'Organic' debate goes on, naturally -- chicagotribune.com

'Organic' debate goes on, naturally -- chicagotribune.com

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Japanese Beetle Season

Well, it’s Japanese Beetle season here in northern Illinois and The calls are starting to come in asking what can be done to get rid of them.  I am going to refer you to one of the better web sites for home owners to use to get information on the Japanese Beetle.  Go to Pestproducts.com and you will find everything you need to know about Japanese Beetles.  And even some information you probably didn’t want to know.  You can find spray products at your local lawn & garden store or hardware store with Permethrin in them that will do the trick.  I am not a big fan of Permethrin since it also kills everything else, including beneficial insects.  If you are more environmentally conscientious   find a product with Assail (Acetamiprid) in it.  Ortho makes a spray that I use for small spray situations that is ideal called  Ortho® MAX™  Flower, Fruit & Vegetable Insect Killer.  It is good for aphids, certain scales, apple maggot, codling moth, plum curculio, oriental fruit moth, and leafhopper.  It comes in several sizes but I prefer the 2 gallon with the attached sprayer.  You can control the spray droplet size and it will reach to the tops of you trees without the need for a ladder.  Hope this helps those of you with Japanese Beetle problems

Growing Peaches in Climate Zone 5 (Northern Illinois)

In February of 2008 i was invited to speak at the Chicago Botanical Garden by the Midwest Fruit Explorers (MidFex) on the subject of “Growing Peaches in Climate Zone 5 (Northern Illinois).  Since that time I have received many requests for a copy of the PowerPoint presentation I used.  I have the full PowerPoint presentation below:

Growing Peaches In Climate Zone 5

View more presentations from Dennis Norton.

The PowerPoint presentation is available for download at SlideShare if you are a SlideShare member.  If you are not a SlideShare member and do not want to register (it’s free) you may download the file at here.

I hope it helps those of you thinking of trying to grow peaches in northern climates.  Pay special attention to the sections on temperatures and keep in mind that since this presentation was given we experienced an all time low of -20 to -24 for over 6 hours that froze all of our peach trees.  This was the first time that we experienced these extreme lows since the late 1980's in our location.  As a result, all of our peach trees froze and we have had to remove them.  But we did grow peaches from 1992 to 2005.  Hope you find this info useful.

Royal Oak Farm to Host 2009 Illinois Horticultural Day

The Illinois Summer Horticulture Field Day is scheduled for Thursday, June 11, 2009 at Royal Oak Farm near Harvard, Illinois beginning at 8:30 a.m. Three generations of the Bianchini and Norton families operate Royal Oak Farm, a fun & entertainment operation on a beautiful 160-acre setting.  Presently there are more than 12,000 apple trees, including 24 varieties of apples.  About 600 new trees will be added this year in a replacement program. Other products for sale include raspberries, gourds, squash, and pumpkins. Site features include an entertainment area, market and bakery and a country restaurant that operates from August into November.  With a large pavilion, special events include concerts, hay rides, weddings, school tours, etc. Plus the family offers area schools fund-raising opportunities.

Royal Oak Farm utilizes three apple tree growing systems, central leader at 10"-12' centers on M7/M111/Mark rootstocks, vertical axe at 8' centers on M26/Bud9/M9 and tall spindle at 4' centers on Bud9/M9.  The process of converting the vertical axe to tall spindle by inter-planting new Bud9 trees between the 4-5 year old trees and re-training the vertical axe to tall spindle is underway.   This spring they plan to begin propagating some of their own trees on G11 and G16 rootstocks.  All of their new trees are being replanted where old trees once existed and they are making use of nematode fighting crop covers to overcome replant disease.  The orchard has been in a crop cover program for two seasons and will also be utilizing a crop cover program for pumpkins this spring.  Royal Oak Farm has used IPM practices for over 10 years and began a bio-intensive IPM program in 2006.  An bio-intensive IPM program utilizes such products as codling moth virus, a weed-badger for in row weed control as well as the use of cover crops.  

For more information and/or reservations call Don Naylor, Executive Secretary at 309/530-7678 (cell), email at ilsthortsoc@yahoo.com, or mail a check for $25 per person for advance reservations to: I.S.H.S., 15962 Old Orchard Rd, Bloomington, IL 61705. Advance reservation deadline is the June 9. Registration at door is $30.

