Food Production -Top And soft Fruit Flashcards
Top fruit and soft fruit distinguish
Tree - apple pear plum etc
Bush cane and strawberry
Apple
Cultivar - Discovery (B) and Bramley (B triploid) Ashmead Kernel (c)
Harvesting - immediate consumption when ripe - storage just before ripe. Twist gently. If storing discard damaged or diseased.
Storage - dark, cool, moist, air circulation, frost proof, pest and disease free. Slatted trays fruit not touching.
Pest codling moth, pheromone traps aphids
Disease Canker - cut out infected area
Plums
Cultivar Victoria
Harvesting
Storage plastic bag with holes in fridge
Pest Plum moth - pheromone traps will indicate presence. Search out infected plummets and remove
Disease silver leaf prune from end of June - August and keep cuts to minimum
Raspberries
Cultivar Autumn Bliss Harvest on dry day Storage freeze or preserve Pest Birds - fruit cage/netting raspberry beetle Disease - Grey Mould -
Blackcurrants
Cultivar Titania /Ben Lomond
Harvest cutting strigs when they turn black (older versions shod be picked individually
Storage frozen, cooked or preserved
Pest birds
Disease Gooseberry mildew or Grey Mould thrives in damp so air circulation and good spacing
Strawberries
Rosie / Cambridge Favourite
Pest - slugs
Disease - powdery mildew grey mould
Cherry
Morello
Pear
Conference
Gooseberries
Careless
Blueberry
Bluecrop
Grape
Bacchus
Soil for fruit
Top fruit 60cm topsoil 45 cm soft fruit
PH 6-7
Compost/manure for soft fruits when preparing soil 2 months before
Fertilise Growmore
Not too much compost or manure for trees unless soil very poor
Feeding fruit
Nitrogen ( not too much as don’t want leafy growth at expense of fruit) Growmore Fish blood and bone
Phosphorous Bonemeal
Potassium potash wood ash (flowering period)
Growmore in spring
Tree fruits cover area covered by tree canopy
Training (restricted forms )
Cordon
Espalier
Fan
Reasons for using root stocks
Most fruit are cultivars and so need vegetative reproduction
Some cultivars don’t grow well on own roots
Some rootstocks more resistant to pests and diseases
Used to control size of tree prime reason
Advantages of dwarf/restricted forms
Fit into small area Easier to cultivate Easier to protect Fruit yield per unit area increased More cultivars in one space
One year old tree
Maiden
2 types of maiden?
Whip
Feathered maiden
Formative Pruning of unrestricted forms
Open goblet shape
Maiden (year 1) - cut back central leader to healthy bud or leader leaving 3-5 buds/laterals below. Shorten laterals by two thirds cutting to upward or outward facing bud.
Year 2 cut leaders by half to outward facing buds, prune any shoots not required for main branches to 4 or 5 buds, remove any badly spaced crossing or rubbing
Year 3 (spur bearers ) shorten leaders by cutting back quarter of seasons growth and prune strong laterals to four to six buds and weak ones to two to three
Remove DDDXR
Year 3 tip bearers shorten leaders as above but don’t prune side shoots unless DDDXR
Year
Establishing cordon
45 degree angle
1 metre apart 2metres between rows
Rows ideally north to south
When to prune unrestricted apple tree forms
November - march (dormant season
When to prune restricted forms
July/August
Pruning unrestricted established spur bearing apple tree
Fruit on 2 year old or more wood
Cut back seasons growth by one third to an outward facing bud
Prune laterals to 3-4 buds
Prune sub laterals to one bud
Any overcrowded spurs can be thinned to 3-4 buds
General rules for soft fruit
Sunny sheltered position Enriched soil before planting Keep ground weed free - benefit from mulching Watering essential General fertiliser in spring
Blackcurrants planting and pruning
Sunny awY from frost
Bare root so plant dormant season like to be planted a bit deeper
Little pruning in first 3 years
After that cut back stems that have fruited to a low bud and cut back one third of wood to base starting with oldest first.
Raspberries planting and pruning
Sheltered sunny (can tolerate shade)
Bare root so plant during dormant season Nov march
Dig trench build Post and wire system
Plant 40cm apart in rows 1.5m apart
Cut back canes
Summer fruiting
After fruiting cut out fruited canes to ground level.
Retain 5-8 of strongest stems and tie in at 10 cm intervals
Cut tops 15cm above wire or bend over in arch and tie back down.
Autumn fruiting cut back all canes to ground level in late winter
Mulch with manure
Strawberry planting and pruning
Plant July- Sep 50’cm apart rows 75cm apart
Pots can fruit first year runners take flowers off first year
Black polythene or miles good mulch and keeps clean
Crop in may very early if covered by cloche or poly tunnel
Remove runners
After fruiting cut back foliage to 10cm from crown and burned with any straw and debris then fertilise with high potash or Growmore.
