There’s more to chemical thinning agents than just their value in adjusting crop load to grow bigger fruit. Thinners are becoming an important tool used to encourage return bloom on bearing trees, especially for growers in eastern United States, says Dr. Duane Greene, University of Massachusetts horticulturist. Greene, who has studied crop load and fruit set for years, was part of a special fruit thinning and return bloom symposium held during the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable, and Farm Market Expo in Grand Rapids, Michigan. During the one-day seminar, he shared apple-thinning strategies and ways to enhance return bloom under eastern […]