Any soft fruit growers out there?

aidan

Member
Location
Ireland
W
Yes I do. Winter moth is a problem for me, they need treating early spring. Codling moth is a routine treatment June/July and aphids from time to time if/when necessary.
Fungicides against Scab and Mildew are routine and done every 10-14 days through the season.
I try to be very careful with the chemicals as I would prefer not to use any but I do not think I would have a saleable crop if I didn't, scab, codling and winter moth damage would render them useless.
I am also very careful to select the chemical that is either target specific or will do the least harm to beneficial insects, I also remove as much of any mildew infected wood as I can by hand to reduce further infection and chemical requirement.
The other major reason for reducing chemicals is the sheer cost of them. They have always been expensive but I am seeing 20% increases post covid on most chemistry which is very much approaching the tipping point for viability of the orchards right now.
That’s quite a list, mind if I ask what chemicals do you use for each.

only ever heard of one spray for fruit trees, Captain I think it was called
 

Turnip

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Aberdeenshire
Anyone can recommend some fruit trees for a small low maintenance orchard in Aberdeenshire. Its not going to be a commercial enterprise, just some fruit for the family. Preferable a larger tree species so I can have the horses graze the orchard and enjoy the shade of the trees.
 
View attachment 954923Yes, true.

We’ve had several nights of frost, but not so severe as other regions. They’re saying locally that losses are about 10-15% ( our region produces more wine than Australia)

In the village the worst hit chap lost half his vines. The problem with frost on vines is that you lose this years crop, bu also next years wood is stunted.View attachment 954922

Personally the frost cost us a ha of table grapes, and has damaged the fruit trees. Luckily it’s before we thin the fruit so we can afford to lose some, with peaches you can make a crop with only 10% of your flowers. I think we’ll have fruit in June and July, but the late apricots and peaches will be thin on the ground. God knows with cherries they’re like trying to second guess cats.

I think we’ve been lucky, the Rhône valley has seen all its apricots frosted off, even with helicopters etc, and some of the best Rhône wine won’t have a harvest, cote rôtie.

Without a doubt there has been a real blow to French wine and fruit production.
Talking to one of my wine suppliers last week:
About 50% loss of crop due to spring frosts. But he tells me that on the other hand the Sauvignon Blanc should be good quality as it prefers the cooler wetter weather that we have had this year.

Fruit in the garden:
No plums, cherries, pears, Muscat grapes or peaches this year. No first crop of figs. All down to spring frosts.
Not a single Bramley, but Kidds Orange Red loaded, but lot's of insect damage - Didn't spray this year as the weather was never really quite right.
Blackcurrants & gooseberries very good and autumn raspberries are good as well.

Outdoor tomatoes got blight so got pulled up very early and burnt. Potatoes started to show blight in July, so cut the tops off and left them for a fortnight before lifting them in early August. Actually a very good crop due to lots of water. Didn't spray as it was always either too windy or pissing with rain!

Bit worried abour Brassicas as Cabbage Whites seem to be about in hordes this year. Sprayed insecticide last week - too bloody windy earlier on!
 
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TheTallGuy

Member
Location
Cambridgeshire
I'm only small time in fruit, but it's another write off year for me. Czar, Vic & Rivers EP plums all succumbed to lack of pollinators and a hard frost - interestingly Pershore Purples did okayish, but smaller fruit than normal. Bramley - very little & poor grade, Lord Derby and Worcester Pearmain about 40% of average qty and poor grade. Morello cherries were about 50% qty and low flesh content, sweet cherries after a promising start succumbed to a black fly infestation that I struggled to control.

I had planned to restart on strawberries and raspberries this autumn, but having a bit of a rethink about that.
 

Hjcarter

Member
Picking windfalls at the moment.

Red falstaffs about ready - then we'll be into the Harry Masters, dabinet & yarlington mill before rounding off with 3 counties.

Falstaff and 3 counties ok where they were stood in water, where not the moths got them. Harry masters are OK, dabinets done well.

focussed more on soil and fert this year but more to do.

5 ton from 15 acres/ 5000 trees but we're only 5 years in.
 

aidan

Member
Location
Ireland
Picking some today.
What disease is thriving on these I wonder.

trees are going to get some badly needed tlc soon. They have grown unpruned for the last 20 years.

any ideas on how to kill off the moss.
 

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aidan

Member
Location
Ireland
Picking windfalls at the moment.

Red falstaffs about ready - then we'll be into the Harry Masters, dabinet & yarlington mill before rounding off with 3 counties.

Falstaff and 3 counties ok where they were stood in water, where not the moths got them. Harry masters are OK, dabinets done well.

focussed more on soil and fert this year but more to do.

5 ton from 15 acres/ 5000 trees but we're only 5 years in.

