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WINCHESTER — Apple and peach production in Virginia is expected to continue to make a major contribution to the economy of the state. Since 1987 there has been a 26 percent increase in apple tree numbers and a two percent decrease in acreage.
Size controlling rootstocks now account for 70 percent of the total apple trees (MM 111-39 percent), Standard-30 percent, MM106-12 percent, M7-11 percent and M26-8 percent).
Trees under seven years of age comprise 34 percent of the total trees. Red Delicious accounts for 42 percent, Golden Delicious 16 percent, Yorks 12 percent, Romes 7 percent and Stayman 5 percent.
This information and much more is printed in the 1992 Virginia Apple and Peach Tree Survey which is now available from the Virginia Dept, of Agriculture and Consumer Services, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, Va. 23209.
Ross Byers, of Virginia Tech’s Fruit Research Laboratory at the Winchester Agricultural Experiment Station, reports that most growers are reasonably satisfied with the results of their apple thinning sprays this year. Some over-thinning occurred where second applications were made. The cool weather delayed fruit abscission making this one of the most difficult thinning years in recent times.
Peach fruit did not set well this season due to the cold weather during and after bloom. The reduced fruit numbers early in the season will have a beneficial effect on fruit size and quality. Most trees have adequate fruit numbers for a full crop.
Bob Horsburgh of the laboratory reports that European red mite populations have reached levels that require controls in quite a few orchards in the Winchester area, especially where carbaryl was used as a fruit thinner.
Where controls are required they should be applied as soon as
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