AgFirst consultants Steve Spark will join the Southern Loop and Jonathan Brookes will join the Northern Loop. Brett Feehan who is also from AgFirst and based in Hawke’s Bay will cover the PIPS extension component of Future Orchards.

Chemical thinning is one of the most critical parts of orchard production and with so many factors in play, it is also one of the most complex. When left alone, apples and pears will naturally set heavy crops that lead to small, poor quality fruit and leave the tree with biennial bearing tendencies. To effectively intervene, growers normally need to shed 85-90 per cent of the crop.

While winter pruning will reduce excessive bud numbers, chemical thinning is very important to efficiently remove vast numbers of excessive fruit in the tree early. From mid-November, hand thinning starts, which improves the distribution of fruit in the canopy and sets the final crop load.

These upcoming walks are timed to target early stages of bloom, which will vary by district. However, in each region the likely number of flowers to appear will be apparent so that strategies to manage each situation can be discussed. Factors that are generally considered when working out chemical thinning strategies are the target, weather, chemistry, sprayer application and pollination.

The following articles from the Future Orchards library will provide a useful refresher on the topic.

• Chemical thinning and application technology, John Wilton (2007)
• Thin to optimise yield and fruit quality, Sally Bound (2013)
• Getting the most our of chemical thinning, Sally Bound (2014)
• More articles on vigour, crop load and thinning

Dates

Southern Loop

• Tasmania – 10:00 am-1:30 pm Monday 12 September 2016
• Southern Victoria – 10:30 am – 2:00 pm Tuesday 13 September 2016
• South Australia –1:30 pm – 5:00 pm Wednesday 14 September 2016
• Western Australia – 9:00am – 12:30pm Friday 16 September 2016

Northern Loop

• Goulburn Valley – 9:00 am – 12:30 pm Monday 19 September 2016
• Batlow – 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm Tuesday 20 September 2016
• Orange – 9:00 am – 12:30 pm Thursday 22 September 2016
• Stanthorpe – 1:00 pm – 5:30 pm Friday 23 September 2016

For more information please contact Angus Crawford, APAL Technical Manager on 03 9329 3511.

APAL’s Future Orchards® programme is funded by Horticulture Innovation Australia Ltd using the apple and pear industry levy funds from growers and funds from the Australian Government. AgFirst is a key Future Orchards partner.