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
* <i
devasstate healthy wood, but
can completely girdle a tree.
The spores travel by both wind
and water. Spores are not easi
ly controlled because a fungi
cide would have to be applied
during harvest. The most ac
ceptable way to control the
cancer is by heavy pruning or
by cutting out infected branch
es.
European fruit borer goes af
ter healthy trees. They seem to
attack only certain varieties of
apples such as Northern Spy,
Gravenstein, Mclntosh, and
Cortland. The borer is a very
tiny insect, but can kill trees.
No established method exists
to control the borer, a new or
chard pest. Luckily, we do not
have any European fruit borer
in Pennsylvania.
Our last evening meal was at
Hall’s Harbour Lobster Pound.
There, several things happen
ed. We saw the tide come in
and lift the boats off the har
bour floor. When Eli, Don
Smith’s 2-year-old son, got his
first glimpse of his mother’s
two-pound cooked lobster, he
looked at it and cried in fear. I
do not think he will be eating
lobster for a while.
By the way, here is some
lobster trivia. The largest lob
ster ever caught in Nova Scotia
was 22 pounds in Halifax. The
gentleman who caught it could
have received $lO,OOO for it.
He declined the money and re
turned the lobster to the ocean.
I would like to thank Dr.
George Greene and Maureeen
Irvin for all of their efforts in
making this a wonderful trip.
Blake can help with all your
vegetable seed needs. He has
16 years of experience in the
vegetable seed industry. He is
instantly evaluating new
irieties to increase your yields
jd boost your profits. You can
ust Blake to help you plan
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teeds. Call him today! Put his
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.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