Written by Lexie McDaniel, WSU Tree Fruit Horticulture Extension Educator
This field day will include rotating hands-on stations with topics covering apple sunburn physiology, orchard soil health, codling moth, leafhopper behavior, and apple post-harvest. Event is free, but please register here!
Station 1: The Kalcsits lab will demonstrate controlled sunburn experiments to better dial in thresholds for sunburn browning and necrosis in apples.
Station 2: The Torres lab will discuss WA 38 maturity facts, mitigating WA 38 greasiness, and WA 64 pre-and postharvest management strategies.
Station 3: Learn about our new long-term research and extension site for soil health. This year we will focus on our trial focused on alternative methods for mitigating replant disease. See a demonstration of brassica seedmeal and anaerobic soil disinfestation applications. Researchers will discuss the results of a recent 8-year trial and participants will observe the impacts of replant treatments on tree growth in a trial newly planted in 2025.
Station 4: Codling moth are known to be well controlled with drape nets, but growers have experienced ‘non-target’ effects on secondary pests, especially woolly apple aphid. This trial with the Beers Lab explores different approaches to mitigate the non-target effects without compromising control of codling moth.
Station 5: X-disease: The Northfield lab will discuss current research into how leafhopper feeding behavior and mating calls to better understand X-disease vector host plant use.
Contact
Lexie McDaniel
Tree Fruit Horticulture Extension Educator
Washington State University
Alexa.mcdaniel@wsu.edu
509-293-8813
