Good sanitation at both the orchard and the packing house is key to minimizing fruit rots, Dr. Robert Spotts emphasized during Washington State University’s Apple Quality meeting in August. “To get zero decay, you have to get down to zero spores,” he said. Decay begins in the orchard, so spore reduction needs to begin with orchard sanitation. Fruit that fall to the ground are food for fungi, and fungal spores on the bottom of the bins get into the packing house, where they can be washed into the drencher or flumes. That initial source of spores magnifies from then on, […]