Home and Community

Fruit Growing

Michael Lachance

Virginia Cooperative

Extension

Nelson County Unit

(434) 263-4035

lachance@vt.edu

Reasons to

Promote Fruit 1. Local produced food

and beverages

2. Family’s quality of

life / outdoor

recreation

3. Preserve regional

varieties

4. Social interaction

5. Value as landscape

elements

1. Proper site selection

2. Correct training of young plants

3. Neglect and stress in the planting

4. Proper training

5. Accepting the need for plant protection

6. Sustaining people’s interest in fruit

growing

Meeting the challenges of

growing fruit

Site Selection

• Soil Depth

• Elevation

• Slope

• Aspect

(N&E best, S&W

worst)

• Low temperature

history

• Nematodes?

Avoid Wildlife Conflicts with

Netting

BRAMBLES

BRAMBLES

Brambles

• Raspberries:

– red, yellow: summer or fall bearing types

– black: “blackcaps” used for jams, jellies

– purple: red / black raspberry cross

• Blackberries:

– thorny or thornless

– erect or trailing growth

– range of winter hardiness

• Blackberry / raspberry crosses:

– boysenberry, tayberry, marionberry

– not recommended for subzero temps

Best Bramble Varieties

• Summer Red Raspberries: – Titan, Killarney, Latham, Heritage, Ruby

• Fall (Primocane) Raspberries: – Autumn Bliss, Heritage, Fall Gold, Anne

• Black Raspberries: Bristol, Jewel

• Purple Raspberries: Brandywine, Royalty

• Blackberries: – thornless trailing: Chester, Triple Crown, Hull

– thorny trailing: Black Butte

– thornless erect: Navaho, Arapaho, Apache

– thorny erect: Illini Hardy, Shawnee, Chickasaw

Bramble Culture: Planting

• Choose a well drained site and/or build raised beds

• Build or improve the soil fertility

• Remove old plantings, wild blackberries and raspberries from nearby

• Use virus free certified plants from a reputable nursery

• Recommend a spring planting

• Trellis systems and spacing used based on type’s growth habit:

– suckering or not sucker

– single plant “hill” or solid hedgerow

• Mulch new plants and provide good nutrition

• Plant in the spring before soil warms with either root

cuttings or plants. Plants especially for thornless varieties

• Root cuttings should be pencil size and 4-6” long

• Rows should be 10-12 feet apart

• Plant spacing varies

• Cover cuttings with 2-3” soil

Bramble Culture: Planting

Bramble Culture: Seasonal Practices

• Fertilize in spring, add mulch and keep rows weed free

• Growth, bearing habits, pruning differs – laterals encouraged by pinching @3-4’ in PR, BR

– red raspberries, trailing blackberries are not pinched

• Prompt harvest, remove bad berries

• Winter: thin new canes, head tops, trim laterals

Bramble Fertilizer Recommendations

• 5 pounds complete fertilizer first

year per 100 feet of row

• Second year increase to 20

pounds alongside rows in

February

• Side dress with 5 pounds per

100 feet with ammoniumm nitrate

after harvest

• Cultivate to keep weeds out

Bramble Culture: Seasonal Practices

• Growth, bearing habits, pruning differs – laterals encouraged by pinching @3-4’ in PR, BR

– red raspberries, trailing blackberries are not pinched

• Prompt harvest, remove bad berries

• Winter: thin new canes, head tops, trim laterals

Raspberries

Spacing and Trellising of Raspberry

Black raspberry

•Low trellis

•Plants 3-4 feet apart in the row

•Trellis spaced 10-12 feet apart

Red and yellow raspberry

•Low trellis

•Plants 2-3 feet apart in the row

•Trellis spaced 10 feet apart

Purple raspberry

•Vigorous plants do not require trellis

•Plants 3-5 feet apart in the row

•Rows spaced 10 feet apart

Blackberries

Production Considerations

Leave 6 canes per foot in rows kept to 12-18”

wide by removing suckers

Drip irrigate 2-3 gallons per plant per day in dry

weather

Promote laterals by topping ends of canes when

they reach height of 36 to 48 inches

Summer: pinch-head back tips to 30”

Production Considerations

Remove laterals to 8-10” during the winter

Take out old canes after fruiting

Trellis Support

Shift Trellis for Blackberries

Blueberries

Lowbush- mostly processed

Northern Highbush

Rabbiteye

Southern Highbush

Plants can bear fruit for 50 years or more

Choose varieties according to ripening

season using more than one variety in the

same maturity group

A. Early season: “Bluetta”, “Earliblue”,

“Duke”, “Patriot”

B. Midseason “Bluecrop”, “Blueray”,

“Northland”

C. Late season “Jersey”, “Coville”

D. Very Late season “Late Blue” (Aug-

Sept.)

