Transcript George Driever fruits - Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service

BACKYARD FRUIT
PRODUCTION
George Driever
Horticulture Educator
Pottawatomie County, OCES
Basics
• Variety selection - select adapted varieties, size
• Site selection - know fruit’s soil, light and
moisture requirements
• Planting area - < 10% slope
• Soil fertility - know fruit’s nutrient requirements
• Understand the basics of soil fertility
• Pest control - plan for control of pest problems
Pre-purchase Planning
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Rootstocks/Varieties
Number of trees
Sources of trees
Planting plan
Training plan
Spraying plan
Rootstocks & Varieties
• Rootstocks determine tree size and pest
resistance
• Varieties determine fruit characteristics
and pest resistance
• Both should be carefully selected
Number of Trees
• Two each of apples, pears and plums for
cross pollination
• Some trees are self pollinating
• Example: One peach tree yields four
bushels of fruit…..how much do we want to
have on hand to process????
Planting Plan
• Choose north or east slope
• Plant peaches on highest ground
• Plant like fruits together for spray and
pollination compatability
• Allow 20 x 20 feet for each tree or train on
a trellis
• Mulch and maintain 5 feet diameter weedand grass-free zone
Training Plan
• Begin the first year
• All trees: wide crotch
angles
• Pome Fruits: central
leader
• Stone Fruits: vase
shape…keep center
open
Cultural Practices
for Disease Control
• Properly space plants
• Properly prune and trellis when
practical
• Avoid excessive soil moisture
• Plant on raised beds
• Improve drainage
• Avoid overhead watering
• Fertilize properly
Air Movement
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Pest considerations
Damage to seedlings and transplants
Drift from adjacent properties
Adjustments
– Barriers
– Fencing
Pests of Fruit
• Weeds
• Insects
• Diseases
BENEFICIALS
• Parasitic wasp
• Lady beetle
• Minute pirate bug
Proper Identification
 Essential for successful disease control
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1st - Disease vs. Insect
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2nd - Abiotic vs. Biotic
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3rd - ID pathogen
Spraying Plan
• Regularly scout for pests
• Follow spray schedule
• Plan to spray from dormant
season until within two
weeks of harvest
• First three sprays after
bloom are the most critical
Modified Spray Programs
• Extended Interval Spraying
– Petal Fall + 3 - 4 Cover sprays @ 21 day
intervals
• Strip Spraying
– Include outsides and ends
• Reduced Dosage Spraying
– Spray on schedule using lower rates
• Spray As Needed
– Requires scouting/monitoring
Tree Fruits
Ranked on Ease of Growing
Pears
Apples
Plums
Cherries
Peaches
Nectarines
Apricots
Easy
Difficult
Pome
vs.
• Tolerate clay soils
• Fewer disease and insect
problems
• Less likely to suffer frost
damage
Stone
• Will not grow on clay or
wet soils
• Several major disease
and insect problems
• Bloom early in spring:
susceptible to frost
damage
Pome Fruits
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Apples and pears easiest to grow
Choose disease-resistant varieties
Train to central leader
Bears after 3 to 5 years
Fruit stores well
Apple Rootstocks and
Varieties
• MM-111 semi-dwarf rootstock
Select varieties for:
– heat and cold tolerance (zones 6 & 7)
– disease resistance
– Flavor
M-9 Fully dwarf rootstock
requires trellis or stake
6 to 8 ft at maturity
Training Apples
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Central leader
5 - 7 scaffold limbs
Encourage fruit spurs
Prune away crown
suckers and water
sprouts
Growing Good Apples
• Thin dime size fruit: 6 to 8 inches apart
• Spray regularly starting fungicides at
“Green Tip”; insecticides at 75% petal fall
(tank-mix)
• Fertilize in late winter and late spring
• Harvest with slight upward twist and avoid
bruising
Pears
• The easiest no-spray fruit
• Asian pears….crisp, juicy
• European pears….
