[Josh Willis]

For those who have not tried NEWA’s carbohydrate thinning model for a test drive, it is VERY COOL. It’s much the same message Michael and others have written about so far as tracking the fruit tree’s growth cycles throughout the year. But seeing it play out during a year’s projected data (I went back a year, and then played the data forward), and then seeing carbohydrate levels going up and down really connected the dots for me. i.e., you could see what I am guessing were dips and boosts in energy levels at bloom development, fruit set, 1st leaf cover, root feeder flush, etc. It is another way of envisioning the energy cycle of a fruit tree during the year.

Oh, and I guess you could use it to try and thin your orchard, too, since that is the model’s purpose. 😉

fwiw, I found a resource from Cornell, “Apple Fruit Growth”, from 2013 that has some great graphs about these growth cycles, too, if it is helpful for anyone. Again, nothing new per se, just a different way of emphasizing the moments that fruit trees might like a bit of a nutritional nudge.

http://www.hort.cornell.edu/expo/proceedings/2014/Tree%20Fruit/Apple%20Fruit%20Growth%20Lakso.pdf