2009 Season Spray Protocol

I have completed our Orchard Spray Protocol for the Royal Oak Farm 2009 season.  After reviewing my scouting reports from last season, I created several spreadsheets to assist me in evaluating our codling moth (CM) flight in particular.  If interested, you can download the spray protocol, spreadsheets and graph in the following formats:

PDF Version

Word Version (Download and edit for your specific application.)

PDF Version of 2008 CM Flight

Scouting Report Excel Spreadsheet Master

2008 Scouting Report Spreadsheet

Each season we learn a little bit more about the products we are using and their effectiveness, especially in our Codling Moth Program.  Over the past three seasons I have been slowly fading out organophosphates and for the 2009 season, they are completely gone.   Historically we have used Imidan for CM (codling moth)and PC (plum curculio) control, and it was the last OP (organophosphate) in our arsenal of products.  We have found that our CM spray program is also working quite well on PC when we use Calypso at 220 – 300 DD after CM biofix instead of Assail or Delegate.  The price of Assail and Calypso are virtually the same whereas Delegate runs about  $1.25 per ounce more and the per acre rate is higher. Assail is the least expensive of all three options because its rate is slightly lower than Calypso, bit is not as effective on PC.  I hold Assail in reserve for our final late summer application for Apple Maggot and any remaining generations of CM.

The degree-day-based model helps us time scouting and/or trapping of plum curculio as well as CM.  The model uses a base temperature for CM and weevil development of 50° F. Timing is critical in the application of most of the new CM and PC products on the market.  Treatment for PC is justified between 100 and 400 degree days (generally petal fall in northern Illinois), which is also the proper timing for the first egg hatch period of CM. 

Our CM Protocol is as follows:

Codling moth: Assume 1 complete application after bio-fix at:

75-100 DD Rimon (Pre-egg laying to early egg laying)

220-300 DD Calypso (First egg hatch)

     OR Assail if STLM, OFM, WALH are over TH
     OR Delegate if OBLR, RBLR, OFM counts are over TH (threshold)

340-600 DD Virosoft CM Virus (Late egg hatch to peak egg hatch

1200-1250 DD Assail if CM counts are over TH only.

The Virosoft CM Virus is generally applied at the 220-250 DD after biofix timing, but I choose to apply a chemical product as the first spray at the start of egg hatch (250 DD) and the virus as the second spray around 400 DD because more eggs will be present and covered by the virus spray at the later timing.

I have reduced our CM spray program down to just 2 chemical product sprays and one virus spray.  For both 2007 and 2008, we have almost entirely reduced any 2nd generation population of CM.  By keeping Assail in reserve for Apple Maggot, we still have an excellent broader spectrum product than can also wipe out any remaining OFM, STLM, and WALH.

Pruning Video Now Available

I now have the pruning video “Easy Steps to Fruit Tree Pruning” available to order through my blog or on our web site.  This video was produced by Cedardale Orchards with Gary Moulton.

Gary is a horticulturist and fruit tree grower with many years of both practical and theoretical experience.  He is a graduate of Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo and Washington State University.  Involved in continuing tree fruit research since 1980 at WSU, he works with the latest and most efficient pruning methods for fruit trees.

Whether you have a backyard orchard, a newly planted tree or an old neglected, out of control monster, you will get good results with the help of the tried-and-true pruning methods presented in this video.

Demonstrations in the video include:

• Tools you need and how to use them
• Training Systems – first planting to mature trees for Open Center, Central Leader and Espalier
• How to handle old neglected trees
• How trees grow

We use “Easy Steps to Fruit Tree Pruning” as a training tool here at Royal Oak Farm with all of our new employees.  It is one of the better, if not the best video available today on the proper pruning methods.  I highly recommend it for anyone who would like to learn how to properly prune fruit trees.

        

Order the DVD Now!

The Start of Another Year!

Well, 2009 has come in with a blast.....of cold air that is...here in northern Illinois. In January we hit -18 degrees and have probably lost the peaches again this winter. That's been 3 winters in a row where we have had below zero temps that have wiped out the peach buds. We are now seriously contemplating removing the peach trees and possibly adding pear trees to the mix of apples we now have.

Speaking of peaches, today I received an e-mail from a home orchardist from Texas that is having a terrible time with pests eating their peaches, mostly insects and birds. I recommended and sent them a nifty little "Fruit Pest Control for Home Gardens" from Kansas State University that covers a more organic approach to the home orchard.

I am currently working on several new projects for the orchard this year, one of which is the propagation of one of our current apple varieties. As the plans begin to unfold I will post info on our choices of root stock and the propagation process. Hopefully my posts will be much more often then they have in the past!