Month: January 2018

2018 Fruit Production

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Wow… it’s almost February already! As we have progressed past the harshest part of winter (hopefully), it’s time to think more about fruit production and items necessary to promote good plant growth. Grapes, brambles, blueberries, apples, peaches, pears, etc., all need pruned in the next few weeks if you haven’t already finished them.  I’ve added some pictures below to help determine what the finished product might look like. Good pruning for sunlight, air penetration and spray coverage is a key to good fruit production.

    

Grapes before pruning                             Grapes after pruning

 

      

Blackberries before pruning                    Blackberries after pruning

 

  

Blueberry before pruning                             Blueberry after pruning

 

                     

Apple or Pear pruning cuts              Peach or Cherry pruning for open center

 

Tree fruit producers should also be thinking about dormant oil sprays and/or copper applications if fire blight was severe last year in your trees. Oils…only apply when temperatures are above 40°F, never during freezing weather (read the label). Timely applications of any insecticide or fungicide is necessary if you want to get the full benefit of using them, so plan now and have the correct products ready to use as needed.  Also remember, pesticide resistance management is something we all need to guard against. Read the labels of any pesticides being used and rotate to other products as listed on the labels.

Black Rot in Grapes– I have many homeowners who contact me each year, as fall approaches, saying their grapes are turning black and shriveling up just about the time they start to ripen. This is a problem that must be controlled in the spring as the new vines are growing. The period from immediate pre-bloom through 3 to 4 weeks after bloom is the most critical period for controlling black rot. New growth, no larger than seen in the picture below, is the time to start spraying.  Two fungicides, Mancozeb (ex. Bonide Mancozeb 37%) or Mycobutanil (ex. Immunox Fungicide) are products that control black rot. Be sure to read the label for proper application rate, preharvest interval and timing between sprays. If sprays are not made (missed), an improper rate applied or complete coverage is not obtained, you cannot expect to get satisfactory disease control of black rot.

A great resource for home growing fruit producers is OSU Bulletin 780, Controlling Diseases and Insects in the Home Fruit Plantings. Pick one up from your local OSU Extension Office.

2018 is well underway. Are you ready for a productive fruit growing season? Let’s get ready to prune!

 

 

Be Counted

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Happy New Year!

I hope that 2017 was a year of success and I hope that 2018 will be even better. Of course, a year is what you make it. Although you cannot control what the year will bring, you can control how you react to what it gives you. Good or bad. I hope that one of your resolutions for 2018 will be to look on the bright side. See the glass half full. Be optimistic. If you chose to make 2018 a great year, it will be.

Yesterday I received a piece of mail titled to “Mr. Noble Osu Extension”. Yes, you read that correct. It was from the Arbor Day Foundation and it promised free gifts inside. Naturally, I wanted to at least see these “free gifts” and find out what they were hoping to get in return. Inside was a survey, return address labels, a calendar, and a list of enticing reasons why I should join the foundation and complete their survey.

One of these was the chance to win a “year’s supply of coffee”, which for me was more like twelve weeks’ worth of coffee, but hey, they got me. I completed the survey, hung up the calendar, and slipped the return labels into my desk. I am saving them for a gag where it would be appropriate to call myself “Mr. Noble Osu Extension.” My response will be counted to promote forest conservation. That alone would have been enough for me.

There are two surveys that I urge you to complete this January. One is the 2017 Census of Agriculture. The other is the 2017 Noble County OSU Extension ANR Program Survey. No, they don’t come with “free gifts”, but they should at least have your name and correct when you receive them. I can already see you rolling your eyes as you read this and thinking “Ugh, surveys!” So let me interject with a familiar story:

Luke 2:1-7: “1In those days Caesar Augustus sent out word that the name of every person in the Roman nation must be written in the books of the nation. 2This first writing took place while Quirinius was ruler of Syria. 3So all the people went to their own cities to have their names written in the books of the nation. 4Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in the country of Galilee to the town of Bethlehem. It was known as the city of David. He went there because he was from the family of David. 5Joseph went to have his and Mary’s names written in the books of the nation. Mary was his promised wife and soon to become a mother. 6While they were there in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to give birth to her baby. 7Her first son was born. She put cloth around Him and laid Him in a place where cattle are fed. There was no room for them in the place where people stay for the night.”

In the Christmas story we read that Jesus’s parents rode 65 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, while Mary was nine months pregnant, riding on a donkey, to be counted in a census, so that the government could assess their tax rate! Then when they arrived, Mary was in labor, and there was nowhere to stay except a stable. Can you imagine your first-born child being born in a barn, 65 miles from home, because the government ordered you to go? Does a paper or online census sound as bad now?

The 2017 Census of Agriculture is your chance to be counted. It is conducted once every five years. The information collected from the census is the only uniform, comprehensive, and impartial source of data that reaches every state and county in the U.S.A. It is used so that you will be represented appropriately by the United States Department of Agriculture in conversations with trade associations, researchers, policy makers, extension educators, agribusiness, and more. Every single voice matters. The census survey is lengthy, but keep in mind that every farmer in the U.S. has to complete the same survey. Some sections may not apply to you, but I guarantee that at least one will. You should have received a census form in the mail in December. You can chose to complete the paper forms or you can complete the census survey online at www.agcensus.usda.gov. If you did not receive a census packet, you can complete the survey online, or request one by calling (800)-727-9540. The deadline to respond is February 5, 2018.

Noble County OSU Extension looks forward to providing programming for you in 2018. Thank you to those who have completed the survey already. If you have not, please help us develop helpful program content by completing the 2017 ANR Program Survey online at: http://go.osu.edu/nobleanrsurvey17.

If you want to be represented in your community and nation, take these opportunities to be counted.

Have a wonderful New Year readers!