Fruit Links

New York Berry News - A newsletter on the production of berry crops in New York

Grafting Apple trees

Pruning Apple trees (slide show)

Scaffolds Fruit Journal

Identifying Apples

NYS IPM Fact sheets for Fruit

Pest Management

Pest Management Guidelines for Berry Crops

Pest Management Guidelines for Tree-Fruit Production

The Berry Diagnostic Tool

Biological Pest Control in Fruits

Honey Bees

Cornell's Master Bee Keeper Program

NYS Apiary Inspector

Frequently Asked Questions

Look in the links above for a specific topic or scan the questions below. Questions are arranged by date so you may want to jump down to the month when you are experiencing trouble. Follow the links within the answers for a complete description of the insect/disease cycle and discussion on causes and control.

The following varieties offer resistance to disease as listed(source: Ian Merwin, Cornell University). Any two will work to pollinate each other. Wild apples and crabapples that are nearby would also work. Plant in the spring.

• Sansa - Early, ripens before Gala
• Jonafree - Ripens in the end of September, keeps well, productive tree
• Black Oxford - tolerant of insects and disease
• Sweet Sixteen - tolerant of fireblight
• Novaspy - scab immune, cold tolerant
• Liberty - very disease resistant, very tart sweet apple, stores for three to four months, very productive tree, cold tolerant
• Empire - rust & fireblight resistant
• Golden Delicious - rust susceptible
• Goldrush - scab resistant
• Novaspy - scab resistant, cold tolerant
• Keepsake - moderately tolerant to scab, rust, fireblight
• Freedom - very disease resistant, cold tolerant
• Sundancer - scab immune

Common Rootstocks
Apple trees are grafted onto a variety of rootstocks that impart specific characteristics to the tree. When possible, select trees with rootstocks that meet your site and management needs.

• MM.111 – standard sized tree 19-24’
  • Tolerates wide range of soils
  • Bear fruit third or fourth year
• Bud.9 – strong dwarfing effect 8-10’
  • Cold hardy and fireblight resistant
• Bud.118 – medium sized tree 16-20’
  • Well anchored
  • Suckers rare
• G.16 – moderate dwarfing effect 11-14’
  • Tolerates dry soil
  • Immune to scab

Large, blemish free apples are hard to produce without significant work on the part of the home gardener. Below is an abbreviated management schedule to help produce better quality apples.

Thinning Apples

Removing a percentage of apples, when small, will send available nutrients to the remaining fruit, yielding bigger apples. Hand pick when new apples are size of quarter.

• Leave one fruit/cluster (choose best)
• Space clusters 4-6” apart

Regular Spray Schedule - ALWAYS refer to the pesticide label!

• Dormant Oil when flower buds are at the ½ “ green stage
• Fungicide at full bloom
• Multi-purpose spray mix
  • When flower buds are at pink stage
  • When flowers are at petal fall stage and 10 days after
  • At mid-July (or when adult Apple Maggot found on sticky trap) and every 10 days until late-August

Chemical Free Pest Management

• Select disease resistant varieties for new plantings.
• Wash off aphids with a stream of water when you see them.
• Place red sphere Apple Maggot traps in trees to trap out flies starting Mid July until late August or,
• Place paper bags over young apples in June
  • Use 3lb paper bags that have been cut to about 6 inches in length
  • cut 1-1/2 inch slit into the opening of the bag.
  • Place slit over the stem of the young apples.
  • Use short piece of twist tie to secure the bag firmly to the fruit.
  • Remove bag three weeks before harvest to allow the fruits to color properly.
• Pick up dropped leaves and fruit through summer and fall.

Fertilizer

• Year of planting, Do not fertilize
• Subsequent years, None needed if annual growth is…
  • 18-24” on young trees (Note: measure between terminal bud and ring of bud scale scars- see diagram)
  • 10-12” on mature trees
• If inadequate growth is observed
  • Apply ammonium nitrate (33-0-0) accordingly; 2 oz/ young tree, 4 oz/mature tree
  • Apply 10-10-10 or 10-6-4 accordingly; 6 oz/ young tree, 12 oz/mature tree

Black Knot on Plum
Q. 4/4 Last year we noticed many hard black substance growing on branches of our plum tree. Is there anything we need to do to save the tree?

A. The growth you describe is a fungus called Black Knot. This fungus grows on plum and cherry trees. All of the growths should be cut off or remove the entire tree if it is too extensive. Branches should be pruned 8-12" beyond the fungus. Sterilizing your pruners between cuts will help prevent infecting new wood as you cut. Do not leave a branch stub when pruning, but cut back to the next closest twig or branch. The black knot fungus gall (the hard black growth) takes two years to develop. In the first year it just looks like a swelling or split in the branch. If you do not cut these out, more galls will develop. You can still cut them out this year. Try to get to them before the leaf and flower buds open. You can also apply a protective fungicide spray in spring when the flowers are opening. Check the pesticide label for directions.

The following cultivars are listed in order of ripening. Detailed Cultivar review at Cornell's Berries web page. Find sources at Nursery Guide to Berry Crops.

Bluetta - Fair berry size, good flavor, good hardiness

Duke - Medium in size, firm, flavor is mild, has not exhibited susceptibility to red ringspot virus and Phomopsis twig blight, best suited for well drained light soils, tolerance to stress of fluctuating winter temperatures.

