Blog2024-11-22T23:02:10+00:00

Electrostatic Liquid Pollen Application Grew to 2/3 of Volume in 2024

The way Washington fruit growers apply supplemental pollen to cherries, apples, and pears is changing fast. Eight years ago in 2016, Zirkle Fruit made the first commercial application with our liquid Precision Pollen system on cherries. It used electrostatic sprayers it had purchased for blueberries. Few fruit growers in Washington had spray equipment for liquid pollen at the time. Just eight years later in 2024, ⅔ of the pollen we sold was Precision Pollen for electrostatic spray application. The ongoing transformation has taken a lot of hard work and investment from partners and customers. It’s happening faster than we [...]

Growers Race Time and Temperatures to Pollinate these Cherry Varieties

It’s one of the most common challenges we hear about each spring: “I’ve got a block of ___________ (Early Robin, Skyler Rae, Orondo Ruby, Tieton, Regina, Benton – fill in the blank) cherries that I can’t get to set consistently.” Planted for quality characteristics and harvest timing, these varieties can command high prices. But poor production has driven many orchardists to frustration, chainsaws, and grafters. Researchers studying the problem and growers who continue to nurture these blocks to profitability acknowledge it’s a battle. “The limiting factor (in these varieties) is the short lifespan of the ovule,” said Dr. Matt [...]

Firman Pollen 2024 Bestsellers List

Every year, the mix of pollen Firman sells to growers is a little bit different. New varieties which benefit from supplemental pollen applications emerge; weather impacts growing regions differently; the market changes; or technology advances make using pollen easier, more attractive and more effective. So, which crops and varieties saw the most pollen applied in 2024? We thought that might be interesting for you to know as you consider bloom-season practices and management decisions that drive fruit-set in future years. Cherry pollen is our biggest seller Growers have found a wide variety of applications for cherry pollen, and it’s grown [...]

Pollination Shows up in Fruit Shape, Size at Harvest

Markets continue to raise the bar on requirements for fruit quality. Without question pollination plays a significant role in fruit quality in apples and pears. Understanding the process is key to making decisions about pollinizers and supplemental pollen to help maximize the quality in each orchard.Good Pollination = Good Fruit All five stigmas pollinated Large, well shaped fruit with all 9-10 seeds developed Not all stigmas pollinated Smaller, misshapen fruit with less than 9 seeds Flower Anatomy and Fruit Development [...]

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