Crop
Apple
Disease notes, insect problems, pruning guidance, fruit quality issues, and seasonal tools for apple trees.
Articles
- Apple Scab A common apple leaf and fruit disease that shows up as olive-green to brown spots, especially in wet spring weather.
- Fire Blight A bacterial disease that causes wilted, blackened shoot tips and can spread quickly during warm, wet bloom.
- How to Take Useful Problem Photos A short guide to photographing fruit tree problems so you — or someone helping you — can see the full picture.
Tools
All tools →- How Much Spray Mix Do I Need? Estimate total carrier volume for an orchard block from tree, row, and spray-volume inputs.
- Spray & Fertilizer Rate Converter Convert product rates, units, treated acreage, and tank quantities.
- Planting Acreage Calculator Convert planting width and length in feet into square feet and acres.
- Trees per Acre — Row × Tree Spacing Calculate trees per acre from between-row and in-row spacing.
- Acres per Hour — Width × Speed For field operations where working width and travel speed determine capacity.
- Orchard Field Capacity & Drive Time Calculator Estimate orchard and vineyard operating time from row spacing, row length, travel speed, and headland turn time.
- Freeze Risk by Crop Stage Compare observed or forecast temperatures with crop-stage critical temperature references.
- Degree-Day Accumulation Calculate accumulated degree-days from daily minimum and maximum temperatures.
- Apple Target Crop Load Estimate target fruit number per tree from desired yield and average fruit weight.
- How Long Should I Irrigate? Estimate irrigation runtime from system flow, area, and target water depth.
- Nutrient Delivery Calculator Calculate fertilizer product required to deliver a target nutrient rate per acre.
- Fruit Growth Projection Project harvest size from repeated fruit measurements, current growth rate, target size, and expected harvest date.
- Airblast Sprayer Calibration Use canopy dimensions, row spacing, travel speed, and sprayer output to evaluate tree-row volume and airblast calibration.
- Fruit Tree Problem Finder Work from crop, affected plant part, symptom pattern, timing, and distribution toward likely causes and confirmatory signs.
Bill Shane Historical Collection
All apple archive PDFs →Archival PDFs and files by Bill Shane or colleagues — not Orchard Lab publications.
- 2022 Honeycrisp Recommendations PDF with grower recommendations specific to the Honeycrisp apple variety. (22 kb)
- Apple Cost of Production 2008 Excel spreadsheet (.xls) modeling apple cost of production, 2008. (1664 kb)
- Apple Rootstock Options PDF overview of apple rootstock options. (10 kb)
- Apple Rootstock Options on Sandy Sites PDF discussing apple rootstock choices for sandy soil sites. (78 kb)
- Apple Spray for Backyard Gardeners PDF spray program guide targeted at backyard/home apple growers. (441 kb)
- Apple Spray for Non-Commercial Growers PDF spray program guide for non-commercial (hobbyist) apple growers. (316 kb)
- Apple Spray List (version 5) PDF spray list/schedule for apples, version 5. (64 kb)
- Apple Varieties for Midwest Backyard Gardeners PDF overview of apple varieties suited to Midwest backyard growing conditions. (107 kb)
- Apple Varieties with Significant Scab Resistance (Mar 28, 2016) PDF list of apple varieties bred/selected for scab resistance. (18 kb)
- Hoying - Trellis Systems 2014 (Michigan) PDF presentation on apple trellis systems in Michigan, by Hoying, 2014 (compatibility mode export). (2894 kb)
- Mature Tree Fruit (Shane revision) PDF covering management of mature tree fruit orchards, revised by Shane. (3850 kb)
- Notes for Small-Scale Apple Growers (Jim Isleib, Mar 6 2013) PDF notes for small-scale/home apple growers, by Jim Isleib, 2013. (2570 kb)
- Organic Apple Spray Program PDF outlining an organic spray program for apples. (148 kb)
- Predicting Fruit Set 2015 Excel macro-enabled spreadsheet (.xlsm) for predicting fruit set, 2015. (354 kb)
- Preharvest Apple Tips PDF guide covering preharvest management tips for apples. (89 kb)
- Pruning Old Apple Trees PDF guide to pruning older/neglected apple trees. (484 kb)
- Robinson - Orchards of the Future (SW Meeting 2019) PDF presentation on future apple orchard systems, by Robinson, SW Michigan meeting 2019. (4047 kb)
- Schwallier - Stop Drop 2015 PDF presentation/handout on preharvest drop control ('stop drop') products, by Schwallier, 2015. (1464 kb)
- Schwallier - Thinning Expo 2013 PDF presentation on apple fruit thinning, by Schwallier, from Thinning Expo 2013. (3810 kb)
- Thinning Strategies 2018 PDF presentation on apple thinning strategies, 2018 (filename has 'stratiges' typo in original). (3821 kb)