Rye, We remove the actual flower buds only, leaving the spur leaves behind. My understanding is that Fireblight is not a problem until flower is open, but I could be wrong about that. I leave the leaves only because I suspect that doing so there is a better chance of that spur flowering again next year that way and I also suspect that those spur leaves will add somewhat to the vigor of the tree that first year. So I am waiting a bit longer than you suggest you have been. Often a number of the flowers are open, many at pink as well. This means you may need to pass through a couple of times as often it's those last few open flowers that end up being your FB headache.
Of course the added benefit in doing so will prevent danger of internal leps being a problem, as well as fruit scab and a host of other maladies. For those customers who don't want us to spray anymore, flower removal is their ultimate dream :-) Mo Tougas On Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 5:54 PM, Rye Hefley <ducn...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Hi Mo, > > Another question about flower thinning: I guess in my first writing I > should have said I have been removing the whole blossom. Should I keep or > remove the small leaves that were around the buds? > > I have been removing the whole cluster, leaves and all and still not > confident if I'm doing it right. Should I let the cluster open up more and > just grab the flower buds? Too many variances in the images of what is > labeled "tight cluster" on the web. Some images show the leaves completely > unfurled where you could just grab the flower buds,and others show the > leaves still mostly wrapped around the buds such that you'd have to remove > the leaves with the buds. Or if it doesn't matter either way. > > Thanks, > Rye Hefley > So Cal > > ------------------------------ > *From:* maurice tougas <appleman.maur...@gmail.com> > *To:* Apple-crop discussion list <apple-crop@virtualorchard.net> > *Sent:* Saturday, February 2, 2013 3:09 AM > *Subject:* Re: [apple-crop] Removing Flowers by hand > > You're doing fine Rye. You will encourage growth and do no harm. You'll > also reduce the potential for fireblight infections. We simply pinch the > buds at or as they break "tight cluster". Prefer not removing entire spur > as we may want fruit there next year. It's time consuming, but for > fireblight reduction and increased growth response, worth it. > > Mo Tougas > Grower, Tougas Family Farm > > > On Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 6:38 PM, Rye Hefley <ducn...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > I am removing flowers by hand this year to promote scaffolding growth. > When I see a flower that is protruding from the bud (before it is open), I > grab the whole bud and pull it off. I started to wonder if this is in any > way harmful to my goal of scaffold growth. Is there a "right time" and > "right way" to manually remove flowers? I'm not looking to grow any fruit > this year just scaffolding. > > Thanks, > Rye Hefley > So Cal > _______________________________________________ > apple-crop mailing list > apple-crop@virtualorchard.net > http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop > > > > > -- > Maurice Tougas > Tougas Family Farm > Northborough,MA 01532 > 508-450-0844 > > _______________________________________________ > apple-crop mailing list > apple-crop@virtualorchard.net > http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop > > > > _______________________________________________ > apple-crop mailing list > apple-crop@virtualorchard.net > http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop > > -- Maurice Tougas Tougas Family Farm Northborough,MA 01532 508-450-0844
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