04/24/08 Watching the Fruit

Watching the Fruit. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. This past weekend was a tough one for many fruit growers across the region. Unseasonable cold temperatures caused significant damage in various areas. Oregon Cherry Growers, Gip Redman says it depended on where the orchards were. REDMAN: The old cliché location, location, location works in some instances but I still have not found a totally frost free area. Mother Nature is just too big and there's certainly areas that don't get frosted very much. A number of reports from growers are showing damage in areas not normally affected by frost. And there were a few blocks that have been damaged beyond recovery. REDMAN: On my own place I have some damage in peaches, I have some damage in some nectarines and some apples all along my north border where the drift comes in and it's to the point where those 4 blocks have been significantly downsized in how much crop I'm going to have on them. Another down side to the cold weather is pollination. Bees don't like to get out in the cold weather. REDMAN: The poor bees haven't had a chance to feed on anything for the last week to 10 days so they're going to be really excited to get out of the box. That's the other side of this is getting some adequate pollination and getting it before the pollen dries up on flowers that have been out for a while. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.