Latest news with #Honeycrisp
Washington Post
25-02-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Move over, croutons. Add parmesan crisps to this wintry salad instead.
There's a viral post circulating on social media in which a woman declares that, by the ago of 30, people should have a favorite apple. I have a few, two of which are Honeycrisp and Braeburn. (Also, consider this the start of my petition to rename Red Delicious, because delicious they are not.) I believe you should have a favorite orange, too.
Chicago Tribune
16-02-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Disease resistance matters most in apple trees
If you're considering adding an apple tree to your home landscape this spring, it's important to choose an appropriate variety. 'The particular variety you plant will affect how many apples you harvest, how much work you have to do, and how many pesticides you will need to use for years to come,' said Sharon Yiesla, plant knowledge specialist in the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. Apples are susceptible to several serious diseases, including apple scab, cedar-apple rust, fire blight and powdery mildew. These diseases can disfigure the leaves and the fruit, reduce the yield, and weaken or kill the tree over time. The best way to combat them is to choose an apple variety that has been bred to resist them. The apple varieties whose flavors are familiar from the supermarket, such as Granny Smith, Fuji or Honeycrisp, are sprayed regularly with fungicides and other chemicals in commercial orchards. Those varieties are widely sold for planting because their names and flavors are so well known. But for a home gardener, the wiser course is to seek out more disease-resistant varieties. 'You may have to order them as bare-root plants from catalogs or mail-order nurseries, or ask your garden center to order them for you,' Yiesla said. 'The effort you make now will likely save you far more trouble down the road, when you don't have to spray the tree with fungicides every week.' For example, the Liberty variety has red skin, white flesh and a sweet-tart taste, and it resists apple scab, cedar-apple rust, fire blight and powdery mildew. Among other disease-resistant varieties are Enterprise, Freedom, MacFree and Williams Pride. 'When you search websites for apple varieties, make a point of checking a variety's resistance to each specific disease,' she said. 'Some varieties are listed as resistant to some diseases but not to others.' Of course, just because a plant is resistant to a disease does not mean it is immune. In a plant description, words related to diseases have precise meanings. The word 'immune' means that a plant is not subject to attack by a particular disease or pest. There are no degrees of immunity; a plant is either immune or it isn't. No apple variety is immune to disease. The word 'resistant' means a plant is generally able to limit the damage from a particular pest or pathogen. The plant may be affected by a disease, but it will likely show less damage than a susceptible variety will. Even if an apple variety has been bred for increased resistance, that resistance will vary with conditions. In a wet year, a disease-resistant apple tree may still show the symptoms of apple scab and powdery mildew, fungal diseases that are encouraged by high humidity and wet leaves. Apart from choosing a disease-resistant variety, the only way to reduce the damage from fungal infections is to spray the entire tree with an approved fungicide at regular intervals, beginning in early spring before the buds open. Learn more about apple diseases and their management at 'Investing the time and effort to track down disease-resistant apples or other fruit trees will pay off in the long run,' Yiesla said. 'It will make your home orchard more of a joy and less of a burden.'
Voice of America
10-02-2025
- Science
- Voice of America
Protecting Apple Trees from Climate Change
Researchers in the U.S. state of Michigan are looking for ways to help apple trees survive bad weather. To do this, one researcher plans to use a late bloomer. The late blooming tree is a native Michigan apple tree known by the scientific name Malus coronaria. To fight freezing temperatures, the tree blooms two or three weeks later than trees that produce cultivated varieties of apples like Honeycrisp or Red Delicious. 'That doesn't sound like a lot, but almost always that's enough for the flowers to escape the killing spring frost,' said Steve van Nocker. He is a professor and plant geneticist at Michigan State University. Van Nocker wants to identify the genes responsible for the Malus coronaria's delayed blooms. Then he will use those genes to develop more frost-resistant apple varieties. Van Nocker's project is one of many ways researchers and growers are trying to make apples more resilient. They say this is important because of climate change. Other researchers are making similar efforts. Jared Buono is the director of Cornell University's Hudson Valley Research Laboratory in New York state. Buono's lab is adding solar panels to its experimental orchard. He said growers are experimenting with solar panels in Europe and South Korea. The panels protect fruit from hail and sun damage but also let in light and heat when necessary. University of Maryland researchers recently announced the development of a more heat-tolerant apple variety. At Penn State University in Pennsylvania, a team built an unmanned vehicle that uses propane fuel to warm trees up as it moves around an orchard. Buono said these efforts can ease the effects of bad weather. On May 18, 2023, frost damaged trees across New York state and cut apple production by 20 percent. A recent Washington State University study examined weather in apple growing areas from 1979 to 2022. It said the top apple producing states of Washington, Michigan and New York reported fewer cold days and more warm fall nights than they used to. Washington state also has reported more extreme heat. The study said warming temperatures could cause trees to come out of dormancy too early and increase the risk of sunburn. This hurts the quality of apples. Malus coronaria is also called sweet crabapple. It was once so common in Michigan that its blossoms were named the state flower in 1897. But, van Nocker said it appears to be disappearing. The trees that remain often produce little new growth or fruit. Van Nocker and graduate student Lily Christian recently took cuttings from some trees. They will test them to make sure they are fully Malus coronaria and not a hybrid variety. Then, the cuttings will be grafted onto apple rootstock. They hope to get healthy trees using this method. Their goal is to identify the genes that cause late blooming and create a variety of apple that can be sold in markets. Van Nocker is also sending seeds to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If the tree continues to disappear, he hopes to save its genes this way. Making a later-blooming commercial apple could take more than 10 years. If a Malus coronaria is crossbred with a commercial apple tree to make a new hybrid, it would take four or five years for that tree to start producing apples. Crossbreeding would continue until researchers developed an apple with the desired qualities of both varieties. But van Nocker said it is important to try. 'With climate change, it's quite possible that apples won't be able to be produced in Michigan in the future,' he said. 'That's why cultivar improvement, especially in terms of frost resistance, is so important.' I'm Anna Matteo. Dee-Ann Durbin reported this story for the Associated Press from Washington. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. ___________________________________ Words in This Story bloomer –n. a plant that produces flowers at a certain time of year cultivated variety –n. a kind of plant that has been specifically developed for use in agriculture or in people's gardens frost –n. a layer of ice that can develop on plants when temperatures fall below freezing which damages fruit resilient –adj. able to withstand shocks or bad treatment and return to normal orchard –n. an area or farm where fruit trees are grown solar panel –n. a device that turns sunlight into direct electrical current tolerant –adj. able to withstand difficult or bad conditions dormancy –n. a state, during winter or dry conditions, when a plant does not grow but saves its energy for the growing season hybrid –n. a variety of plant that comes from the combination of genetic material from two or more plants graft –v. to take a cutting from one plant and attach it to another so that it grows, flowers and produces fruit rootstock –n. (horticulture) living roots that are combined with the branches of other, similar plants which will grow together with the qualities of both plants crossbreed –v. to use one of several methods to combine the genetic qualities to make an improved plant commercial -adj. designed mainly for profit
