Summer Tour: Videos 8-9 released on Thursday, Aug 13th
Video 8: Exploring an organic perspective
Swing back to the Port Williams area with your guide Michelle Cortens, Tree Fruit Specialist with Perennia. Awaiting us there is Josh Oulton of TapRoot Farms with an organic management system. He shares his wisdom on starting an organic orchard block and maintaining it with the most effective pest control methods. He discusses apple varieties and the challenges in our climate and the market. Josh offers recommendations to anyone considering organic production.
Video 9: Leaf rolling and leaf curling - catching the culprits
Finally, ending off where we started, we're back at the Kentville Research and Development Centre. Your guide Michelle Cortens, Tree Fruit Specialist with Perennia again brings you to see Dr. Suzanne Blatt, AAFC Entomologist. She shares research progress on those pesky insects that roll and curl leaves – namely leafrollers and apple leaf curling midge. She walks over to the growth chamber where leafroller adults are fluttering and larvae are wiggling as she explains the idea of using volatiles for mass trapping. Next she shows us a trap being swarmed by apple leaf curling midge that she is monitoring to generate a degree day model. The pest is an issue in some orchards, and we unfurl a leaf to find the larvae.
