April 2020 - 13

surrounding bark tissue, which
is healthy.
* Roughened/darkened areas
appearing " wrinkled " or " sunken. "
* Small pimple-like fungal sporeforming
structures - may be red,
dark brown, or black (depending
on the fungus).
* Wood-decay fungi, which attack
dead wood and often appear as
white protrusions growing out of
the bark.
When pruning this season, it is
best to pay extra attention to those
orchard blocks with a known history
of fire blight. This may require you to
visit orchard blocks more than once,
especially during different lighting of
the day, to be able to spot cankers that
could have been missed during the
initial round of pruning. If trees were
pruned during the season to remove fire
blight strikes, you will most likely see
a canker at the site where you pruned.
Don't forget to remove this canker.
When you see a canker, prune 6-12
inches from the canker's visible edge
into 2-year-old wood or older since
older wood is more resistant to the
bacteria. This will be easier in larger
trees and more challenging in smaller
dwarf trees. Judgment calls about
whether to remove a tree or not will
have to be made for smaller trees
depending on how severe the infection.
Since the bacteria are dormant during
the winter, disinfecting pruning tools
is not necessary. When it comes to
cankered wood, burn the largest limbs
that may be too big to be ground up
with a mower. Otherwise, leaving the
small prunings in the row middles and
subsequently brush mowing the debris
will be enough.
Cherry leaf spot
Leaf removal is key. Cherry leaf
spot and apple scab are very similar
when it comes to infection: fallen
diseased leaves are the culprit for
creating spring infections. Like
apple scab, sanitation is critical for
effective management. Follow the
same sanitation method for managing
cherry leaf spot as you would for scab.
Peach leaf curl
Control is needed when the leaves
have all fallen. When the leaves have
fallen from the trees, the peach leaf
curl spores are exposed. This is your
only time to manage peach leaf curl.
It is important to manage this disease
as soon as the leaves have fallen
this fall, especially on trees that are
early varieties: do not wait until late
dormancy (late February - March)
to make that fungicide application
since we have experienced 80° F in
late February, which may cause early
bud swell of these varieties. Spray the
trees with a fungicide, such as copper,
ziram, lime sulfur, or chlorothalonil.
If you are unable to apply your
spray this fall, fungicides can be
applied during late winter before bud
swell and before any drastic warm
ups during late winter. As a result,
you will reduce the chances of getting
peach leaf curl in 2020. FGN
Fire blight on an apple tree.
The scientific explanation.
Calcium is a critical element for fruit development.
A calcium deficiency in plants results in dividing cells
being unable to stay bound together. This causes poor
quality in fruits and vegetables such as blossom end rot,
tissue necrosis and poor storability.
ENCOURAGE NANOCAL is a unique
formulation of calcium carbonate.
®
®
Typical calcium soil additives have particle sizes of up to
200 microns, too big to be readily absorbed by roots.
NANOCAL is milled to less than one micron. This greatly
expands the calcium surface area, and allows more
particles in solution, providing a denser field of
calcium particles for uptake.
Foliar-applied calcium does
not translocate to fruit.
The only efficient way to move calcium into developing
fruit and vegetables is through root uptake. Soil-applied
NANOCAL's particle size allows immediate movement
into the meristematic region of growing roots. TransXylem™
technology translocates the calcium throughout the plant
to rapidly dividing cells in the developing fruit.
Soil-applied NANOCAL calcium particles are
immediately available to developing fruit.
Benefits of improved
calcium uptake include:
* Reduction in calcium-deficiency quality issues
* Improved shelf life and storability
* Better uniformity at maturity
* Increased firmness
* Increased yield
Learn more at oroagriusa.com
ENCOURAGE NANOCAL is a proprietary trademark of Oro Agri Inc.
Always read and follow label directions.
FGN | APRIL 2020 | 13
http://www.oroagriusa.com
April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2020
