Mechanical thinning works

The mechanical string thinner knocked off 15 percent or more dormant buds in this Santina block. Right: The Darwin string thinner. Soft fruit growers in the United States are catching on to what seems to have been a well-kept secret in Germany. With three years of data by U.S. researchers showing that German-made mechanical string thinners increase fruit size while dramatically reducing labor costs, interest is growing in the orchard implements now sold in North America. Pennsylvania State University initiated the research project that has been looking at ways to reduce thinning costs in peaches, but university collaboration spread like […]