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Overview

More than a “spray guide,” the Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Production Guide collates information on the full range of commercial tree fruit production issues. The guide is revised every two years with input by a score of Penn State faculty members and other consultants. It is meant to be a reference that growers and other fruit industry personnel can turn to often.

Part I: Cultural Information contains guidelines for establishing an orchard, choosing a tree fruit nursery, caring for nonbearing trees, and maintaining bearing orchards. Included is a listing of nurseries, up-to-date information on disease-resistant cultivars and rootstock availability, as well as recommendations for summer pruning. Environmental monitoring and frost protection also are discussed in detail.

Part II: Diseases, Pests, and Natural Enemies stresses the use of all possible control strategies in pest and pesticide management. It contains information on the biology of tree fruit pests and provides control options other than chemicals. A feature article at the back of this section discusses the plum pox virus disease, which was found in Pennsylvania orchards in 1999.

Part III: Chemical Management describes the appropriate use of chemicals within IPM strategies. It deals with safety, spraying, and the use of individual pesticides.

Part IV: Chemical Management Tables includes efficacy and timing tables for pesticide use in the various tree fruit crops. It also covers reentry and preharvest intervals and pesticide storage.

Part V: Integrated Pest Management Spray Programs offers specific suggestions for pesticide use on apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, and plums. Remember that the pesticide label is the document that ultimately prescribes how a chemical can be used, and that labels can change. When applying a chemical, have a copy of the label in hand.

Part VI: Harvest and Postharvest Handling incorporates new information on controlled-atmosphere fruit storage. Also discussed are fruit testing to determine maturity, storage guidelines, and the control of common postharvest fruit disorders.

Part VII: Cider Production describes how to make, handle, and market safe, high-quality apple cider. Good Manufacturing Practices for cider production are described.

Part VIII: Maintaining the Safety of Apples and Apple Products describes Good Management Practices for growing, packing and cider production to avoid potential food safety hazards.

Part IX: Farm Management presents sample budgets for land preparation, orchard planting, and mature orchards, as well as production budgets for fresh-market apples, processing apples, fresh-market peaches, and other tree fruit. Also included in Part IX are descriptions of state and federal laws that apply to Pennsylvania fruit producers, including those governing hiring, wages and withholding, worker and community safety, workplace discrimination, and seasonal/migrant labor.

Appendix: Tree Fruit on the Web is a list of Web sites with information for growers. A bibliography of important reference texts follows the Web listings. The index is a comprehensive listing of topics covered in this production guide. Finally, a chart of useful conversions for weights and measures is included.

The IPM Approach

Pesticide use and pest resistance can be decreased--and even eliminated in some cases--by understanding diseases and insects clearly, scouting for pests routinely, and monitoring environmental conditions daily. Effective pesticide programs require careful pesticide applications and correct timing. The combination of thorough orchard monitoring, horticultural controls, and judicious pesticide use is known as integrated pest management (IPM).

IPM is the guiding concept of the 2006-2007 Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Production Guide. To make the best use of this guide, study and understand the biology of diseases and insects. Then incorporate horticultural control measures, as well as chemical ones, into your control strategy. Always read the label before using any chemical on your farm. Application rates in this guide’s tables and spray programs are given as amounts of the commercial formulations. Consult the section on pesticide safety (in Part III) or your county extension office concerning the safe disposal of any chemical mentioned in this publication.

All pesticides discussed in this guide are registered for the indicated crops as of January 1, 2006. Application suggestions are based on the continued registration of each pesticide. If any material listed should lose or change its registered usage, a notice to that effect will be announced. A brief update of the information in this guide may be published in early 2007 and distributed at extension educational meetings and county extension offices. Do not use this publication after 2007.