Pear Postharvest Meeting
A WSU Fruit School and Pear Bureau Educational Seminar will be held on February 17, 2010 at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, 1507 North 1st St., Yakima, Washington. This all-day meeting starts at 9 AM and will include sessions on “Disease and Disorder Controls” and “Conditioning Pears to Increase Consumption and Profitability.” The cost of this meeting is $30, which includes a conference booklet, lunch and coffee breaks.

• Registration form (includes driving directions)
• Program (updated February 4, subject to change)

The registration deadline is February 8, 2010. You may fax your completed registration form(s) to 509-662-8714 and send a check by mail. Please indicate on the fax the date the check will be mailed.

The latest issue of the Good Fruit Grower (Feb. 1, 2010, Vol. 61, No. 3) published the incorrect price for attending the Pear Postharvest Meeting. The price should be listed as $30 per person. This is our mistake and we apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Pear Gray Mold Bulletin
Robert A. Spotts and Steve Castagnoli of Oregon State University published a new extension bulletin on gray mold, one of the most serious decay problems for pear fruit in the Pacific Northwest:

• EM 9001-E, Predicting and managing gray mold rot of pear in Oregon, January 2010

Honeycrisp

• Randy Beaudry and Carolina Contreras of Michigan State University recently published, "A summary of ‘Honeycrisp’ storage recommendations across North America: What is best for Michigan? "
• The University of Minnesota has an excellent web resource for Honeycrisp that is "intended to assist growers and researchers resolve production and postharvest issues with the Honeycrisp apple"

Progress Report on Lenticel Breakdown
The latest information on our ongoing research on lenticel breakdown in Gala Apples is now available. This progress report describes the results of nine different experiments that were conducted on the 2008 crop of Gala apples to determine the effects of orchard variability, SmartFresh application, presizing and other factors on 15 orchards with historically high and low risk of developing lenticel breakdown (LB).

Adjusting Water-Chlorine pH for the Packingline
Carlos H. Crisosto, Celia M. Cantin and Trevor Suslow of UC Davis prepared an excellent article on "The Importance of Adjusting Your Water-Chlorine pH During Your Brush-Washing Operation." Although this article was originally written for stone fruit growers in the San Joaquin Valley, it provides excellent information applicable to any produce packing operations including:

• Effective forms of chlorine
• The relationship between pH and active chlorine
• The difference between total, free, and active chlorine
• Adjusting the pH
• How to measure sanitizer activity
• What is an ORP system

Clicking the link below will take you to the September 2009, "Central Valley Postharvest Newsletter."
http://www.uckac.edu/postharv/PDF%20files/CVPN_Sept09.pdf

Re-Thinking the Chill Requirement for Pear Ripening
Do pears need two weeks to two months in cold storage after harvest to develop full ripening capacity? Drs. David Sugar, Elizabeth Mitcham and Eugene Kupferman have been researching this question for the last several seasons. The summary of their findings, which originally appeared in the October 2009 edition of the Good Fruit Grower, is reprinted here.

Honeycrisp Maturity and Storage in Washington
Drs. Eugene Kupferman and Jim Mattheis prepared a status report on the current state of knowledge regarding Washington-grown Honeycrisp, including:

• How to judge maturity
• Pre- and postharvest chemical applications
• Pre-storage temperature
• Storage temperature and environment
• Packing

Postharvest Newsletter, published 3 to 4 times per year
Sign-up for the WSU-TFREC Postharvest Mailing List (or send a blank email to Chris Sater with the words "Subscribe Postharvest List" in the subject line).