Josh MasseyBAE/SOIL 4213

April 20, 2009

Establishing an OrchardSite selectionVariety selectionWater sources – dryland vs. irrigatedEquipment selectionUse of pesticides

and fertilizers

Site SelectionKnow soil type

Prefer well drained, sandy loam to sandy clay loam soils

Landscape positionUpland vs. valley

issues with water movement and drainage, issues with air movement

Variety SelectionMost fruit trees consist of a rootstock and

scion, so two varieties to consider with every tree

In OK, need a cold hardy rootstock in order to produce quality vegetative growth to support fruiting growth

Rootstock in pecans – Colby, Giles, PeruqueRootstock in peaches – Halford

Variety SelectionScion selection

In pecans, native or improved varieties Native – not especially reliable to sizing, not uniform Improved – developed varieties, uniform sizing and

kernel filling, have differing resistances to pecan scab, temperatures, taste differences

In peaches, variety selection depends on: timing of ripening, freestone vs.

clingstone, temperature and disease resistance

Water ManagementIrrigation can be timed with tensiometers or

electrical conductivity (EC) sensorsIrrigation is usually drip tubing with in-line

emitters and can be above or underground

Herbicide ManagementTiming of sprays is important

Maximizes effectIn orchards -- in strips or around individual

treesStrips – fast and easyAround trees – slower, good for

minimizing erosion depending on site location

Take special care around young trees, may need to use a shielded boom or grow tubes on trees

Typical Peach Orchard

Insect and Disease ManagementAgain, timing is important

Need to use integrated pest management techniques

Properly identify pest and know life cycleLots of models and decision support on

Agweather portion of Mesonet sitewww.agweather.mesonet.org

Insect and Disease ManagementHow much damage can be done before

reaching an economic threshold?Many high value crops depend on the

consumer purchasing them.Appearance, taste, and size of fruit all

contribute to fruit qualityMany sprays are conducted by calendar in

order to keep suppression pressure on disease and pests

Insects and Disease

EquipmentProper calibration and timing of application

are key to effective spraysKeep equipment clean and maintained

Sensing technologyBasic

Tissue samplesTensiometers and watermarksScoutingMore AdvancedSensors for pecan weevil damageSensor-actuated spray systems Aerial sensing of ET

AcknowledgementsStover, E., J. Salvatore, and F. Wirth. 2003. Pesticide Spray

Reduction from Using a Sensor-actuated Spray System in Indian River Grapefruit. HortTechnology 13: 178-181.

Clarke, T.R. 1997. An Empirical Approach for Detecting Crop Water Stress Using Multispectral Airborne Sensors. HortTechnology 7: 9-16.

Nunez-Elisea, R., B. Schaffer, M. Zekri, S.K. O’Hair, and J.H. Crane. 2000. Monitoring Soil Water Content in Tropical Fruit Orchards in Southern Florida with Multi-sensor Capacitance Probes and Tensiometers. HortScience 35: 487.

OSU Extension Factsheets. Available at http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/HomePage.

Questions?