Maintaining a healthy orchard: Canker disease Management
Disease control is crucial for maintaining a healthy orchard, ensuring each tree thrives and ultimately yields more apples. Just like any living organism, apple trees can get sick too. Every winter and again in spring, our dedicated team works tirelessly to manage and eradicate canker disease.
European canker, caused by the fungus Neonectria ditissima, poses a significant threat to apple trees. This fungus enters the tree through wounds or fresh scar tissue, making it imperative to handle pruning and other tree care activities with utmost caution. We avoid pruning in the rain to prevent the spread of spores and ensure all our pruners disinfect their tools regularly.
Our approach involves a thorough crew walk-through to identify and eradicate new lesions. Pruning infected areas is a meticulous task, and all removed branches are promptly incinerated to prevent further spread. Field staff and pruners play a vital role in this process by marking infected areas with tape, making it easier for our eradication team to locate and treat them.
Here’s our team of tree doctors, taking their job seriously to keep our orchard healthy, one tree at a time. Healthy trees mean more apples, and we’re committed to ensuring our orchard thrives!