more flavor, softer texture
• All store very well
Pear Rootstocks and
Varieties
• Rootstock: ‘Old Home’ x ‘Farmingdale’
a.k.a.: (OHXF)
• Selected varieties must be fire blight
resistant
• Select for freedom from grit cells for softer
texture
Apple and Pear Insects
• Codling moth
– Up to 3
generations/year
– Larvae
– Adult
– Damage
– Cover sprays
Apple and Pear Insects
• Plum Curculio
– Adult
– Larva
• Seldom form in fruit
– Egg
– Scars
– Petal fall
– Cover sprays
– Pick up fallen fruit
Site Selection - Stone Fruits
• Peach and nectarine - do not tolerate wet soil
– Avoid site where water stands more than one
week after heavy rains
– Avoid soils with high water tables
• Dig holes 2 feet deep, fill with water
If water stands 24 hours = bad site
• Sandy soils - support peach trees
– May require supplemental irrigation
Peach and Nectarine Rootstocks
• ‘Halford’ or ‘Lovell’ rootstocks survive in hot,
humid Oklahoma soils.
Peach and Nectarine Varieties
• Resistance to bacterial spot
• Winter hardy and late blooming
• Cling vs. Freestone
• White flesh vs. Yellow flesh
• Span the season…..flowering time does not
coincide with date of ripening. Choose early, midand late-season types.
Training Peaches and Nectarines
• At planting…..cut 18 to 30 inches high
• Remove branches lower than 12 inches
• Train to open-center “vase” shape
• Select 3 to 4 main scaffold limbs
• Prune heavily each year
Pruning Stone Fruit Trees
Peach and Nectarine Pruning
• Maintain open center pruning
 Light penetration critical
• Remove up to 1/3 of live wood/year
• Remove suckers and water sprouts
• Remove dead and diseased limbs
Growing Peaches and Nectarines
• Adhere to spray schedule
• Stay ahead of peach tree borer
• Apply N twice - spring and summer
• Thin fruit: one every 8 inches before
pit hardening
• Provide plenty of water
Cherries
• Sweet Cherries
– ‘Bing’ types….grow well
– Need a 2nd variety for pollination
– Choose crack-resistant varieties
• Sour Cherries
– Pie cherries. Easy to grow, dwarf
varieties available
• Both types have fewer pests than
peaches
Growing Good Cherries
• Select for disease and crack resistance
• Select dwarf types so bird netting can be
applied
• Be diligent about peach tree borer
• Train to vase shape…..little other pruning
needed
Plums
Japanese or dessert-type
European or Prune-type
Good for drying, canning
and preserves
Juicier, best for fresh eating
Plum Varieties and Pollination
• Rootstocks:
– Not as critical
• Select Varieties:
– Disease resistant
– Winter hardy
• Pollination:
– European will not cross pollinate Japanese
– Select two of same type to insure fruit set
Plum Training and Care
• Train to vase shape
• Avoid knicking limbs when pruning….makes
entry point for disease
• Thin fruit to one every 3 to 4 inches
• Avoid over-watering near harvest
• Be diligent about peach tree borer
Apricots
• Choose cold hardy, late bloomers
• Select dwarf types
 Grow in container = mobile tree
= frost protection
• Thin fruit to one every 3 to 4 inches
• Protect from birds
• Be diligent about peach tree borer
Diseases of Stone Fruits
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Apricots
Cherries
Nectarines
Peaches
Plums
Peach Leaf Curl
Taphrina deformans
Peach and Nectarine
• Leaves severely deformed
• Color varies from light green
to purple
• Infection requires free
moisture, active leaf buds,
temperature between 50° and
70° F
• Control requires dormant
season fungicide application
Brown rot
Monilinia fructicola
Peach, Nectarine, Apricot, Cherry, Plum
• Infects immature or mature fruit
• Soft dry rot
• Rapidly spreading on fruit (48 hrs)
• Infected fruit sporulate profusely, shrivel = mummies
Control of Stone Fruit Diseases
• Plant peach varieties tolerant to bacterial spot
(Redskin, Redhaven, Candor, Dixired, Sunhaven)
• Apply fungicides:
– Dormant season: Peach leaf curl & Bacterial spot,
Black knot
