Stone fruit growers and researchers are experimenting with a variety of chemical thinning and mechanical practices that could reduce the cost of hand thinning, a cost second only to harvest costs, which range from $500 to $1,500 per acre, depending on variety. For the past 60 years, researchers have—with limited success—tried to find products that would reduce or eliminate the need for hand thinning. There has been little success with mechanical thinners. With chemical thinners, the general consensus, is that while some thinners do a good job in knocking off about half the blossoms on trees, the thinners don’t always […]