POP TIPS: June Orchard Care & Juneberry Joy!

18 views
Skip to first unread message

Phil Forsyth

unread,
Jun 1, 2022, 5:27:43 PM6/1/22
to Philadelphia Orchard Group
Dear Philly Orchardists,
June is an important time for some key orchard care tasks including fruit thinning and pest and disease management practices.  And June is of course when many of our early orchard harvests begin, including Juneberry Joy POPHarvest events starting this Friday!  

Please check out our new POP Monthly Orchard Task List for recommended maintenance activities to complete this month (the May/June list is also attached below).  And consider joining us for our hands-on POPCORE workshop next week: 
Saturday, June 11
9:30am - 12:00pm

POPCORE Eco-Orchard Pest and Disease Management Workshop

Participants will learn about spring orchard care tasks with a focus on holistic and organic approaches to the management of orchard pests & diseases, including hands-on scouting and demonstrations of techniques in the Share Orchard.

Here is some more detail on some of the key tasks for June: 


Fruit Thinning Time! 

Check out the Spring orchard care video POP produced last year on fruit thinning, and read more below: 


By late May to early June, small fruitlets have formed on most fruit trees and it's time to thin them out.  All fruitlets should be removed from young trees planted this spring or last fall to allow the tree to focus its energy on getting established.  FOR APPLES, PEARS, PEACHES, and sometimes PLUMS and APRICOTS: these fruit trees need to be thinned throughout their lifespan.  Apples, pears, and Asian pears should be hand-thinned to 5" apart on the tree, peaches to 8".  Some plum and apricot trees with heavy fruit set should also be thinned to a few inches apart to avoid the risk of branches breaking under the weight. 

image.png

Fruit thinning is important to produce the best quality and size of fruit, and helps reduce problems with common diseases like brown rot and insect pests like codling moth.  It also helps reduce alternate bearing, which is the tendency of some trees to produce large harvests one year and little or no harvest the next.  Read more: 


image.png
As you're thinning your stone fruits, be sure to remove any showing signs of brown rot (or any other pest or disease damage)! 

And consider joining us to learn about pickling of thinned green plums: 
Saturday, June 11
2:00pm - 3:30pm

POPHarvestEd:Pickled Green Plums

Learn how to turn unripe plums gleaned from thinning community orchards into a tasty delicacy!


Pest and Disease Monitoring & Identification


NOTE: We'll be demonstrating a wide range of pest and disease management practices including emergency pruning, fruit thinning, bagging, beneficial insect releases, and more at our upcoming hands-on POPCORE workshop on 6/11.  

Spring is when many pest and disease challenges show their first signs!  Some of the most common insect pests to contend with in June include: 


image.png
Curling leaves and/or ants in your tree are signs of aphid infestation.  For severe outbreaks, consider a neem oil spray, as featured in POP's spring orchard care video.  

Observe your orchard regularly throughout the year for pest and disease problems, identify and respond appropriately.  We've been distributing physical copies to community partners and volunteers, but in the meantime you can check out POP's Scouting Guides for pest and disease management available for download on POP's website: 


These guides are intended to help properly identify the insect pests and diseases that effect the following common fruit trees: 


The guides include lots of photos and a description of how to identify the particular pest or disease and the damage caused by it.  Proper identification is essential to treating these problems, as each has its own unique options for management!  Once you have identified a pest or disease, you can then consult our website for management recommendations by using our search function: 



Fruit Bagging
June is a good time to protect young fruits from pest and disease through the practice of fruit bagging.  This simple technique is most commonly used for apples, pears, and Asian pears and can help protect from common pests including apple maggot, codling moth, and more without the use of sprays. Read more about fruit bagging here: 


image.png
Fruit bagging can be done with ziplock baggies or nylon footies! 


Spring Orchard Sprays 


Depending on specific pest or disease problems, some orchardists may consider  organic sprays including the ones listed below. 


Check out POP’s guides to orchard applications of:

• Compost Tea Sprays for Orchards

        • Effective Microbes

• Neem Oil Sprays

• Kaolin Clay Sprays

• Sulfur Sprays and Early Spring Management Techniques

• Pyrethrin Orchard Sprays

• Bt: Bacillus thuringiensis Orchard Sprays

• Spinosad Orchard Sprays




Spring Weeding and Compost/Mulch Application


With the wet weather and warming temperatures, many weeds are growing rapidly.  Time to get out there and edit the plant palette!  POP's weed identification guide is available for sale on our website and we always have free copies to distribute to community orchard partners and lead orchard volunteers. 


Building healthy soil is key to supporting trees’ health, resilience and yields. Weed around the base of trees, and spread at least one or two inches of chipped winter prunings, shredded leaves, and/or mulch or compost in the spring. Check out POP’s guide to Ramial Wood Chips and Weeding in Place.  




