Monitoring is the first step in managing pests and preventing fruit damage. Here’s advice on how this should be done. For fruit farming to be successful, you need to know as soon as a pest appears in your orchards, so that something can be done before it is too late.…
Processing of olives isn’t for the faint-hearted. To make it in this market requires capital and expertise. Olives can’t be eaten straight from the tree. They need either to be processed to make table olives or the oil needs to be extracted from the fresh fruit. Most growers sell their…
What happens after the olive orchard has been planted? Irrigation is essential in modern olive orchards. The yield and fruit quality of table olives (for pickling) and oil olives are improved significantly by well-managed irrigation. But too much, or poorly scheduled, irrigation can lead to all sorts of problems, including…
Although the hardy, evergreen olive tree can survive for centuries with no attention, it will only produce economically viable crops if given the necessary care. Here’s some background and the basics. Table olives and olive oil are, like wine, associated with an element of mystique, yet the successful cultivation of…
The demand for apples remains high the world over. Here are some basic guidelines to produce this popular fruit. The main wild apple species, whose genetic composition contributes to modern apple cultivars, originated in Central Asia. Marco Polo’s journeys to the East and the establishment of the silk routes led…
Apricot trees grow well in temperate zones, but they thrive in areas with cold, dry winters and dry, hot summers. Low-lying areas and those prone to heavy frost should be avoided. Most cultivars are prone to fruit crack under high humidity conditions and heavy rainfall during flowering will promote blossom…
A plum fruit is a drupe, in other words, the fruit has a thin outer skin, a soft pulpy inside with a hard stony central part which encloses the seed. CHOOSING A CULTIVAR When deciding on a cultivar, pay attention to climatic variations throughout the year, susceptibility to diseases, the…
Fruit flies are among the most damaging pests to fruit. Using baits should be an integral part of managing them holistically. Fruit fly baits are often not used, or not used with sufficient attention or urgency. For this reason, the fruit industry has compiled baiting guidelines for farmers and contractors.…
Farmers often find that some of their fruit trees bear poor quality fruit, or do not produce any fruit at all. Instead of removing these trees, farmers should rather determine the reasons for the poor performance. There can be many reasons why fruit trees or vines are not producing optimally.…
Pears need cold winters and dry, hot summers. They flower before apples, and are susceptible to late frost. Nearly every cultivar needs a cross pollinator that flowers at the same time as the main scion cultivar to ensure fruit set and good production. Bees are the main pollinating agent and…
It usually takes more than 4 years before new fruit orchards yield commercially viable crops. Entering this sector should, therefore, be planned well. Here are some factors to consider. Fruit farming can be profitable and rewarding because fruit is essential to the human diet. But it is a highly competitive…
Question: I’m interested in producing cherries. Do you have any advice? Cherry production is a high-risk enterprise as it is a complex crop to grow and there is limited available expertise. There are two kinds of cherries; the sweet cherry and the sour, tart or pie cherry. Only sweet cherry…
There really cannot be that many people who don’t like watermelons. For sheer eating pleasure a cool, juicy slice of watermelon on a hot day is difficult to beat. Sweet and delicious, the fruit contains vitamins A, B6 and C and a significant measure of lycopene, a phytonutrient, good for…
Minimise sun damage and heat stress in your fruit by spraying your trees with a thin layer of kaolin clay. Few results are as credible as those from successful farm trials run by farmers themselves. In the case of Simon Baty from Matrozefontein in South Africa’s Sandveld region in the…
If a young vine is developed properly from the start, the way is automatically paved for an easier pruning season. The permanent cordon system and two-bud spur pruning system are used in about 95% of South African vineyards. An advantage of this system is that vintners can be sure of…
A wide variety of cultivars is available, but only a few are used to produce high-quality white or red wines. Climate and soil are largely responsible for determining whether grapes can be cultivated successfully in a certain region. The climatic conditions also determine the type of grapes that can be…
The quality of wine depends largely on vine management. Here are some tips for achieving optimal returns from new vineyards. Proper soil preparation is very important when establishing vineyards. Soil profile holes should be dug to determine the soil type and structure, to see whether any restrictive layers – such…
There are many factors to consider when selecting a rootstock for vine production. Danie van Schalkwyk has the following suggestions to aid your decision. SOIL Soil is the main factor that influences rootstock selection because the anatomical and physiological attributes of rootstocks differ in their adaptability to and utilisation of…