Bluejay - Good berry size and flavor, excellent hardiness

Blueray - Excellent berry size and flavor, excellent hardiness

Bluecrop - Excellent berry size and flavor, excellent hardiness

Jersey - Good berry size and flavor, excellent hardiness

Elliott - Good berry size, excellent flavor and hardiness

Nelson - Medium to large in size, firm, with good flavor.

A. First you should check the pH of the soil. Blueberries thrive in an acidic soil as low as 4.5. At this level the bushes will be able to withstand many insects and diseases. You can take a soil sample into your local Cornell Cooperative Extension office to test soil pH.

Diseases and insects should be controlled as needed. Identify the problem and use appropriate control options or pesticides. Fertility should be based on soil and leaf analysis. Bird control is best achieved by netting placed over the bushes but can be expensive on large areas. Visual or auditory scare devices may work for a while but birds get used to them if they are not varied. For more information, the best place to start would be a reference book called "The Blueberry Production Guide" It is also available at the Extension office.

Cranberry fruitworm can cause wormy blueberries. Use pheromone traps to monitor adult egg laying and apply registered insecticide, 5-7 days after petal fall, when adult moths are present.

A. Peach Leaf Curl - Curled reddish leaves on peach - spray trees with lime-sulfur or copper fungicides during dormant seasons, November to April.

Eastern Tent Caterpillar

Eastern tent caterpillar feed on leaves of many fruit trees during the night and hide in tents during the day. Trees are not harmed unless defoliation approaches 100%. However, if trees have been stressed previously, defoliation should not be allowed to exceed 50%. If defoliation is high (especially with young trees) use a registered insecticide. Or, tents can be be pulled out with a stick and destroyed. Do not burn out or prune indiscriminately.

Fireblight
Q. 7/1 This apple tree obviously has a problem. Leaves died back quickly and blackening of the bark around area of missing bark. Do you have any thoughts on this one?

A. This looks like fireblight. Carefully remove and dispose of infected branches as soon as they appear. Cut at least 6-12" below signs of infection. Prune out any remaining cankered branches during dormant season. Avoid high rates of nitrogen. Where severe, apply fungicide containing copper at bloom.

A. Japanese beetle feeding on leaves does not substantially hurt the tree. You can try Japanese beetle traps to lure the beetles away from your plum. Using the traps actually increases the number of beetles in an area, so place them 100 yards or more away from the plants your protecting. Controlling grubs in the lawn may help if you have a large lawn. But check for grubs in late August by pealing back sod and counting grubs. 5-8 grubs/sq ft indicate a high population however they may not be Japanese beetle grubs so you may need to have them identified at your local Cooperative Extension. Lawn insecticides should be applied in late August to September. Preventative applications, such as imidacloprid may be used where high populations of grubs have been found in the past and need to be applied in June.

A. The peach problem sounds like Oriental Fruit moth. Unfortunately it is too late to do anything now. To prevent this next year, apply a multipurpose spray mix at two-week intervals in late May and early June. When using pesticides, always read the label.

A. This leaf disease is apple scab. Reduce chance of the disease reoccurring next year by removing fallen leaves and apples. Good pruning will reduce number of sprays needed. Apply Captan (registration in New York expires 3/09) from tight cluster to until 2 -3 weeks after petal fall. Do not apply captan within 10 days of a dormant oil spray.

Peach Scab
Q. 8/29 My peaches have dark spots on them. Are they safe to eat?

A. Peach scab appears as green to black spots near the stem end of the peach. Regular pruning improves air movement, reduces length of wet periods, reducing chance of disease. Fungicide sprays, applied at 10- to 14-day intervals, should be made beginning at petal fall and continuing until 40 days before harvest. The peaches are safe to eat.

Q. 9/10 Is there someone that can tell me about the best way to grow Brandywine Raspberries? In hills like blackcaps or trellised rows like red raspberries.

A. According to the "Bramble Production Guide" Brandywine suckers only from the crown, so the plants will not spread. Primocanes should be tipped back to a height of 32" to stimulate lateral branching from the main cane. At least 4" of cane should be removed during pruning. Tip just above a bud in late winter. Lateral branches should be supported by trellis wires and can be shortened to increase berry size. Leave 3-4 canes per linear foot of row.

Indiscriminate use of pesticides introduces unneeded chemicals into the environment, puts yourself at risk of contamination, possibly kills beneficial insects and could lead to pesticide resistance in pest insects. Before choosing an insecticide, ask yourself how much damage you can withstand. If the damage to the plant is only aesthetic, your first option is always to do nothing. To choose the appropriate insecticide, look for the name of the pest and the host plant on the label. Always read the label and follow the directions for application methods.

This publication may contain pesticide recommendations that are subject to change at any time. These recommendations are provided only as a guide. It is always the pesticide applicator's responsibility, by law, to read and follow all current label directions for the specific pesticide being used. Due to constantly changing labels and product registrations, some of the suggestions given in this writing may no longer be legal by the time you read them. If any information in these recommendations disagrees with the label, the recommendation must be disregarded. No endorsement is intended for products mentioned, nor is criticism meant for products not mentioned. The author and Cornell Cooperative Extension assume no liability resulting form the use of these guidelines.