Honeycrisp apples in full bloom (pre-blossom thinning)
This week we’re preparing for a blast of sunshine and heat later this week that will surely speed up growth on things across the orchard/vineyard (weeds included). Apples are in full bloom or past bloom on some varieties, and the bees are doing their best to keep up. Fruit set is visible on plums, peaches, pears, currants, gooseberries, and some apples, and looks moderate-to-promising generally across the board. The sunshine and dry, warm spell later this week will be just what we’ve been waiting for to complete stone fruit pruning. Our time this week will be focused on apple blossom thinning, peach pruning, and understory weeding/cultivation.
Fruit/Bud/Tree Development
- Quince and Honeycrisp are both now in full bloom! Return bloom on both looks promising. Kingston Black apples are just beginning to bloom as well.
- Table grapes buds are pushing hard, and flower bud clusters are emerging on several varieties at this point (Jupiter, Interlaken, etc.).
- June-bearing strawberries are in flower, and vegetative growth is also accelerating after some early season deer browsing initially set them back.
Pest & Disease
- Expecting that this heat wave ahead will bump up expected emergence on several upcoming pome pests (codling moth, imported currant worm, etc.). We are continuing to monitor models.
- Seems like a bad year out here for peach leaf curl. Infection appears more severe than last year. One interesting positive note: the newly planted (last year) Charlotte peaches appear 100% curl-free at this point.
- We are seeing a small amount of blister aphid damage on currants. Still manageable to remove individual leaves at this point.
Jupiter table grape shoot
