Apple Open Tatura

• those who want to plant a new Open Tatura orchard with apple trees
• those who must manage such an orchard
• nurserymen who grow apple trees
• anyone concerned with the establishment, management and performance of an Open Tatura apple orchard.

This manual emphasises how to:

• Achieve a full and efficient tree canopy at an early tree age
• Sustain optimum fruit production over the projected life of the orchard
• Produce fruit of high quality and good size.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, we have used many drawings and
pictures to illustrate the important points on how to manage apple trees on Open Tatura.

• 168 pages of info, photos and illustrations
• File download: 10 Mb
• Updated and expanded: July 2020

• Producing apples in the 21st century
  • tree density, arrangement and size
  • tree support structures
  • avoid ladders
• Why Open Tatura?
  • V-shaped canopies
  • labour friendly
• Do it right, from the start
  • success is determined in year one!
  • consider growth habits
• What is Apple Replant Disease (ARD) NEW
  • Overcoming ARD
•  Pruning
  • reasons, timing
  • pruning cuts: •Heading cut  •Thinning cut  •Delay heading cut  •Bench cut    •Clean cut   •December cut   •Ring cut
• Scion rooting of apple trees
• After planting
• When buds start to move in spring
• Nursery trees
• When you can not plant feathered trees
• Open Tatura
  • orchard specifications: planting distance
  • methods of training: single leader
  • trellis & anchor specifications
• Rootstock choice
• Pollination and fruit set
• Bees, their behaviour and pollination
• Polliniser varieties
• Prepare the soil before planting
  • pH
  • Apple Replant Disease
• Soil organic matter
  • what is it, where does it come from
  • amount in the soil
  • nutrients, soil stability
• Soil testing
  • don't rely only on soil tests
  • leaf and sap analysis
• Spreading shoots or branches of young trees
  • crotch angles, what is a good angle
  • apical dominance
  • bending and arching
  • when to spread
• Tree management:
  • First year
  • after planting
  • spring time
  • Second year
  • fill allotted space
  • Third year
  • add fruiting wood

• The branchless multi-leader concept
• Renewal pruning
  • 10 Pruning rules
• Root pruning
  • best time to prune roots
  • potential problems
• Crown Gall 
  • facts
  • control
• What are burr knots
• Turn blind wood into productive wood
  • heading cuts
  • double delay-heading
• Benchmarks for marketable yield
• What causes biennial bearing?
• Tree nutrition
• A guide to replace the nutient losses from harvested fruit
• Nitrogen for apples
• Make good use of nitrogen fertiliser NEW
• Avoid acidifying you soil NEW
• How do apples turn red or pink?
• Why do apples sunburn?
  • what you can do to control sunburn
• Does overhead cooling avoid sunburn
  • some problems
  • better solutions
• Hail net
  • Net—positives and negatives
  • Bee activity
  • Type of net, structure, shape
  • Net colour
• Calcium
  • in the soil
  • in the tree
  • in the fruit
  • what to do to ensure adequate amounts reach the fruit
• What is water core?
• What happens to trees after harvest
• Winter chill for breaking dormancy
  • chilling requirement
• Avoiding frost damage in spring
  • two types of frost
  • effects of fog, clouds and wind
  • monitor frost before is does damage
• Avoid skin russet
  • guidelines
• Water and stress
• Keep Phytophthora out of your orchard
• When are apples ready to harvest?
  • Nine maturity tests