How to think about cross-pollination when planning orchards. By Anna Mouton. Effective cross-pollination is crucial for maximising productivity of self-incompatible deciduous-fruit orchards over their lifetime. This article shares insights on cross-pollinator selection and management from horticultural adviser and plant breeder…
The details matter for optimising yields and quality in pome and stone fruit. By Anna Mouton. Pollination is essential for fruit set in most pome and stone fruit. The transfer of pollen to the stigma is the first step toward…
Cross-pollination by honeybees is a prerequisite for setting many pome- and stone-fruit cultivars. How can growers take control of this process? By Anna Mouton. There’s no recipe for perfect pollination — growers need to fine-tune their practices according to the…
How plum and pome-fruit growers can optimise pollinator performance in netted orchards. By Anna Mouton. “The pollination of plums is super-important,” says stone-fruit grower and technical adviser Petru du Plessis. “If you have correct pollination in September, you can look…
Attention to light management sustains high yields and pack-outs in a 27-year-old Packham’s Triumph orchard. By Anna Mouton. The trees produced 120 tonnes per hectare in 2022 with an average fruit size of 73 millimetres and Class 1 pack-outs of…
Christo Strydom of specialist pear-packhouse Wolfpack and Buchuland production manager Henk Rossouw discuss two top-performing pear orchards. By Anna Mouton. Buchuland lies just outside Ceres in the Warm Bokkeveld — an area that Strydom describes as Forelle heaven. Their best…
Expert advice on getting the best out of your Japanese plums. By Anna Mouton. The past season was remarkable for the disastrous set in certain Japanese plum cultivars in some areas, most notably the Breede River Valley and Klein Karoo.…
The reasons behind the poor Japanese plum harvest. By Anna Mouton. Add the Japanese plum harvest to the list of disappointments for this year. At least fifteen percent fewer cartons were exported than anticipated given the potential production. Several factors…
What does it take to get from blossom to bin? By Anna Mouton. Technical input by Prof. Karen Theron, Chair in Applied Preharvest Deciduous Fruit Research at Stellenbosch University. Fruit set is that hopeful moment when the base of a…