Fireblight Removal and Emergency Pruning


With dormant season well behind us, most pruning should be limited to emergency pruning only.  


Keep an eye out for any diseased, damaged, or dead wood that should be pruned away no matter the season. Pay special attention to the base of trees - especially of the stone fruit varieties: apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines - and prune away root suckers, the quick upright growth that can be a cover for dreaded borers, which make a home beneath trunk wood. 


Fire_blight_(Erwinia_amylovora)_of_pear.png
Keep an eye out for fire blight damage on apples and pears in June.  Be sure to prune back to healthy wood at least 8 to 12" below signs of damage to prevent further spread of this disease. 


Remember: use sharp, rust-free hand tools and sanitize between every cut for disease prone trees during the growing season. For easy disinfecting, we recommend carrying a spray bottle with you of rubbing (isopropyl 70%) alcohol or a bleach solution (1 part bleach: 10 parts water) to wipe down tools.  



Spring Harvests!

Juneberries, strawberries, and goumis are already ripening, to be followed soon by raspberries, cherries, mulberries, currants, honeyberries, and more! 


Enjoy the spring harvests and join us for an upcoming POPharvest event of juneberries or mulberries!  
Attachments area
Phil Forsyth, Co-Executive Director
Philadelphia Orchard Project
Pronouns: he/him

Phil Forsyth

unread,
Jun 2, 2023, 8:19:54 AM6/2/23
to Philadelphia Orchard Group
Dear Philly Orchardists,
June is an important time for some key orchard care tasks including fruit thinning and pest and disease management practices.  And June is of course when many of our early orchard harvests begin, including Juneberry POPHarvest events next week!  

Please check out our POP Monthly Orchard Task List for recommended maintenance activities to complete this month (the May/June list is also attached below). Here is some more detail on some of the key tasks for June: 


Fruit Thinning Time! 

Check out POP's Spring orchard care video on fruit thinning, and read more below: 


By late May to early June, small fruitlets have formed on most fruit trees and it's time to thin them out.  All fruitlets should be removed from young trees planted this spring or last fall to allow the tree to focus its energy on getting established.  FOR APPLES, PEARS, PEACHES, and sometimes PLUMS and APRICOTS: these fruit trees need to be thinned throughout their lifespan.  Apples, pears, and Asian pears should be hand-thinned to 5" apart on the tree, peaches to 8".  If squirrels are a problem at your site, you may want to decrease these distances, but thinning is still strongly recommended.  Some plum and apricot trees with heavy fruit set should also be thinned to a few inches apart to avoid the risk of branches breaking under the weight. 

image.png

Fruit thinning is important to produce the best quality and size of fruit, and helps reduce problems with common diseases like brown rot and insect pests like codling moth.  It also helps reduce alternate bearing, which is the tendency of some trees to produce large harvests one year and little or no harvest the next.  Read more: 


image.png
As you're thinning your stone fruits, be sure to remove any showing signs of brown rot (or any other pest or disease damage)! 

Pest and Disease Monitoring & Identification





Spring Weeding and Compost/Mulch Application


With the wet weather and warming temperatures, many weeds are growing rapidly.  Time to get out there and edit the plant palette!  POP's weed identification guide is available for sale on our website and we always have free copies to distribute to community orchard partners and lead orchard volunteers. 


Building healthy soil is key to supporting trees’ health, resilience and yields. Weed around the base of trees, and spread at least one or two inches of chipped winter prunings, shredded leaves, and/or mulch or compost in the spring. Check out POP’s guide to Ramial Wood Chips and Weeding in Place.  




Fireblight Removal and Emergency Pruning


With dormant season well behind us, most pruning should be limited to emergency pruning only.  


Keep an eye out for any diseased, damaged, or dead wood that should be pruned away no matter the season. Pay special attention to the base of trees - especially of the stone fruit varieties: apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines - and prune away root suckers, the quick upright growth that can be a cover for dreaded borers, which make a home beneath trunk wood. 


Fire_blight_(Erwinia_amylovora)_of_pear.png
Fire blight has been very bad on apples and pears this spring.  Be sure to prune back to healthy wood at least 8 to 12" below signs of damage to prevent further spread of this disease. 


Remember: use sharp, rust-free hand tools and sanitize between every cut for disease prone trees during the growing season. For easy disinfecting, we recommend carrying a spray bottle with you of rubbing (isopropyl 70%) alcohol or a bleach solution (1 part bleach: 10 parts water) to wipe down tools.  



Spring Harvests!

Juneberries, strawberries, and goumis are already ripening, to be followed soon by raspberries, cherries, mulberries, currants, honeyberries, and more! 


Enjoy the spring harvests and join us for an upcoming POPharvest event of juneberries or mulberries!  
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages