T
O
S
r
rc
y these dr
hard Management
y-season str
By Peter Waterman
ess relievers
gr
o
o
m
w
e
e

r
p
s
r

a
c
c
a
t
n
ic

al methods
success.
and varying degrees of f
primarily to a flourish of shoots in the
all ground fertilizer nitrogen goes
t
organic growing,
Movement towards early spring. These shoots will demand
research on soil bio-
water. Therefore fertilizer, especially
I
o
o
f

d
re
r
d
o
u
u
c
g
e
employ
h

t
t
.
he impact
d
nitrogen should be used in response to
impacts of both water
ynamics, soil pH l
and herbicide use have
tree response; a balanced foliar
eaf analysis and a close examination of
n 2006 I wrote an article on water
t
program may be best or used in the
and plant reaction to stress. This
best management
o be combined with c
productivity must be taken into
ombination. Tree age and level of
responses within the plant.
dealt mostly with physiological
To result in best management of
practices of water. consideration — young and newly-
water there are a number of other
lanted trees require a good early season
water stress is important. Under such
Understanding plant responses to
production practices that can be
foliar program to develop structure to
conditions the plant tries to offset the
emphasized. Balanced winter pruning is
hang future crops on.
stress to maintain growth, and leaf
a good place to start. water demand and the ability of the tree
Pruning and fertilizer use influences
turgidity and survival of fruit by
reducing water losses by closing the
excessive shoot growth waste water
Pruning practices that encourage to withstand or deal with water stress,
holes in the leaves called stomata. These
through excessive demand for water by
so drought impacts are reduced.
stomates regulate the flow of oxygen,
the plant. If the plant cannot meet the
carbon dioxide and water vapour.
excess shoot and leaf demands, it will
tree size greatly influences the tree’s
The number of fruit for any given
start to shut down and there will be
responses to drought conditions. In past
fullness to its tissues (called turgidity)
The plant tries hard to maintain a
negative impacts on fruit size and
years, trees with excessive fruit load
so processes such as photosynthesis can
quality and return fruiting capacity.
were very easy to spot. Leaf and shoot
growth was poor, fruit was small, and
continue and result in fruit, leaf, shoot
poorly coloured. Managing crop load
and rootlet growth.
shoots during the dormant period will
Excessive small cuts into one-year
result in an abundance of new shoots
early in the growing season is critical,
because fruit size and spur health for
supply situation that will enable these
The grower has to maintain a water
that will demand water. next year’s crop are at risk.
processes to continue. Essentially, I am
talking about supply issues that begin
balanced with whole branch removal
So this type of pruning must be
concerns is water management. Drip
In partnership with these tree
with capturing enough of the spring
and renewal and with a strong effort in irrigation is an extremely efficient use of
runoff to last through the growing
spur renewal. This is assisted with a water. Monitoring the soil moisture is
season. These supply issues start the
fertilizer program that encourages a very important.
year previous to any growing season by
balanced shoot, spur and fruit growth.
ensuring water is managed efficiently so
Research has shown that excessive from the shovel and squeeze test to
There is a whole host of technologies,
as much water as possible is saved in
reservoirs for the next year.
adequate spring runoff, and avoiding
This is assisted by first capturing
losses in transmission, and by practices
at the orchard and vineyard production
level that use only what is necessary for
The
high fruit quality. It must be added that
plant requirements change each year
with weather, but there must be enough
water allocated to a given piece of land
for peak-use periods and for potential
crop changes that may use less or more
Place
water, depending on individual crop
type needs.
GERARD’S
been carried out for many years — in
There are some practices that have
particular weed-free strips in tree and
EQUIPMENT
vine rows. This results in water only
being provided to the commercial
LTD.
plants and not used to grow weeds.
33684 Highway 97 South,
Weed free strips can be achieved in a
Oliver , BC
number of ways, in the last fifty years or
(250) 498-2524 or (250) 498-6231
so various herbicides and combinations
Fax (250) 498-3288
of herbicides have been used with great
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Winter 2009-10
17
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32