Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
canopies open.
Because the fruits are many and small, hand harvesting is not economical
on a large commercial scale. For commercial orchards, train your trees with
scaffold limbs positioned to allow mechanical harvesting using a shaker and
ensure the trunk and limbs are strong enough to withstand the shaking.
Train to a single trunk, and develop the first permanent scaffold limbs about
48 inches above the ground. Train the main scaffold branches upward to at
least a 45-degree angle from the central leader.
Pests and diseases.
Pests are common on mayhaw, plum curculio being the
most serious. In most areas of the southeastern, eastern, and south-cent-
ral United States, you need aggressive control measures to manage this
pest. Wooly apple and other aphids, flat-headed apple borers, tent caterpillar,
whiteflies, and various foliage-feeding insects are occasional problems. Deer
and rabbits can also cause severe damage in some locations.
Rust diseases caused by fungi attack mayhaws. Cedar-apple rust, cedar-
hawthorn rust, and cedar-quince rust are closely related and produce similar
symptoms on mayhaw, apple, pear, quince, and other pome fruits. Fire blight
can be a problem (although usually not severe) on mayhaw, particularly
when susceptible pear and apple trees are growing nearby. Brown blight also
Varieties.
Because mayhaws are a new crop, many named varieties consist
of vegetatively propagated clones of trees originally collected from the wild.
Not all varieties grow and produce equally well, so choose varieties suit-
able to your location. If you live in the more southerly and warmer areas of
the mayhaw range, choose varieties with very low chilling requirements. For
those living in more northerly and cooler areas, varieties that bloom late and
are cold-hardy will reduce spring frost and winter freeze damage.
