Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ABOVE:
Sample orchard scouting sheet
Get help when you need it! Diagnosing plant diseases can be very difficult,
even for specialists. While apple scab and codling moth are easy to identify,
many other problems are not. Nutritional disorders and environmental dam-
age (for example, frost or sunburn) often mimic disease symptoms, and many
different diseases share common symptoms. Fruit specialists in provincial,
state, and university programs can be invaluable aides in identifying and
managing pest and disease problems.
Sanitation and Other Cultural Practices
I have had the great pleasure of visiting many high-quality commercial,
home, and research orchards. One thing that has stood out is that these orch-
ards are almost always clean and organized to the point of being immacu-
late. The cleanliness and order are not usually for appearances; rather they
are essential strategies in maintaining a healthy and productive orchard.
Keep the orchard floor clean.
While it may seem obvious, poor sanitation
creates or aggravates many orchard pest and disease problems. Leaving
diseased fruit or prunings in the orchard creates a reservoir of inoculum
that can infect or reinfect trees. Rank weeds or unmanaged cover crops, un-
used equipment, boards, and other debris provide excellent habitats for voles,
gophers, and other rodent pests.
When you are finished pruning, regardless of the time of year, remove
the prunings from the orchard and burn, bury, or otherwise dispose of them.
Chipping prunings can kill or reduce some pests, but it is best not to return
the chips to the orchard. Either compost the chips or apply them as mulch
well away from your orchard. Prunings from trees infected with fire blight or
other pathogens that attack wood or buds should be burned or buried and
not composted.
