Do you utilize the MSU Apple Maturity reports at the apples.msu.edu web site provided by MSU Extension? If so, please respond to the following on-line survey.

The MSU Extension apple team would like to know how useful this educational resource has been to you or your business. Please take a few minutes to provide feedback to improve the quality of this effort. Take the survey online by clicking here.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Bill Shane...Michigan State University fruit educators provide information on apple variety ripening each season to help the apple industry anticipate and plan harvest activities. The first information resource is the estimated harvest dates (Table 1), which are available for the current and past years at the MSU Enviro-weather web site. The Enviro-weather apple maturity predictor uses the same computation method used by MSU apple extension educator Phil Schwallier over the years to predict the peak harvest date for McIntosh, Jonathan, and Red Delicious.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Phil Schwallier...ReTain is an ethylene blocker in apple and thus when applied delays apple maturity. Ethylene is involved in the ripening process of apples. The following six tips for use are to remind you of its use in apple.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Bob Tritten, David Epstein and Art Agnello... Pop quiz: The larvae of which insect tunnel into the center of an apple and feed on apple seeds, producing a tell-tale, frass-filled hole in the apple? If you were to answer, the codling moth, you would be correct, but in this case we received phone calls from a few southeast Michigan fruit growers asking us to look at damage on apples long before first generation codling moth larvae appeared in the orchard.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Phillip Schwallier and Amy Irish-Brown... Apple maturity for 2009 is expected to be normal to seven days behind normal and on average seven days behind last year. Bloom dates were a bit early in the south part of the state to perhaps about normal for the north areas. Daily temperatures during and after bloom can be characterized as cold with some frost problems especially in the north part of the state.

[Read the rest of this article...]

The Organic Tree Fruit Growers Association announces an exceptional event for all tree fruit growers at Al-Mar Orchards on June 25 in Flushing, Michigan. This event will provide a breadth and depth of information on organic apple production and on-farm research never before offered in Michigan or surrounding states.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Ron Perry...

Note: This was originally printed in the May 2009 Fruit Growers’ News, 48:5, 1 & 2.

There are many elements, pro and con, that go into the decision to summer prune apples. There are some rules for applying this practice to make it a positive experience; otherwise the grower may see some negative results. Considerable research has been conducted over the years and there are some excellent references on the subject that can help shed light on the subject.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Philip Schwallier and Amy Irish-Brown... This year’s apple crop for Michigan and the United States is expected to be large. It will be important to produce larger apples and avoid growing any juice apples. Last year in Michigan, a considerable number of blocks had light crops.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Philip Schwallier...This article was originally published in the August 7, 2007 issue of the Fruit CAT Alert.

ReTain is a very useful growth regulator on apples that has the following benefits. It will:

1. Delay fruit maturity of any variety.
   
2. Decrease fruit drop.
   
3. Improve the condition of treated fruit in storage.
   
4. Improve fruit quality and size.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Amy Irish-Brown...There are several insects that can cause injury to apples late in the season, particularly in blocks that have poor weed control. This year growers are trying to keep their expenses down given the rough looking hail-pecked apples that are all too common. While a third generation of codling moth doesn’t seem likely for 2008, other insects such as European corn borer and dock sawfly could show up, particularly in apple blocks under mating disruption for codling moth, because general cover sprays are not used as routinely in these blocks.

[Read the rest of this article...]

John Wise...The dogwood borer can be a problem in Michigan apple orchards. Dogwood borer adults emerge in mid-June and begin laying eggs over a four to six week period. Initially the dogwood borer larvae feed inside burr knots (adventitious roots) which can develop on the exposed above ground portion of clonal rootstocks. Feeding in the burr knot does little damage to the tree, but feeding can continue below the bark where it is much more destructive and may eventually girdle the tree.

[Read the rest of this article...]

By Ron Perry, Jerome Hull, and J. M. Clements... The training system that an apple (Malus xdomestica) grower selects must be one that best maximizes all the resources in making the enterprise a profitable venture.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Philip Schwallier and Bill Shane...Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the September 5, 2006 issue of the Fruit CAT Alert.

Maturity and storage guidelines by variety have been developed over the years through the MSU Apple Maturity Program. These guidelines help target the harvest of apples at the optimum maturity and best storage life. Firmness and starch iodine index readings are easily performed in the field. Table 1 lists the suggested firmness and starch index levels for long-term and shorter-term storage by variety. The starch index "mature" level is a guide for long-term CA storage and the "overmature" level for short CA or cold storage.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Philip Schwallier...ReTain is a very useful growth regulator on apples that has the following benefits. It will:

1. Delay fruit maturity of any variety.
2. Decrease fruit drop.
3. Improve the condition of treated fruit in storage.
4. Improve fruit quality and size.

