Drone Spraying for Cherries in California

Cherries run on the tightest spray calendar of the stone fruits: bloom and pre-bloom fungicides for brown rot and botrytis, insecticide for spotted wing drosophila as fruit colors, and foliar nutrition through cell division. The pre-harvest window is short and the crop is tender, so coverage and timing are unforgiving.

Drone application hits the bloom and pre-harvest windows on the right day even when the orchard floor is wet, applying a low, even volume into a delicate canopy without driving a rig through narrow spacing.

Cherry blocks are small, narrow, and often bordered by other orchards or habitat; a drone's low flight height and tuned droplet size keep product on the target and out of the next block.

The canopy is tender and the windows are short; a drone flies the pass on the right day regardless of ground moisture, with no compaction on soft orchard ground.

Virelo flies cherry blocks in San Joaquin County and the Central Valley, where the tight bloom and pre-harvest windows leave no room for delay. Our pilots coordinate with your PCA to time brown rot and botrytis fungicides to bloom and spotted wing drosophila treatment as fruit colors, and our GPS-guided flights apply a low, even volume into the tender canopy.

On small, bordered cherry blocks, a drone's low flight height keeps product on the target and out of the next block, which matters where orchards and habitat sit close together. A drone also flies when the orchard floor is too wet for a rig, so the bloom pass goes down on the right day regardless of ground moisture, with no compaction on soft ground.