A combination of fish oil and lime sulfur is the clear winner in more than 200 apple thinning trials conducted over the past eight seasons by the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission. But the search for new, effective thinning strategies continues. Tory Schmidt, horticultural associate with the commission, said that the goals of thinning are to: • Minimize your production costs, by reducing the need for hand thinning; • Optimize retention of large, high quality fruit; and • Promote consistent annual cropping by maintaining a proper balance of vegetative and reproductive growth, as indicated by adequate return bloom. Oil and […]