Production Considerations

• Crop evolved in low pH conditions, very well

drained soils with high organic matter content

• Requires abundant sunlight

• Has a relatively shallow root system; trickle

irrigation is recommended

• Desired soil pH 4.5-5.0

• Plants grow to 4-8 feet tall

Production Considerations

• Add up to 20% organic matter in the planting

hole

• Can apply up to 4 inches of rotted sawdust as a

surface mulch

• Remove flower blossoms for first two years,

half of buds in the third year

• Practice dormant pruning once established

• Remove crowded small branches and material

in the center of crown

Strawberries

Strawberry Types

• June Bearers – most common and dependable

– early, mid and late season: May-June

– Earliglow, Honeoye, Red Chief, Allstar, Jewell

– Consider: dessert / preserving, disease resistance

• Everbearers – June and fall peaks

– varieties: Quinault, Ozark Beauty

• Day-Neutrals – production through season, smaller fruit

– good for contained space

– varieties: Tribute, Tristar

Planting Strawberries

1. Soil pH @ 6.5 to 6.8

2. Ground must be weed free, prepare one year prior

3. Work soil to 8-12”

4. Include half to one pound 10-10-10/100 sq. ft. (22-44# N/acre)

Planting Strawberries

1. Order from a reputable nursery

2. Keep bundles of young plants together

3. Plant as early as possible in the spring

4. Plan for 14-18 inch matted rows

5. Water in young plants well

6. Proper planting depth very important.

7. Check weeds by cultivating weekly

Matted Row Strawberry

Renovation

• Renovation or Bed Renewal: – done annually or every other year

– stimulates new growth

– removes old, diseased leaves

• Steps of Renovation: – do within 1 week of end of harvest

– mow old leaves above crown, rake off

– thin old crowns, narrow rows

– hoe weeds, apply herbicide (Dacthal)

– fertilize:1-2 lbs. 10-10-10/100 ft2

– irrigate

Other Small Fruit

• Gooseberries, Currants: – tolerate some shade

– organic matter & mulch important

– some pruning to keep productive

• Pawpaws: – difficult to dig in wild

– use shade cover the first year

• Elderberries: – plant a named variety: Johns, York, Adams

– protect from birds

• Hardy Kiwis – choose well drained site, build sturdy trellis

– 1 male : 5 female plants ratio

Tree Fruit Common questions

• Selecting the right rootstock

• Pruning and training young trees

• Proper thinning

• Achieving quality fruit at harvest

• Know reasons trees fail to produce fruit

• Control of insects and diseases

• Renovating older trees

Variety Selection

• Choose varieties adapted to our soil and climatic conditions

• Select varieties with the fewest insect and disease problems

• Several varieties of the same kind of fruit maturing at different times may be planted to prolong the harvest season.

Variety Selection

• Sour cherry, peach, and nectarine varieties listed

are sufficiently self-fruitful to set satisfactory crops with their

own pollen.

• Apricots are not recommended for planting in Virginia. The

buds of currently available varieties respond to the first warm

days of early spring and are usually killed by frost or low

temperature common to most areas. Unless protection can be

provided, a crop can be expected no more frequently than once

every four or five years.

Apple Rootstocks

Tree Spacing

Orchard Management

Cultural Practices

• Young fruit trees should be mulched or cultivated until they begin to bear.

• Weeds must be eliminated so they will not compete for available moisture and fertilizer.

• Cultivation must be shallow to avoid injury to roots near the surface. The cultivated or mulched area should extend a little beyond the spread of the branches.

Orchard Management

• Both organic and inorganic mulch (i.e., black plastic) provide habitats for voles.

• Organic forms of mulch also release nitrogen throughout the season, which affects the grower’s ability to control when and how much nitrogen is available. If trees are mulched, the mulch should be removed in the fall.

Fertilization

• Soil pH between 6.0 and 6.5.

• No fertilizer is recommended or needed at planting time.

• After the young tree becomes established and growth begins, apply nitrate fertilizer in a circle around the tree, about 8 to 10 inches from the trunk.

• Fertilize young trees three times. – Two weeks after planting

– Again six and 10 weeks after planting

Fertilization

• A rule of thumb practiced in many commercial apple orchards is to apply about 1/4 pound of a 16% nitrogen fertilizer, or its equivalent, for each year of the tree’s age from planting

• For peach orchards, the amount of fertilizer should be doubled

• When trees are grown in a lawn area, delay fertilizing the lawn until after trees are dormant to avoid late-summer growth on the trees.

