I have used the blower and pollen on cherries and apples every year for many years now. I have never done, however, a specific replicated trial. (Too much work and variability.) I operate on the assumption it can't hurt, and have never noticed a problem with uniformity. But I am no expert on the subject either. I think for small applications (a few acres) and on cherries it is worthwhile crop set insurance. Then, of course, out come the thinners…
:-) On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 8:49 PM, David Kollas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Jon: > Is there more to say of the leaf-blower alternative? Is this a first-time > trial? Problems? > > It looks appears to have advantages over the stilts and dabbing trials I > ran some years ago, though uniformity of set is likely not so good. > > David Kollas > Kollas Orchard, Tolland, CT > > > On May 2, 2013, at 8:00 PM, Jon Clements wrote: > > Interesting, I was just observing full bloom sweet cherry yesterday > afternoon and made a mental note that native bee/pollinator activity seemed > to be light. There are no honeybees brought into the orchard yet, we wait > for apples. Normally, they (the native pollinators) are really swarming the > sweet cherries because they are the only thing in bloom at the time. Today > activity seemed lacking again. It's been very dry here, is there any > possibility there is a lack of nectar? That might not explain David's > observation in Indiana though? Seems to be a theme here, but maybe Mo is > right -- just plain natural (i.e. chaotic) population swings? > > Anyway, who needs bees? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsl7sILSGoU > > > On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:01 AM, David Doud <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Another casualty of last year's freak weather is the population of native >> pollinators - my asian pears entered full bloom over the last 48 hours - >> other years they are surrounded by a cloud of several species of solitary >> pollinators, this year that activity is roughly 10% of what I am accustomed >> to observing - >> >> The first apple bloom opened yesterday - 72 hours ago at tight cluster I >> considered the amount of bloom as 'full' but not particularly remarkable, >> now bloom has seemingly spontaneously generated to an amount that I cannot >> remember observing in the past - it's going to be spectacular, but has >> upped my anxiety about the potential 'big crop of little green apples' - >> hope thinners are effective.... >> >> >> >> >> David Doud >> grower IN >> _______________________________________________ >> apple-crop mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop >> >> > > > -- > Jon Clements > aka 'Mr Honeycrisp' > UMass Cold Spring Orchard > 393 Sabin St. > Belchertown, MA 01007 > 413-478-7219 > umassfruit.com > _______________________________________________ > apple-crop mailing list > [email protected] > http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop > > > -- Jon Clements aka 'Mr Honeycrisp' UMass Cold Spring Orchard 393 Sabin St. Belchertown, MA 01007 413-478-7219 umassfruit.com
_______________________________________________ apple-crop mailing list [email protected] http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
