Fruit production under high tunnels tour

Eric Hanson<hansone@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Horticulture -

Can Midwest growers make money growing fruit under high tunnels? This will be the topic for a tour and discussion on July 5, 2016.

High tunnels are relatively low cost, greenhouse-like structures that have been shown to increase yields and quality of several fruit crops. Beginning in 2010, organic and conventional production of red raspberries, sweet cherries and blackberries have been studied under an acre of multiple bay high tunnels (Haygrove Tunnels LTD) at the East Lansing, Michigan, site. High tunnels offer a means of manipulating the environment around crop plants, resulting in many changes in plant growth and prevalence of insects and plant pathogens. Some changes are particularly beneficial in organic production systems. Some of the current research goals at the site are to: determine the benefits of tunnels for double cropping raspberries; assess the benefits of exclusion netting and harvest frequency for managing spotted wing Drosophila populations in raspberries; determine the impact of tunnels on pesticide efficacy; investigate using a rotating cross arm trellis system for consistent production of blackberries; and determine the best sweet cherry varieties and training systems for tunnel environments.

RaspberryPlease join us for a tour and discussion of organic and conventional fruit production under high tunnels at the 2016 High Tunnel Fruit Production Tour, Tuesday, July 5, from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Horticulture Teaching and Research Center, 3291 College Road, Holt, MI 48842. Rufus Isaacs and Heather Leach of MSU Entomology will discuss insect management approaches. Annemiek Schilder of MSU Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences will discuss disease challenges, and Eric Hanson, Greg Lang and Josh Moses of MSU Horticulture will review production systems and tunnel management. MSU organic agriculture outreach specialist Vicki Morrone will be on-hand to review general organic production topics.

The meeting is open to anyone; no pre-registration is required. For more information or questions, contact Eric Hanson at 517-353-0386 or hansone@msu.edu.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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