Fertilization

• Scatter fertilizer evenly under the tree, starting about 2 feet from the trunk and extending to just beyond the tips of the branches

• Mature, bearing trees of peach, nectarine, and sweet cherry should produce an average of 10 to 15 inches of new growth annually

• 8 to 10 inches of terminal growth is considered adequate for mature, bearing apple, pear, quince, plum, and sour cherry trees.

Organic Fertility Management

• One bushel of composted manure per tree each year up to age 5 is adequate.

• After age 5 dwarf trees still only need one bushel but semi dwarf and seedling apples can use up to 3 bushels per tree per year.

• Use only enough to insure 8 to 12 inches of new growth after year 5.

• On many clay and clay loam soils no fertilizer is needed to produce adequate growth for many years.

Fruit Tree Development

• All pruning has a dwarfing effect

• For maximum yield of high-quality fruit, prune only as necessary to establish a tree with a strong framework capable of supporting heavy crops annually without damage

• Maintain the tree sufficiently open to allow penetration of sunlight, air, and spray material for good fruit development and pest control.

Pruning

Pruning

• Most pruning is done during the dormant season, preferably just before active growth begins in the spring.Remove no more than 20% of canopy in any given year.

• Summer pruning may be done to help train young trees to the desired shape, remove water sprouts and other undesirable growth, and maintain smaller tree size.

• All newly planted fruit trees should be pruned in the spring before growth starts to stimulate lateral bud development.

• When pruning, head back to a lateral or a fruit bud

Fruit Tree Pruning

Central Leader Tree Pruning

Open-center tree

Open-center Peach Tree

• It is necessary that the peach be pruned

annually to stimulate new growth and maintain

production near the main body of the tree.

• Moderate thinning and heading back to

outward-growing laterals to keep the tree low

and spreading.

• A height of 8 or 9 feet is usually preferred.

Open-center tree

Pruning Summary

• Pruning invigorates and results in strong

growth close to the pruning cut.

• Pruning reduces the number of shoots, so

remaining shoots are stimulated. However,

total shoot growth and size of the limb is

reduced.

• Pruning always reduces yield.

FRUIT PEST MANAGEMENT

• Correct identification of insects and diseases

• Determine if a need for control exists and proper timing of

treatments

• Learn about appropriate pesticide recommendations and

possible alternatives to conventional fruit sprays

• Learn how to practice integrated pest management (IPM)

options in the home planting

Sanitation

The destruction of places that harbor insects and diseases plays a large part in the control program.

1. Collect and burn debris.

2. Remove and destroy all dropped fruit.

3. Rake and burn apple and cherry leaves.

4. Scrape loose bark from trunks, crotches, and main limbs of apple trees.

5. Prune out and destroy all dead or diseased

6. Conditions that encourage mice should also be eliminated.

Rodent Control

Mid-Atlantic

Orchard

Monitoring Guide

NRAES - 75

Available From Virginia

Cooperative Extension

Distribution Center

361 Pages

Early Season Plant Protection

• Superior Oil or dormant oil are highly refined oils

used in the early spring to smother the eggs of over

wintering pests such as aphids and mites.

• Oils are incompatible with sulfur and cause damage

to apple leaves and fruit. Sulfur should not be used

sooner than 7 to 10 days after an oil spray nor should

oils be used when sulfur residue is present.

Disease Management

• There are many potentially devastating diseases, e.g. Apple Scab, Powdery Mildew and Fireblight

•Effective disease control requires frequent sprays with adequate coverage of all surfaces.

Find the Right Sized Sprayer

Apple Scab

Powdery Mildew on Apples

Different faces of the same

disease

• Sooty Blotch and Fly Speck are

cosmetic problems.

• They do not significantly affect the

health of the tree or the fruit

quality.

Summer Diseases

Other Apple Diseases • Black Rot and Fireblight are

occasional problems.

• They can be reduced by a strict

sanitation program

• Grow varieties and rootstocks that

are not highly susceptible to

fireblight.

• Maintain moderate rather than

vigorous growth is also important.

• Fireblight can quickly kill young

tissue and easily kills wood up to 3

years old but moves slowly in

older wood.

Plum Curculio

The most serious

insect pest to

apples

Common insect pests:

Internal feeders:

Codling Moth

Oriental Fruit Moth

Common insect pests:

Leafrollers

(External feeders)

The Virginia Fruit Page

Extension, Research and Teaching in Fruit Crops

Mid-Atlantic Regional Fruit Loop

http://www.ento.vt.edu/Fruitfiles/VAFS.html