Fruit Bites for July 26-28 ... Field Update

BL: Welcome back to another “Fruit Bites” brought to you by Valent U.S.A. With us again is Valent’s Allison Walston. And this week Allison, we are talking about the status of apples, pears and cherries in this weeks field update.

AW: Let’s start with cherries since they are currently in the later part of harvest. According to cherry grower friends, the crop size was down due to April’s cold weather, wind damage and a bit of rain crack. Considering all of that, packouts have been fairly good.

BL: next off the tree are pears

AW: Less than one month to go before Bartlett pear harvest. Estimates say that they are about 7 days later than average, at least here in the Hood River Valley. Pear fruit set was also a bit lighter in several regions due to cold weather. Now to keep pear psylla poluations low and prevent mites from flaring.

BL: and finally, apples

AW: apples have been all over the map in regards to how much fruit was left after thinning & June drop, but they are looking good. Start thinking about harvest management and if the fruit’s ripening needs to be delayed with PGRs like ReTain.

BL: Well, thanks Allison. Join us again next time for Fruit Bites, brought to you by Valent. Until then, I’m Bob Larson.