Variety Thinning Recommendations for mature trees - 8 to 12mm fruit size
Variety Thinning Recommendations for mature trees - 8 to 12mm fruit size
Varieties where I like Maxcel+Sevin
• Gala - 64 oz Macxel /100 gallons TRV dilute = 128oz Maxcel per acre for a fully grown tree + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute = 2pt Sevin per acre for a fully grown tree
• Empire - 48 oz Maxcel /100 gallons TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Jonamac - 48 oz Maxcel /100 gallons TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Macoun - 48 oz Maxcel /100 gallons TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Fuji - 48 oz Maxcel /100 gallons TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Red Delicious - 36 oz Maxcel /100 gallons TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Bartlett Pears- 96 oz Maxcel /100 gallons TRV dilute
• Bosc Pears- 48 oz Maxcel /100 gallons TRV dilute
Varieties where NAA works well
• McIntosh - 2oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Honeycrisp - 3oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Cortland - 2oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute
• Golden Delicious - 4oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Rome - 2oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Jonagold - 3oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Gingergold - 1oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Idared - 2.5oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Pink Lady - 1 or 2 oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
• Northen Spy: 2oz Fruitone L/100 gal TRV dilute + 1pt Sevin/100 gal TRV dilute
Chemical thinning program for Young Trees:
• For newly planted trees where you desire to totally eliminate the crop try a heavy rate of Maxcel (64 ounces) + Sevin (2pts) + Oil (1pt) /100 gallon TRV dilute when fruit size is 8-10mm.
• For 2nd year trees where we want a small crop use only hand thinning and the Cornell young tree thinning guide to adjust crop load.
• For 3rd year trees use Sevin alone + follow-up hand-thinning.
• For 4th year trees use 1/2 of our suggested full rate of NAA + Sevin or Maxcel+Sevin.
• For 5th year trees use 75% of a full rate of NAA + Sevin or Maxcel+Sevin.
• For 6th year trees use a full rate of NAA+Sevin or Maxcel+Sevin.
Variety Thinning Recommendations for mature trees – 8 to 12mm fruit size (pdf; 342KB)


Upcoming Events
Blueberry Pruning Workshop

March 26, 2025
Altona, NY
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
10 am - noon
Irona Berry Haven
1897 Alder Bend Rd, Altona, NY 12910
$10 per farm
1 DEC credit requested in categories 1A, 10, and 22
Join us at Jeffrey Guerin's berry farm for a morning of pruning demonstrations, pest and disease identification, and more. Bring your own pruners so that you can learn by doing! Dress warmly for our workshop, which will be held outdoors. In the case of severe weather on the 26th, the workshop will be held at the same time on the 27th. Light refreshments will be provided.
Champlain Valley Apple Pest Management Refresher

March 27, 2025
Chazy, NY
Join us in Chazy on March 27th for some pest management updates, and to receive some additional pesticide recertification credits for your farm's certified applicators! We will be offering 2.25 DEC recertification credits in categories 22, 10, and 1A. Light refreshments will be provided, and lunch following the meeting (sponsored by Valent) is optional.
$5 per employee
Blind Industry White Wine Tasting Workshop
April 1, 2025 : Blind Industry White Wine Tasting Workshop
Germantown, NY
This event is a blind wine tasting for ENY grape industry members to get feedback from fellow growers and Cornell Enologists on unfinished white wines (hybrid, vinifera, etc.)
We respectfully request that only professional winemakers or commercial vineyard owners attend, as space is limited. Limit two wines per winery/vineyard.
Pre-registration is required. For questions, please contact Jeremy Schuster at jds544@cornell.edu