YAKIMA, WA - Winter and the end of the year are about transitions. Appreciate the old, but look to the new, and that is a message Domex Superfresh Growers® Dave Gleason, Chief Horticulturist, and Parker Sherrell, Pre-Production Manager, discuss in their latest orchard update.
“When I was young, trees were huge old dinosaurs,” explains Gleason, discussing the transition from old to new orchards. “They were ginormous trees that might have limbs a foot in diameter. It could take 10-15 years to grow the tree to fill the space.”
Growing treefruit is more expensive now, Superfresh said, and so it’s transitioning from “dinosaur trees” to new trellis systems that are both cost and time efficient, according to a press release. This transition started soon after harvest and will be a primary task through winter as the team prepares for spring planting.
In the video, Sherrell discusses the process of the new trellis system, including planting the poles before spring planting, reverse from what has been done in the past.
As for what the new system does, the Superfresh team will be able to install a rigid and more intricate trellis system that will support a bi-ax growing system where “two primary leaders come from one root.”
Designed to support eight trees in a 32-foot space, previously enough to host two of those large dinosaur trees, this new trellis system is just the latest as the team continues to update and innovate. Stay tuned for more as you continue to read AndNowUKnow.
