Growing Pest Resistant Fruit Trees with Thomas Dykstra, Ph.D.

Make your tree PEST RESISTANT by improving it's health. Learn all about it in this episode of The Urban Forestry Radio Show and Podcast, a fruit tree podcast hosted by Susan Poizner of OrchardPeople.com.
The guest on the show today is entomologist Thomas M. Dykstra, Ph.D. of Dykstra Laboratories in Gainesville, Florida. He says insect pests can't attack healthy trees.
Learn about Thomas here:
dykstralabs.com/about-us/
Download more fruit tree podcasts (videos) here:
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Download our fruit tree podcast (audio) here:
orchardpeople.com/podcasts/
Buy a refractometer for leaf testing here (affiliate link)
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
01:18 Why Pests attack fruit trees
02:58 Why pest digestive systems matter
04:58 Aphid digestive systems and fruit trees
07:09 Why aphids aren't primarily looking to eat sugars from the plant
08:00 Sucking insects and fruit trees
09:38 Chewing insects and fruit trees
10:41 Brix levels and pest resistant fruit trees
11:29 Mesuring brix or sugar levels to evaluate the health of a plant
14:07 Ideal brix level for a healthy and pest resistant plant
15:23 How do you know if your fruit tree is high Brix and pest resistant?
18:33 Buying a refractometer
21:13 Brix levels and plant health
25:53 Website for more information about Thomas
29:51 Japanese beetles and brix leaf testing
32:29 Brix levels, fruit sweetness and tree health
35:30 Biennial bearing fruit trees
36:01 Why thinning the fruit improves fruit quality and sweetness
37:08 Slugs and snails and brix levels
38:49 How quickly can brix levels change in fruit tree leaves
44:31 Advice for controlling cedar apple rust
46:59 High brix trees and pest resistance
48:42 How to increase brix of fruit trees and increase pest resistance
52:35 How pesticides affect brix levels in fruit tree leaves
And if you are ready to learn more about fruit tree care, read on!
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Orchard People has made fruit tree care easier for thousands of home growers, gardeners and arborists in North America and beyond since 2013.
Visit our website for more in depth information on fruit tree care and maintenance!
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[@michaelmurray121]

Thank you ❤

[@Orchardpeople]

😊

[@Benmartin2113]

You are so good looking. God has blessed you and the world❤

[@Orchardpeople]

Thanks

[@Smithhands2727]

My pear gets attacked by pear slugs(saw fly), they don’t seem to care about my other fruit trees. Japanese beetles attacked my raspberries. Flea Beatles attack my eggplant. Vine borers my zucchini, cucumber Beatles…. You get the point. Are they all at different brixs? Or do they know what they like? Can I just feed the plant sugar?

[@Orchardpeople]

Great questions! You can test the brick and see what they need! Nigel’s book will help you: ruclips.net/video/HQirgcu6lJY/видео.htmlsi=JMqIj3nDa8as_3uo and www.nigel-palmer.com/

[@Bigdadzhousegainz]

Thank y’all for this, I’m 30 minutes into this but before I forget are y’all saying the lower the Brix score the less nutritional value is going to be in the food? (Based on my common sense and taste buds I can tell the difference between let’s say Krogers/publix and the farmers market or dudes selling out the back of their trucks) But then based off of other webinars I think it’s 3-7 brix is the max score any gmo fruit will be capable of. So is eating a low brix fruit idk how to word this but is it similar to eating celery where there’s no nutritional value but your body uses energy to process it?

[@Orchardpeople]

Great question! Yes, a lower Brix score often indicates less sugar and potentially lower nutritional value in the fruit. Higher Brix scores generally mean sweeter and more nutrient-dense fruits. While low Brix fruits aren’t quite like celery in terms of nutritional value, they might not provide as many benefits as higher Brix fruits. Aim for fresh, locally grown produce for the best quality!

[@Bigdadzhousegainz]

@@Orchardpeople thank you!

[@davidjones8312]

drj Westfield Wisconsin what can you do to make your apple tree fruit not to be deformed? Can you over do jobs fruit tree spikes? Thank you for your time and help.

[@Orchardpeople]

Sorry for the delay. I avoid those fertilizers! I would do a soil test snd only amend if necessary. Instead feed by mulching with compost in the spring! If the fruit is deformed it may be pests, diseases or nutritional. I’d need to see a picture

[@Bigdadzhousegainz]

If your compost is made via a couple bags of top soil that was thrown ontop of 6 months worth of grass clippings a year then added to yearly after that and table scraps daily then it only gets mixed when I throw some bones in there’s and raccoons do all the turning of compost pile and all is in a shaded area, woul this compost be ok to put on top of fruit trees in spring or is there a special compost needed?