Luis carefully training young apple trees.
Springtime is a wonderful time of the year to be a fruit grower. In the past weeks we went from wondering when Spring would ever arrive, to seeing the orchards in full bloom. We had good weather for pollination last week and the petals are now falling.
The bees aren’t the only ones busy working. We’ve kept very busy this Spring working the ground and planting new trees. Now we are very busy training and pruning trees. It is very important to train a young tree correctly. When a tree is trained improperly, it cannot bear the load of the fruit that it must carry. This puts strain on the limbs, and will eventually result in limb breakage, which decreases productivity, introduces diseases, etc. Another important facet of pruning/training is light penetration which is necessary for a bud to bloom well and get a good pollination set, and eventually for the fruit to get adequate sun and properly color. A well pruned and trimmed tree also allows air movement trough the tree which helps it dry more quickly after a rain, which in turn minimizes disease infection.
Last week our orchards were in full bloom and the weather cooperated well for the bees who play a vital role in pollination.
