October
1997
, Volume
81
, Number
10
Pages
1,123
-
1,126
Authors
Daniel R.
Cooley
,
Assistant Professor
,
James W.
Gamble
,
Research Technician, Department of Microbiology
, and
Wesley R.
Autio
,
Associate Professor, Department of Plant & Soil Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
Affiliations
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RelatedArticle
Accepted for publication 4 June 1997.
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Summer pruning of apples, as opposed to the conventional commercial practice of dormant pruning, consistently reduced the incidence of flyspeck on apple fruit by approximately 50% in each of 2 years in trees where no fungicides were applied. In commercial orchard blocks using fungicides, summer pruning also produced a slight but significant decrease in disease severity. There appear to be at least two mechanisms contributing to decreased flyspeck incidence and severity in summer-pruned apple trees. Summer pruning resulted in a small change in the apple canopy microclimate, decreasing the hours of relative humidity >95% in the canopy by 63% and increasing the evaporative potential. Summer pruning also resulted in improved spray deposition in the upper two-thirds of the tree canopy when applications were made with an airblast sprayer.
JnArticleKeywords
Additional keywords:
cultural control,
integrated pest management,
plant canopy
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ArticleCopyright
© 1997 The American Phytopathological Society