Friday, May 17, 2002

Here's Win Cowgill with his super-spindle planting in New Jersey. Cool. I should mention some of the apple cultivars we included in this planting: Golden Delicious (Gibson); Royal or Tome Empire; Joburn Braeburn; Cameo; Autumn Rose Fuji; Desert Rose Fuji; Redcort; Golden Supreme; Brookfield and Buckeye Gala; Honeycrisp (of course); Granny Smith; Joangored (Morren's Supra); Suncrisp; Mutsu (Crispin); Macoun; and Goldrush. (I may have missed one or two.) All are on M.9 (337, Pajam-2, or Nic-29); B.9; or G.16 (fireblight-resistant, similar in size to M.9, from Cornell-Geneva rootstock breeding program.) Tree spacing is 2-3 feet by 10-12 feet. Oh. And we put in a companion NC-140 planting trial with Cameo as the scion on M.9-337, B.9 , or G.16. Later. 1:18:53 PM

Yours truly standing next to a super-spindle orchard at the UMass Cold Spring Orchard planted in April, 2002. (Photo by Win Cowgill.) Thanks to tree donations from Willow Drive Nursery, Adams County Nursery, Wafler Nursery, Stark Brothers Nursery, and Hilltop Nursery, two super-spindle plantings were put in -- one in Massachusetts by Jon Clements, and one in New Jersey by Win Cowgill -- as Extension demonstration projects to see how this type of system will work in the Northeast. Already used extensively in British Columbia, Canada, and Europe, the super-spindle can give you high early yields (2nd and 3rd leaf) of top quality fruit. The downside is tree cost and intensity of management. (It's probably not a good system for every grower.) Stay tuned for updates and horticultural management details during the growing season. JC 10:38:39 AM

Re: that picture from 5/16, the apple flower bud with darkened center. Last night, at a grower twilight meeting sponsored by Rhode Island Fruit Growers Association and UMass Extension Fruit team, Heather Faubert of URI suggested this may be green pug moth damage. GPM is apparently a new pest of apples in the Northeast. It will attack the flower buds pre-bloom, and eat the flower parts. Here is a close-up of the injury. I have not been able to confirm the diagnosis, however, in the 2000-2001 New England Apple Pest Management Guide, there is a picture of the worm. (Wouldn't it be better to have a picture of the damage? How often do growers see the damage only, and rarely, if ever, see the pest???) Have fun. 9:25:12 AM