– Shuck split: Brown rot, Scab, Black knot
– Cover sprays: Brown rot, Scab, Black knot
• Apply cover sprays at 10 to 14 day intervals
Insects of Stone Fruits
• Oriental Fruit Moth
– 3 generations/year
– Adult and pupa
– Larva
– Damaged shoot
– Infested peaches
– Petal fall
– Shuck split
– Cover sprays
Insects of Stone Fruits
• Plum Curculio
– Shuck injury
– Larva develop well
– Adult
– Petal fall
– Shuck split
– First and second cover
sprays
– “Wormy peaches”
Insects of Stone Fruits
• Catfacing insects
– Plantbugs
– Stinkbugs
– Damage
– Pre-bloom
– Petal fall
– Shuck-split
– Cover sprays
Insects of Stone Fruits
• Lesser Peach Tree Borer
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Adult
Infested limb
Damage scaffold limbs and branches
Gum mixed with wood borings or sawdust-like frass
Prebloom and cover sprays
Insects of Stone Fruits
• Peach Tree Borer
– Most serious threat
– Adult female
– Larval instars
– Borer in trunk
– Lorsban - late May
– Thiodan - postharvest
Insects of Stone Fruits
• Beetles
– Green June beetles
– Japanese beetles
– Cover
– Preharvest
– Foliage feeders
– Ripe fruit
Pest Free Fruit Trees
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Oriental Persimmon
Jujube
Paw Paw
Crab apples
Figs
Mulberry
Small Fruits
Blueberry
Site Selection
Blueberry
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pH 4.0 to 5.5 - get soil test
1 to 4 lbs sulfur/ 100 ft2
Full sun and well drained
Sandy loam with added
organic matter - ideal
• Avoid frost-prone areas
Control weeds
– bermudagrass
– wild blackberries
Blueberry Types
• Highbush
• Rabbiteye
Photo: Steven Clemants, Westchester Co., NY.
• Southern Highbush
Highbush
Blueberry
• 5 to 25 feet tall
• Ripens in May
• Requires 800 hours chilling
• Performs best in northern
Oklahoma
Rabbiteye
Blueberry
• 5 to 20 feet tall
• Ripen in May and early June
• Requires 150 to 600 hours chilling
• Performs best in central and
southern Oklahoma
• More heat tolerant
Southern Highbush
Blueberry
• Intermediate between highbush and rabbiteye
• Ripen about 3 weeks earlier than rabbiteye
• Should perform well throughout Oklahoma
Planting and Culture
Blueberry
• Plant mid-January to late March
• Plant 2 year old container-grown plants - 12 to 16
inches in height
• Plant two or more varieties
• Set plants approximately 5 feet apart
• Set plants without washing soil from roots
Fertilizing Established Blueberries
• Ammonium N better than nitrate N
• Apply N in small applications
– once before bloom
– once after bloom
– once in fall
• Apply P and K according to soil test
• Apply fertilizer uniformly within dripline
• Avoid the base of the plant
Mummy Berry Disease
Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi
Blueberry
• Berries shrivel and turn pinkish
Fall to ground and turn brown
• Favored by cold wet weather
• Infects very young tissue
• Source of inoculum
Infected fruit mummies on ground
Phytophthora Root Rot
Phytophthora cinnamomi
Blueberry
• Early symptoms:
• Yellowing of leaves
• Small terminal leaves
• Lack of new growth
• Excessive defoliation
Stem Cankers
Blueberry
Pathogens: Botryosphaeria, Gloeosporium, Phomopsis
Occur periodically in Oklahoma
Symptoms: Discolored lesions on stems
Infected stems eventually wilt and die
Bramble Fruits
Blackberries and Raspberries
• Perennial root
• Biennial canes
• Good longevity
• Annual pruning
• Easy to grow
• Variety selection most important
Cane Growth
• Primocanes
– First year growth
• Floricanes
– Second year growth
– Fruit bearing canes
Blackberries
• Hardy plants - few pests
• Most productive bramble
• Grow well on wide range of soils
• Well-drained sandy soil preferred
• Enriched with humus
• Prune to prevent rambling
• Two forms: erect and trailing
Blackberry Varieties
• Erect Blackberries
Recommended varieties (listed in order of ripening)
– Choctaw (thorned)
– Cheyenne (thorned)
– Cherokee (thorned)
