Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers Newsletter
Dean Rainham
09 September 2024
Spring Management.
What you do in the next couple of months will have a big impact on this year’s crop out turn, and your prospects for the following year’s crop.
Early indications are that this year’s bloom levels are going to be good. Good winter chilling and cool weather particularly over the latter half of August, all point towards heavy fruit set potential and compressed blossom period, especially if we continue to get consistently warm weather through spring.
Unless there is careful attention paid to early thinning and getting crop loads down to what the tree can handle within four to six weeks of full bloom, bloom on biennial varieties could be rather disappointing next season. There are tools available to manage the biennial bearing problems, and where these are diligently applied, it’s possible to overcome the problem.
The consumer is very decerning and places internal fruit parameters high on their priority. They are looking for firm, crunchy fruit with high brix, good acid balance to give flavour and of course colour. Over-cropped, poorly thinned trees will not deliver fruit of this premium grade. A good pruning job was the first cut of the thinning programme. The second cut of the thinning programme is a good chemical thinning job.
Rainfall in the last 6 weeks (since August) has been well below the 10-yr average. As we have had several wet seasons with significant soil waterlogging, deeper roots for many blocks may still be in poor shape, so if it continues to be dry, water stress could bite more quickly than normal.
Spring frost is always a potential hazard at the beginning of the season and needs to be managed carefully. Where temperatures are marginal, fruit russet injury can occur, even though frosts are not heavy enough to drop fruit.
In the absence of active frost protection programs, frost risks can be minimised by the following:
- Firm damp bare soil.
- Maintaining very short well mown swards through the risk period.
- Maintaining good weed control along shelterbelts where cold air drift may build up. Open-up the lower portion of these shelterbelts to allow cold air to escape.
- Running under tree sprinklers is a good option, but take note of the following,
- Sufficient water is required to ensure that adequate latent heat is released when water freezes. If not, you can end up with a super cooling effect.
- Don’t attempt to cover the whole orchard with insufficient water if your system is not setup for this.
- Pick your highest value blocks to protect and do it properly.
- Tech grade LB Urea foliar sprays applied prior to the frost night can lower the freezing point around the buds.
