Cover crops in orchards
It takes an ecosystem to grow a tree. By Anna Mouton. We humans often describe a clean floor as one you can eat off. But a clean orchard floor starves soil organisms. Cover crops can boost diversity both above and…
Dry matter in apples
The preliminary results of a three-year Hortgro-funded project assessing the relationship of dry matter to other fruit characteristics. By Anna Mouton. Modern shoppers are spoilt for choice when it comes to fruit. Supermarket shelves are brimming with a rainbow offering…
Research rundown
A summary of Hortgro-funded apple-rootstock research projects. By Anna Mouton. Rootstock research at Hortgro Science includes evaluation trials and horticultural and disease-related projects. Rootstock evaluation The first Hortgro-funded trials of Geneva rootstocks, led by Carlo Costa of the ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij,…
Research rundown
A summary of Hortgro-funded research on water and irrigation. By Anna Mouton. Water scarcity was already a recognised risk in 1998 when Dr Theresa Volschenk and colleagues of what is now the ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij began investigating the Soil Water Balance…