09/15/08 Preventing Cracking

Preventing Cracking. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Cherry growers across the northwest know that as harvest time approaches they need to keep a close eye on the weather. A good rainstorm can quickly devastate a cherry crop. Cherries love to suck up the water but can only take so much before the skins crack. In the United Kingdom, rain has been a big problem 2 years running. Jason Holohan with Plant Health Care in the UK has come up with what appears to be a successful solution. HOLOHAN: The key is we're not trying to get calcium into the plant. The plant has more than enough calcium. The key here is we're trying to increase the availability of calcium. Through the use of a spray application Holohan says they can essentially give the plant an adrenaline like boost. HOLOHAN: Just like you or I have adrenaline, plants have calcium and it has something in it's cells called calmodulin which is a sponge that soaks up this excess calcium and all we do is target small and often applications of a harpin protein which trigger a panic attack in the plant with calcium release or as you or I would have an adrenaline release. This release protects the plant from stress. The product is called Pre-Tect and is currently undergoing trials in the U.S. How effective is it? HOLHAN: We've taken cracking down from 80% to about 5% and these are large scale trials. Obviously the UK only has something like a thousand acres of cherries in total. Even in the really downpour that we're having an inch and quarter to two inch downpours on a daily basis at time of harvest the most we were finding was about a 40% cracking. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.