A German mechanical blossom thinner has potential to reduce hand thinning in tree fruit orchards, but it also can spread fireblight from infected blocks to clean ones, says a Pennsylvania State University horticulturist. For the last two years, Penn State researchers have tested two thinning machines in peach, nectarine, and apple orchards to evaluate their usefulness in eliminating the need for hand thinning of blossoms or green fruit. Results from trials involving the Darwin thinning machine, designed by a German grower to thin organic apples, and a drum shaker machine designed by U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists, have been promising, […]