KIWIFRUIT ORCHARD TECH TIP

This Trevelyan’s Kiwifruit Tech Tip focuses on: 21/11/2017

Alerting growers to errors/omissions in both the Conventional and Organic Orchard Guidelines send out on 30th October.

• Conventional Orchard Guideline.
  • Spray Oil @ 20 litres/ha does not state a water rate. The recommendation is to apply 20 litres of Spray Oil in 2000 litres water/ha giving a 1% oil solution. Product rate is 1 litre/100 litres of water.
  • Actigard@200g/100 litres should read as ……… 200g/ha (i.e. 20g/100 litres using 1000 litres water/ha.
• Organic Orchard Guideline
  • Spray Oil @ 20 litres/ha does not state a water rate. The recommendation is to apply 20 litres of Spray Oil in 2000 litres water/ha giving a 1% oil solution. Product rate is 1 litre/100 litres of water.

We are getting stickers printed to replace the misleading sections and these will be distributed as soon as possible. Please accept our apologies for these errors and any inconvenience this may cause.

This Trevelyan’s Kiwifruit Orchard Tech Tip focuses on: 4/11/2017

Some key orchard activities to undertake during November:

• PSA
  • For Hayward an application of copper and Actigard immediately pre-flowering will assist with Psa protection during flowering.
  • For organic growers, copper and oil (pre-flowering) and Bt and oil (post-flowering) can give good control of scale and Psa based on some recent research. However, the data that supports this is limited and growers are encouraged to be cautious and implement this on a trial basis only.
  • Maintain orchard hygiene
    • sterilise tools between vines
    • be proactive in removing infected material
• Hayward Pollination
  • It is important that every flower is well pollinated to maximise the number of Class 1 fruit.
  • Good quality hives and high levels of bee activity are essential if you are relying on bees for pollination. Put out water fro the bees and have your hives audited (with permission from your beekeeper) as soon after arrival as possible. If they are substandard, promptly arrange replacements or additions.
• Gold 3 Canopy management
  • Once bees are out the first round of male pruning can be done. The goal is to retain and develop spur growth in all varieties.
  • Now is the time to develop a low vigour canopy that will require a minimum of work over the summer.
  • Be cautious about ripping as we want to maximise early canopy but it is good practice to tip squeeze any non-terminated fruiting canes that are not needed for replacement.
• Crop protection
  • Growers are encouraged to avoid fungicides over flowering and to consider tank mixes carefully.
  • Sclerotinia (damage occurs shortly after fruit set)
    • Apply Luna Privilege one week before flowering
    • Flint can be applied at 20-30 bloom
  • Leafroller
    • Hayward growers can apply Prodigy one week before flowering
    • Proclaim can be applied at fruit set and again 21 days later
  • Scale control
    • Hayward growers can apply Movento up until close to flowering.
    • A number of growers combine Prodigy and Movento 7-10 days out from flowering
  • Once bees are out it is a good time to think about:
  • Leafroller
    • Gold3 growers can apply Proclaim at fruit set and again 21 days later depending on monitoring results. Growers may need to modify spraying practice given bees may still be present. We suggest delaying application until male vines are at petal fall and/or bees are not visiting and/or male vines are pruned. However, we cannot delay too long as leafroller feeding on fruitlets will commence. Growers could spray late afternoon when there is no bee activity.
  • Sooty Mould
    • Monitor orchard boundary areas for passionvine hopper nymphs if they have previously been a problem.
    • Remove and destroy host plants.

This week the Kiwifruit Orchard Tech Tip focuses on: 2/10/2017

Spray timings

Flowering, especially for Gold3, is fast approaching. Coupled with the continuous wet weather (forecast to continue until Christmas), different chemical with-holding periods and different chemical cut off times; managing spray application is becoming a challenging proposition.

Gold3

Bird damage

• • Mesurol is allowed during the spring of 2017 under a strict Justified Approval (JA) with requirements to provide sufficient reason for use and a maximum of one spray is permissible. Mesurol does require the management of sward to mitigate the impact on bees. Always read labels carefully and adhere to any legal requirements such as:
    • eliminating flowers in the sward prior to application.
    • and not applying when shelterbelt is in flower.
    • do not apply directly to the shelterbelt.
    • damage to Gold3 flower buds and soft early growth on grafts can occur very quickly and be severe in localized areas in the orchard. The damage is usually confined to early spring when alternative food sources for birds is in short supply.
• PSA
  • Kasumin can only be applied up to three weeks before flowering whether male or female flowers.
    • Do not apply more than one bactericide application per year.
    • Use Air Inclusion (AI) nozzles plus a drift reducing adjuvant to minimize drift.
    • Additional application may be permitted under Justified Approval (JA) only.
  • Actigard can only be applied up to the end of the pre-flowering period
    • Can be applied as a foliar spray only.
    • A maximum of 4 applications can be made in any one season (harvest to harvest) regardless of vine producing status.
    • Must not be applied as a foliar spray within producing blocks after the start of female flowering through to harvest.
  • Cooper Kocide Opti can be applied up to the flowering period
    • A 7-day PHI applies
• Scale
  • Movento can be applied up to the pre-flowering period.
    • Movento rate listed is at 2000L water/ha – adjust product rate if using lower water rates.
    • Manufacturer recommends a minimum rate of 960ml/ha.
    • Best Practise: 1 spray of Movento close to flowering.
    • An earlier second spray is also allowed where scale was a problem last year.
  • Oil may be used as an adjuvant or on its own
    • A 14-day PHI applies.

Hayward

• PSA
  • Kasumin can only be applied up to three weeks before flowering whether male or female flowers.
    • Do not apply more than one bactericide application per year.
    • Use Air Inclusion (AI) nozzles plus a drift reducing adjuvant to minimize drift.
    • Additional application may be permitted under Justified Approval (JA) only.
  • Actigard can only be applied up to the end of the pre-flowering period
    • Can be applied as a foliar spray only.
    • A maximum of 4 applications can be made in any one season (harvest to harvest) regardless of vine producing status.
    • Must not be applied as a foliar spray within producing blocks after the start of female flowering through to harvest.
  • Cooper Kocide Opti can be applied up to the flowering period
    • A 7-day PHI applies
• Scale
  • Movento can be applied up to the pre-flowering period.
    • Movento rate listed is at 2000L water/ha – adjust product rate if using lower water rates.
    • Manufacturer recommends a minimum rate of 960ml/ha.
    • Best Practise: 1 spray of Movento close to flowering.
    • An earlier second spray is also allowed where scale was a problem last year.
  • Oil may be used as an adjuvant or on its own.
    • A 14-day PHI applies
• Leafroller
  • Prodigy can only be applied up to the pre-flowering period.
    • One spray for leafroller control may be applied in the 3 weeks before flowering, preferably within 2 weeks.
    • It counts as 1 of the 3 leafroller sprays allowed in total before monitoring.
• Sclerotinia
  • Luna Privilege can only be applied up to the pre-flowering period.
    • Apply within 7 days of flowering – as close to the start of flowering as possible (cannot be used past bud phase).
    • In total 2 Sclerotinia sprays allowed per season but a JA is required for the second spray.

Be aware of the risks of complex tank mixtures and best practice would be to avoid multiple products in a single tank mix.

If you have any questions or require additional information please contact your grower representative, Phil Allison or Jonathan Cutting.

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