Planting Sites
PLANTING SITES CATEGORIES
Pawpaws in New York
Are you a fan of pawpaws? These custardy fruits can be hard to come across, so this guide provides information on how to grow your own pawpaw from seed, and how to care for grafted seedlings. Pdf on growing now available.
Lake Ontario Fruit Webinar Recording & Video Links
LOF Fruit Bites
See details to check out quick "how to" videos on a variety of fruit and orchard topics.
What Herbicides control which weeds ?
Deborah Breth, Integrated Pest Management
Lake Ontario Fruit Program
This guide is used to identify the most effective herbicides to target specific weeds in tree fruit. First identify the weed, or weeds, then find those weeds across the top of the spreadsheet. For each weed, make a list of herbicides that are effective on the label. Then you will need to double check the label to determine 1) if the tree fruit crop is labeled, 2) if the tree age is appropriate for use,3) what rate is needed for specific weeds and any soil limitations that might impact those rates. You can go to the Bureau of Pest Management - Information Portal to find the labels to determine specific application requirements including the rates, timing, any adjuvants necessary, and any precautions to ensure crop safety.
Black Stem Borer Trap Data
Apple IPM for Beginners
Deborah Breth, Integrated Pest Management
Lake Ontario Fruit Program

Pest management can be a complex system in perennial crops such as apples and other tree fruits. "Apple IPM (Integrated Pest managment) for Beginners" is an excellent guide for new growers who want to grow apples, or want to be more familiar with managing pests in apple plantings. Even growers who have been farming all their lives may know someone coming into the business that can learn from this guide and improve the quality of apples produced. This 42-page guide will help new apple growers protect apple orchards from pests, in fact sheet format. This series of fact sheets is available in printed color format (see order form below), or in .pdfs https://blogs.cornell.edu/treefruit/ipm/apple-ipm-for-beginners/ It will help you address the major apple pests, but does not guarantee perfect fruit. These fact sheets and scouting guides are a compromise between the most accurate, complex information researchers have to offer and the amount of information a beginner can take in. Read the first four chapters carefully to start this new venture. Then follow the Scouting Calendar as apple stage of growth advances week-by-week. "Apple IPM for Beginners" was partially funded by Federal Smith Lever Funds. Additional full color printed copies can be ordered from CCE-Lake Ontario Fruit Program.
The Benefits of Orchard Mechanization for the Tall Spindle Orchard System
Mario Miranda Sazo, Cultural Practices
Lake Ontario Fruit Program
NY apple growers are rapidly adopting the Tall Spindle planting system which has higher yields than traditional systems and is allowing them to adopt motorized labor positioning platforms to reduce pruning, hand thinning and summer pruning costs. In the future pruning costs may be reduced even further with mechanized summer side-wall shearing. To take full advantage of these advances in mechanization, new orchards should be established at a spacing of 2.5-3ft x 11-12 ft.
The Pros and Cons of an On-Farm Nursery
Mario Miranda Sazo, Cultural Practices
Lake Ontario Fruit Program
The increasing acceptance of high-density orchards and specifically the Tall Spindle Planting System to improve orchard profitability has made orchard replanting more expensive than previously. Our data from Cornell and that of many leading NY growers indicates that the increased planting cost of a tall spindle orchard is offset by much higher early and mature yields than we had previously achieved.
The Use of Feathered Nursery Trees combined with High Planting Densities
Mario Miranda Sazo, Cultural Practices
Lake Ontario Fruit Program
The use of feathered trees combined with high planting densities and minimal pruning has resulted in a significant improvement in yield of new orchards over the first 5 years. The larger the initial caliper of the tree at planting, the greater the growth and yield in the first 4-5 years. The greater the number of feathers at planting, the greater the yield especially in the second and third years.
An Important Pruning Reminder
Mario Miranda Sazo, Cultural Practices
Lake Ontario Fruit Program
Planning Ahead with MidSummer Grasses
Mario Miranda Sazo, Cultural Practices
Lake Ontario Fruit Program
Growers who are planning to plant a new orchard site (or a replant site) next year can consider the use of cover crops before planting an orchard. Their benefits are numerous.
Fall Planting of Apples
Mario Miranda Sazo, Cultural Practices
Lake Ontario Fruit Program
In recent years, fall planting has become the norm for a few Western NY growers who have successfully planted in the fall for several consecutive years. These new orchards have shown a strong growth the first year compared to spring planted trees.
Upcoming Events
2022 Virtual Orchard Meetup webinar series - Orchard Efficiency: Labor and Technology.
June 2, 2022 : Part 1 Labor - Grower Experiences
2022 Virtual Orchard Meetup webinar series. Orchard Efficiency: Labor and Technology.
A four-part webinar series on Orchard Efficiency: Labor and Technology.
Part 1 Labor - Grower Experiences
June 16, 2022 : Part 2 Labor - Specialist Panel
2022 Virtual Orchard Meetup webinar series. Orchard Efficiency: Labor and Technology.
A four-part webinar series on Orchard Efficiency: Labor and Technology.
Part 2 Labor - Specialist Panel
June 30, 2022 : Part 3 Technology - Grower Experiences
2022 Virtual Orchard Meetup webinar series. Orchard Efficiency: Labor and Technology. A four-part webinar series on Orchard Efficiency: Labor and Technology.
Part 3 Technology - Grower Experiences
July 14, 2022 : Part 4 Technology - Specialist Panel
2022 Virtual Orchard Meetup webinar series. Orchard Efficiency: Labor and Technology. A four-part webinar series on Orchard Efficiency: Labor and Technology.
Part 4 Technology - Specialist Panel
2022 SAP Analysis
July 15, 2022
Peel sap sampling/collection ended for Western NY/Finger Lakes regions on July.
LOF Summer Tour 2022

August 9, 2022
Please join us for the 2022 LOF Summer Tour on Tuesday, August 9th!
Stop 1: Kast Farms, Inc. Hosted by Brett Kast and family. Topics include herbicide trial updates, soil health, fire blight, mating disruption, and comparison of NY1 on G.41 vs. M.9-337 rootstocks. Stop 2: Fish Creek Orchards, LLC. Hosted by Jose Iniguez and Jason Woodworth. Topics include an introduction of the SCRI "Precision Orchard Management for Apple" project, and overviews by 3 companies working with us and growers under this umbrella - Moog, Vivid, and Dropcopter, who are working with Green Atlas for the cartography. Stop 3: Lunch at the Carleton Fire Hall & Rec Center. Lunch will be provided by Frank Penna Catering. Growers and other tree fruit industry folks will have the opportunity to visit with sponsors and likely view several demonstrations of new precision crop load management technology. Stop 4: Orchard Dale Fruit Farm. Hosted by the Brown family and employees. LOF's precision pruning work with our SCRI grant, and crop load management research with Farm Vision and Fruit Scout will be featured. Stop 5: Nesbitt Fruit Farms. Hosted by Shane Nesbitt and family. Topics include bloom thinning results on Honeycrisp with the use of the Pollen Tube Growth model, and grow-through on-farm nursery production. Note: There may be some minor changes to the itinerary.
1.75 NYSDEC Credits will be offered in categories 22, 10, and 1A.