fruit
How to control black knot in Michigan
Black knot (Apiosporina morbosa), is a striking disease and a major disease of plum trees in Michigan. Black knot appears on the woody parts of the tree including twigs, limbs and sometimes the trunks. Black... more »
Growers can continue Belt insecticide use
Michigan State University Extension has received recent calls about using the insecticide Belt in tree fruits. This insecticide is legal to be sold and used according to the Belt label. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency... more »
UC Davis faces lawsuit over breeding technology
Two scientists have filed a lawsuit against the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). California Berry Cultivars, a company co-founded by former UC Davis scientists Douglas Shaw and Kirk Larson, along with A.G. Kawamura, filed... more »
RosBREED prioritizes disease resistance
The focus of RosBREED 2, a program to produce better-tasting fruit that resists storage problems and other challenges, is disease resistance. A $10-million, five-year grant from USDA is driving the wide-ranging national fruit-breeding project. The... more »
Broadworks herbicide available for use on stone fruit
New this spring is the herbicide Broadworks from Syngenta. It is a new chemistry for use in tree fruits with the active ingredient being mesotrione. The chemical family is triketone with an HRAC of Group... more »
Do you need to worry about early spring freezes?
In early spring as fruit trees begin to grow, many people are worried that freezing temperatures will kill the buds of their fruit trees. These buds can handle very low temperatures in the winter. Just... more »
Tree fruit commission pinpoints early funding strategies
Maintaining infrastructure needs at the state’s agricultural research stations has proven to be the funding priority of the Michigan Tree Fruit Commission (MTFC) in its first full year of operation. MTFC spent $385,089 in 2015,... more »
Severe winters damage Michigan fruit trees
Two severe winters in a row – 2013-14 and 2014-15 – tested the resilience of Michigan’s tree fruit crops. The full extent of the long-term damage remains to be seen, but some lessons have been learned.... more »
How pruning affects cold hardiness of fruit trees
Unlike some flowering landscape trees, peaches, cherries, apples and pears originated in a temperate climate, similar to our own. They are well-adapted to our climate, even in an el Niño year. Most fruit trees went... more »
Penn State releases new edition of Tree Fruit Production Guide
A new edition of the Penn State Tree Fruit Production Guide is now available from Penn State Extension. The production guide is revised every two years with input from Penn State faculty members, extension specialists... more »
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