Members: 9 ******************************** Vocational Visit – Moricom Orchards Most of the group assembled at the orchard at 5pm to be met by John Morris. Of course, there was one member (who shall remain nameless) who took the scenic route and was a little late. John explained that they (he and son Dean – the main man) had spotted an opportunity to export special mandarins and set about looking for the ideal site. They were particularly seeking a hillside site that would be better as it limited the chance of frost. They eventually purchased the current site in 2005 and then started to source finance for the operation. Finally, the Commins brothers came on as partners and planting was able to begin. The property is just over 500 ha and 108 ha has been planted from 2007 to 2023 with, largely, Afourer mandarins with some Dekopon (Sumo) mandarins and Hass avocados. Some key points: - The mandarins are sown on mounded soil.
- The system is essentially outdoor hydroponic – nutrients are delivered through drippers that may run for as long as 10 hours/day. This is all controlled through an automatic, computer controlled, system. Water coming from the channel is acid tempered, nutrients injected and pumped to the trees at about the optimum pH6. The drippers are regularly flushed with acid to clean them.
- Originally sown at about 1000 trees per ha they now use 1500 per ha on this site but up to 2000/ha at the Wamoon site. They use about 4 different rootstocks to spread the ripening.
- The mandarins are trained on a trellis wire and cordons (branches) allowed to develop from the wires. Each tree essentially forms 2 root balls at the drip sites either side of the tree. The objective is to essentially hedge the tree to a relatively narrow profile. The trees are pruned straight after picking.
- The Decopon variety is much more fragile than the Afourer.
- Shade cages are used on some of the mandarins to improve yield, reduce water use, improve quality and protect the dekopon variety from bees (which would produce seeds)
- The mandarins are clipped off the tree and cannot be plucked. They are sent to Mildura for packing and marketing.
- Most of the Afourer mandarins are destined for Woolworths. They have very strict quality requirements and require bigger, unmarked fruit. They are marketed as Delite mandarins.
- The avocadoes are irrigated in the same way but also have overhead sprinklers to increase humidity on warm days and to reduce the chance of frost when it is cold.
  We had a drive around the orchard. Nicholas thanked John for a fantastically informative visit on behalf of the club. |