– Arapaho (thornless)
– Shawnee (thorned)
– Navaho (thornless)
Raspberries
• New varieties better suited for south
• Pulls free from core when picked
• Red, yellow, purple, and black varieties
• Red and yellow - more cold tolerant
Anthracnose
Elsinoe veneta
Blackberry and Raspberry
• Reduces size and quality
of fruit on infected canes
Symptoms on canes:
• Early - light grayish spots about 1/8 inch diameter
•Late - Spots enlarge and develop purple
borders and ash-gray centers
Fruit rot
Botrytis cinerea
Blackberry and Raspberry
• Infects blossoms and fruit
• Symptoms on fruit appear
near maturity
• Watery rot develops on few
drupelets
• Infected drupelets turn tan
• Moist weather = visual fungal growth
Insects of Bramble Fruit
• Raspberry Crown Borer
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Adult is moth, grub in cane
Damages crown area
Reduced vigor and breakage
Galls below soil line
Eggs laid in late summer
Larvae bore into canes
2 year life cycle
Dig and burn infested canes
Treat @ pre-bloom
Insects of Bramble Fruits
Cane Borers
– 2 species
• Raspberry cane borer
• Red-necked cane borer
– Adult stage is beetle
– Tip girdling and wilting
– Enlargement or galls
– Prune and burn infested canes
Grapes
Grape Types
• American Bunch
• Muscadine
American Bunch Grape
• Derived from native grape
species + some mixture of
European species
• Popular home grown fruit
• Utilized as fresh fruit, wine,
juice, jams and jellies
• Some problems with
disease and insects
Bunch Grape Varieties
• Produce about 8 pounds
per vine
• Table, wine, juice, or jelly
• Red, white, or blue
• Seed or seedless
• Harvest date
Varieties of American Bunch
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Mars**
Reliance***
Saturn*
Venus*
Early
Blue
Table
Early
Red
Table
Middle
Red
Table
Very Early
Blue
Table
 Concord - NOT RECOMMENDED FOR OKLAHOMA
Winter Hardiness: * = Fair; ** = Medium; *** = Good
Varieties - OSU Extension Facts #6222
Muscadine Grape
• Native to S.E. USA
• Adapted to moderate climate
(10 ° F)
• Insect and disease tolerant
• Popular for wine, pies, and
jellies
• Average vine = 35 pounds of
grapes
Muscadine Grapes
Improved Varieties
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Carlos - bronze
Cowart - blue
Doreen - bronze
Dixie Red - red
Magnolia - bronze
Nesbitt - black
• Noble - black
• Regale - black
• Triumph - bronze
 Scuppernong and
Thomas - old standards, not
as good as improved varieties
Training and Pruning
Young Grapes
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Allow cane to develop
Keep tied to stake or trellis wire
Tip at top wire (4 to 5 feet)
Prune all lateral branches
Training and Pruning
Young Grapes
• 2nd year
• Allow free growth of shoots from trunk and spurs
• Remove suckers below bottom wire of trellis
• Remove flower cluster before bloom
Winter - Begin training to the Kniffin system
• Select four canes and cut to five to eight buds
Black Rot
Guignardia bidwellii
Grape
• Foliar symptoms:
• Appear in late spring
• Early - Small reddish spots
• Later - Spots turn brown
with black margins
• Fruit symptoms: Appear after fruit half grown
• Small whitish areas on green fruit
Grape Insect Pests
• Grape Berry Moth
– Attacks leaves
– Attacks fruit
– Tangled webs
– After petal fall
– 2 weeks later
– Later if present
– Clean up and burn leaf debris
– Petal fall and 7-10 days later
Grape Insect Pests
• Flea Beetles
– Early season pest
– Two leaf stage
– Prior to bloom
– Adults and larvae damage
plants
– Destroy future canes
– 1 generation/year
Backyard Fruit Production
Program developed by:
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service
Oklahoma State University
Susan Gray, County Extension Educator, Horticulture
Phil Pratt, Area Extension Specialist, Plant Pathology
Jim Shrefler, Area Extension Specialist, Horticulture
Bill Stacey, Area Extension Specialist, Entomology