short, they puncture
other fruit in container