5 ton sounds like a lot. How much volume would that be
 

Fruitbat

Member
BASIS
Location
Worcestershire
Picking some today.
What disease is thriving on these I wonder.

trees are going to get some badly needed tlc soon. They have grown unpruned for the last 20 years.

any ideas on how to kill off the moss.
Scab, mildew, bitter pit from calcium deficiency, probably a bit of capsid damage and frost.
Pruning wise, start about 1/2 hour before sunset, do 3 decent cuts and walk away. Better still wait until March when the growth response will be reduced. Letting light and air in will help no end. Rake up and remove any fallen fruit and leaves to try and break the disease cycle a bit. General feed in spring and mid summer, calcium nitrate around bud burst, full blossom and June ish.
 

aidan

Member
Location
Ireland
Scab, mildew, bitter pit from calcium deficiency, probably a bit of capsid damage and frost.
Pruning wise, start about 1/2 hour before sunset, do 3 decent cuts and walk away. Better still wait until March when the growth response will be reduced. Letting light and air in will help no end. Rake up and remove any fallen fruit and leaves to try and break the disease cycle a bit. General feed in spring and mid summer, calcium nitrate around bud burst, full blossom and June ish.

thanks for that. Some googling to do

what sprays would you recommend
 

Veryfruity

Member
Talking to one of my wine suppliers last week:
About 50% loss of crop due to spring frosts. But he tells me that on the other hand the Sauvignon Blanc should be good quality as it prefers the cooler wetter weather that we have had this year.
Very varied here. our Village is down 30% overall, some frost and some drought. i have friends that are down 75%. It never seems to translate into better prices though, as stock tends to absorb the bumps in production.

We‘re all finished, and overall a good year. Started well with cherries, apricots were only half, but a great crop of peaches and nectarines. Plums and strawberries were fantastic. A smattering of figs and table grapes.
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Fruitbat

Member
BASIS
Location
Worcestershire
thanks for that. Some googling to do

what sprays would you recommend
Professional or amateur?
Good pruning will help by reducing moisture and humidity in the crown. Scab likes wet, mildew humidity. Potassium Bicarbonate is good for mildew. On label is Karma, off label baking powder and soft water (apparently 10g/lt works….) but only if you think you can spray the whole tree, not worth bothering with if you can’t. You can’t do much about capsid, there might be a bit of Winter Moth in there too which can be controlled with grease bands - but they’re hassle and prone to bi catch of other beneficials. Encourage earwigs, they are voracious predators of aphids, caterpillars and other insects, use a bit of corrugated card rolled up in a cut off plastic bottle. But a good prune for light and air will do it the world of good. It’s not a 1 year job, look at doing some decent cuts this year and next, then after that it should be slightly more cuts of smaller branches. Strongly growing upright wood won’t fruit much, anything in shade will also be poor, but the answer might be removing the branch shading not the one in shade.
 

Kidds

Member
Horticulture
Got some time to get some picking done today. Can’t think of anything better to do with my time, I just love it but it is hard work.
Whenever I talk to people in Kent about growing apples in Cheshire they usually react as if I am at the North Pole. I was told by a big apple grower just last year that Cox won’t survive this far North. Here are a few pics of them not surviving.

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sahara

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Somerset
Nice to see you have plenty of fruit. Our fruit trees are a real mixed bag. No pears, no cherries, some apples, (a split between ciders, some apples, eating, no apples and Bramleys 80% of normal) but our Damson tree is loaded!
I assume our odd weather pattern in the spring is to blame.
 

Kidds

Member
Horticulture
I would expect to get 30 tons each year but last year it was less than 3 due to late frosts. This year seems to be a full crop again which surprises me considering the temperatures we had in spring. It was exceptionally cold. I had a lucky escape it seems, probably a bit extra crop to make up for none last year.
 

carpenter1

Member
Location
devon
Got some time to get some picking done today. Can’t think of anything better to do with my time, I just love it but it is hard work.
Whenever I talk to people in Kent about growing apples in Cheshire they usually react as if I am at the North Pole. I was told by a big apple grower just last year that Cox won’t survive this far North. Here are a few pics of them not surviving.

View attachment 987714
View attachment 987716View attachment 987717View attachment 987718View attachment 987719
I could do with finding a couple of box fulls like that.
 

Kidds

Member
Horticulture
Good looking crop.
What rootstock are they on?
Self fertile Cox on MM106.
Spacing of the trees isn't very good on some of the pics but most of them are OK. Most trees have well coloured fruit but you can pick out trees here and there that are much less coloured, should be rogued I guess but not going to do that. Seem to recall a suggestion they can SF Cox can be prone to reverting clone so may explain it.
But yes, it is a lovely looking crop, I am very pleased with them.
 

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