ReTain needs to be applied 30 days before anticipated harvest to achieve the best results and highest effectiveness of the material. Full rate ReTain will delay maturity of most varieties seven to ten days and some very sensitive varieties up to 21 days. Gala and Jonagold are very sensitive to ReTain.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Phillip Schwallier and Amy Irish-Brown...Apple maturity for 2007 is expected to be a week to 12 days ahead of normal for most of the state, which experienced an early end of winter. As a result, bud growth developed across the state with an early bloom in all areas. This year however, the south part of the state was damaged by a severe freeze in early April. Bloom was extended and fruits did not set well on older wood. Many areas have an apple crop born of one year old wood, which bloom later than our recorded bloom dates.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Dave Rosenberger...Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Scaffolds Fruit Journal Volume 15. No. 15 on June 26, 2007. This publication is made possible by Cornell Univerisity – NYS Agricultural Experiment Station and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Flyspeck has caused more commercial losses in New York and New England over the past few years than during most of the previous decade. What has contributed to those losses? How can we prevent them from re-occurring this year?

[Read the rest of this article...]

John Wise and David Epstein...Mid-June is a good time of the season to be scouting for European red mite and two-spotted spider mites in apple orchards. Initial sprays (or other controls) for key early season pests, like codling moth, have already occurred such that the impact of those actions on mite populations will be readily evident. We recommend monitoring mites using a 100-leaf sample, 50 percent spur leaves and 50 percent shoot leaves, and counting the numbers of each pest species along with key predator mite species.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Phil Schwallier...There are four points that I would like to make about applying Apogee in apples. First is timing, second is rate per acre, third is thinning relationships and fourth compatibility.

[Read the rest of this article...]

John Wise...Codling moth adult flight has increased over the last two weeks at the TNRC, indicating that egg laying will continue into September in some locations. Site specific monitoring is the best way to determine if control action is needed on your farm.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Philip Schwallier and Bill Shane...Maturity and storage guidelines by variety have been developed over the years through the MSU Apple Maturity Program. These guidelines help target the harvest of apples at the optimum maturity and best storage life. Firmness and starch iodine index readings are easily performed in the field. Table 1 lists the suggested firmness and starch index levels for long-term and shorter-term storage by variety. The starch index "mature" level is a guide for long-term CA storage and the "overmature" level for short CA or cold storage.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Philip Schwallier...ReTain is a very useful growth regulator on apples that has the following benefits. It will:

1.Delay fruit maturity of any variety.
2.Decrease fruit drop.
3.Improve the condition of treated fruit in storage.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Philip Schwallier and Amy Irish-Brown...Apple maturity for 2006 is expected to be near normal in the southern part of the state to one week ahead of normal in the northern part of the state. Most of the state experienced an early end of a mild winter and periods of alternating hot and cold temperatures. As a result, bud growth developed simultaneous from the south to the north. Bloom developed concurrently and was compressed from the south to the north, perhaps one of the most compressed bloom ever.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Ron Perry and Larry Gut...We began a study in our IPM Apple System work at Clarksville in1998 to determine the potential of mounding soil compared to insecticides to control dogwood borer in apple. The paper, authored by Dr. Gut, et. al., published in December 2005 (Gut, L.J., P.H. McGhee and R. Perry. 2005. Soil Mounding as a Control for Dogwood Borer in Apple. HortScienc. HortScience 40(7):2066-2070), recently was awarded the most outstanding Extension paper published in the three American Society for Hort Science journals for 2005 (note abstract below).

[Read the rest of this article...]

Bill Shane...It is time for apple growers to be registered with the Michigan Department of Agriculture if their fruit from the 2006 crop may be shipped to Brazil or Arizona. Although it is the exporting firms’ responsibility to make certain that growers are registered, all parties involved should make sure it gets done. The certification process allows growers' fruit to be shipped to Brazil or Arizona without cold treatment to kill apple maggot.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Phil Schwallier...Apple thinning this year will be difficult in some areas of the state. Frost damage has eliminated kings on some varieties and, in more severe situations, has killed significant parts of the side bloom. There will be differences within orchards and even within trees.

[Read the rest of this article...]