Page 14—Grower and Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 11, 1999 State Hort. (Continued from Page 11) the market for Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia to use once the tree has set fruit. Blossom thinning is a new approach that Charlie Embree is researching with the help of area orchards. According to Dig In To Determine Below-Ground Quality Of Tree UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) Whether shop ping for cars, houses or a tree, most consumers pay attention to what they can easily see. When it comes time to pur chase a tree from a nursery, a plant scientist in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sci ences suggests digging a little deeper to examine what’s be neath the soil line. “Homeowners should pay attention to below-ground quality,” said Jim Sellmer, as sisant professor of ornamental horticulture. “The quality ol the root system is the most im portant factor in whether a tree will survive transplantation and adapt to its new site. “Just taking a quick look at the trunk, branches and foliage is a big error when choosing nursery trees,” Sellmer said. “If the root system is of poor quality, undersized or dam aged, the tree is not likely to survive.” • Size does matter. The greater the rootbaii size, the more likely the tree will sur vive transplanting. There are minimum standards to observe for both trees and shrubs. A rough guide is to have a root ball with one foot in diameter for every inch of trunk diame ter. “Be practical,” Sellmer said. “If the rootbaii is too big, you’ll have a hard time plant ing it without damaging it or you.” • Choose the right burlap. Natural, untreated burlap is Members Tour Annapolis Valley Embree, the ideal time to srpay a blossom thinner is between 24 and 48 hours after the king blossom opens. He also states that, “Timing and the rate of applications are, of course, critical.” There is a very small spray window and spraying too best, according to Sellmer, be cause untreated material de composes quickly. Burlap treated with a rot-resistant cop per compound also works well, and both materials can be planted with the tree. Sellmer recommends re moving the burlap from the up per half of the root ball and stuffing the loose material into the lower sides of the hohle. “If you leave the burlap sticking up above ground level, the ma terial will act as a wick, absorb ing moisture that should be go ing to the tree’s roots,” he said. • Remove plastic burlap. “Plastic burlap used to be shiny and green, and even inexperi enced gardeners knew to re move it before planting,” Sell mer said. “In the ’Bos, manu facturers created brown, woven plastic burlap that look ed remarkably natural. Be sure to remove any plastic material from around the root ball.” ‘ Remove any ropes, twist ties, or string. Many nurseries use twine, rope or twist-ties to fasten identification tags or other signs on nursery trees. “Don’t assume twine or wire will fall off.” Sellmer said. “These materials can dig into bark or the root ball and cause serious problems.” • Partially remove the metal basket covering a root ball. Many larger trees are dug and transported within a wire bas ket to contain and protect the tree’s root ball. Sellmer says the upper six inches should be early may thin the king blos som and not the weaker cluster blossoms. If sprayed too late, no fruit thinning may occur. Presently, Pennsylvania has only one labeled blossom thin ner, WilThin. cut away and removed. “Metal wire may not rust away fast enough to allow proper root growth,” he said. “If you re move the upper third of the basket, it gives the roots ample room to grow out into the soil.” • Look for the real tree trunk. When trees are grown in nur series or on farms, soil often is piled onto the tree’s trunk when cultivators are used be tween the plant rows. Before planting, consumers should carefully remove soil from the top of the root ball until the na tural flare of the root system is visible. “Soil can be piled up four to nine inches onto the trunk,” Sellmer said. “If the trunk looks like a telephone pole in the ground just sticking straight up out of the soil that’s a clue that you need to remove some soil to get down to where the root system starts to spread or flare out like the bell of a hom.” help* ‘'W K V V. • • * *\7.#' f • Irrigation A study is under way in Nova Scotia to examine if trickle irrigantion and/or mulching increases yield, fruit size, fruit quality, and tree growth. This study is being conducted on four farms in ad dition to the Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre in Kentville. The study is in its third year. Although data was continuously taken for the past 14 years, the findings, vary a great deal. At this time, the re searchers at Kentville have not come to any conclusions. Another collaborative ex periment demonstrated on the tour was the application of cal cium and boron to an orchard through trickle irrigation. The purpose of this study was to see if this method influences bitter pit, scald, and firmness. The experiment began in 1997 con tinues. Like the first experi ment, no conclusions have been made. Insects And Diseases Of all the insects and diseas es found in an orchard, the two most emphasized were an thracnose canker and European fruit borer. Anthracnose canker probably enters an orchard from the nursery where the trees were purchased. The fun gus prefers a cool wet climate, typical of Nova Scotia weather. The canker not only does * owledge to work for you. .V Siegers EED CO. Member of Seed One Alliance™ Blake Myers (716) 247-7584 Call 800-962-4999 for a FREE catalog or visit our website at www.siegers.com