Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
to pests. Some pests that pupate in the soil under the trees, such as oblique-
banded leaf roller, become more troublesome as the pupae are protected by
the mulch from predators, heat, and drought. At the same time, concentra-
tions of organic matter in the alleys and under the trees slowly begin to in-
crease and irrigation needs decrease as the mulch helps retain soil moisture.
Grass alley crops and organic mulches are not, in themselves, bad prac-
tices and have their roles in organic fruit production. The trick is to think
holistically. You must understand that everything you do in your orchard af-
fects every living organism in the trees, on the ground, and in the soil. The
way in which those organisms interact with each other has a profound influ-
ence on the health and productivity of your trees.
POME AND STONE FRUITS DEFINED
Pome fruits include apple, pear, quince, medlar, loquat, and other fruits
that contain multiple seeds in the core. Pome fruits can usually be
stored longer than stone fruits — up to 2 years for apples in controlled
atmosphere (CA) storage. Stone fruits have a single, large seed con-
tainedwithinahardpitatthecenterofthefruit.Theyareoftenreferred
to as “soft fruits” and have short storage lives. Apricot, cherry, nectar-
ine, peach, and plum are stone fruits.
Even understanding and acting on this concept is not enough to be a suc-
cessful organic orchardist. We must avoid practicing “organic by neglect”
where we literally mine the soil and leave it depleted. Organic programs
today emphasize that soil building is a critical component to sustainable or-
ganic production.
To be blunt, you will find growing most fruits organically is much more
complicated than relying on conventional fertilizers and pesticides and re-
quires far more planning and work. Comparisons across the country also
