Learn how to eliminate disease-carrying mosquitoes from irrigated orchards; protect vineyards from pests; and explore why leaves turn red in the latest WSU Extension guides.
New trees have finally been planted at WSU’s new Horticulture Center, replacing the old Tukey Orchard, that will serve as a hands-on, outdoor classroom.
UFOs in Your Cherry Orchard Two-year-old trees in the WSU Roza Experimental Orchard near Prosser are the first step in transforming a 100-year-old production system for sweet cherries—and they have UFOs. No, the trees don’t harbor aliens, but they do grow unique branches. These “upright fruiting offshoots” form the core of a novel architecture ideally […]
Plant Communication Breakthrough Traditional thought holds that a disease-causing organism has to penetrate a plant to initiate resistance. Now, two Washington State University scientists have established that a barley plant recognizes an invader and begins to marshal its defenses within five minutes of an attack. The discovery, along with the scientists’ successful cloning of barley’s […]
Washington Apple, Pear Growers Approve $27 Million Special Project Assessment to Support WSU Research, Extension; Largest Gift in WSU History Apple and pear growers throughout the state have agreed to make a historic investment of $27 million over the next eight years to support tree fruit research and extension at Washington State University. It is […]
Saving Labor (and Lives) in the Orchard When I was younger, I used to enjoy picking a pint or two of huckleberries in the mountains in the summer. But even when you work hard, huckleberry picking doesn’t yield a lot of fruit per day. Picking raspberries goes faster because the fruit is larger and the […]
EVERETT, Wash. — Eastern Washington tree fruit has a worldwide reputation, but new innovations are making it easier and more productive to raise tree fruit on the state’s “wet side.” Washington State University Snohomish County Extension is presenting three workshops on west side tree fruit growth and care.