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Soil test interpretation, plant sap analysis, organic amendments, orchard compost, cation balance, micronutrients, fertigation ... all for growing "nutrient dense" fruit.
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Results 1 — 30 of 37Re: soil vs leaf tests - 11 months ago
Replying to my own question here since I have some updates, which is what I feel Michael would like us to do - keep educating ourselves and each other. This seems like fairly basic questions that I asked, but I think we fell down the rabbit hole of making sure disease and pests were taken care of first when we first acquired the orchard 5 years ago, since as organic commercial growers, we need tby Molly DellaRoman - Tree Fruit Nutrition
Re: Zinc! - 11 months ago
Thank you - lots to consider as we start to hone in on micronutrients.by Molly DellaRoman - Tree Fruit Nutrition
Re: Zinc! - 11 months ago
huh, should have read this first. We just had the same discrepancy between or soil and leaf tests and I just made a new thread on it - along with other micronutrient discrepancies. I do appreciate Michael's response on timing and the suggestion of plant sap testing, which this is the first I am learning of that analysis. The results we received back from the lab suggested spraying Zn at tigby Molly DellaRoman - Tree Fruit Nutrition
Re: ground applications of fertilizers? - 11 months ago
I should also add that we have seen good growth on the trees the last two years, but there was also some drought relief, so we are still trying to decipher if the new nutrient regiment is working or it is a water factor. We have no irrigation for established trees in the orchard.by Molly DellaRoman - Tree Fruit Nutrition
soil vs leaf tests - 11 months ago
This past summer was our first time taking leaf sample tests in addition to soil sample tests. We came back deficient in Boron, which we were aware from soil tests. Ok, no problem - we can work on that with either ground or foliar applications. Next up is Ca and Mg - they both test optimum or above optimum in soil tests, optimum for peach leaf tests, but deficient for apple leaf tests. I can unby Molly DellaRoman - Tree Fruit Nutrition
ground applications of fertilizers? - 11 months ago
Curious what others do to fertilize their trees, as far as ground applications are concerned? A little bit of background so you know where we are coming from. We took over a 30 year-old orchard in 2017 - standard sized trees. Mixed apple, pear, peach and plum. Majority apple followed by peaches. We took soil samples in 2017 and then again in 2019, as there hadn't been any data for a whiby Molly DellaRoman - Tree Fruit Nutrition
Re: Asian pear Scion Wood - 11 months ago
Thanks for the heads up!by Molly DellaRoman - Asian Pears
Re: Baldwin - 11 months ago
Hi Barbara, We're in Maine too and our customers love Baldwin. We find it a great all-purpose apple and it stores very well. It does need to be picked at the right time though. It's incredible how letting it go even a week longer on the tree greatly improves flavor. It's one of the last varieties we pick here besides Black Oxford. Good Luck!by Molly DellaRoman - Apples
Re: Pomace as understory mulch - 11 months ago
Right on! Yes, I think timing of sprays is key. We didn't even inoculate until May, well past any dormant sprays.by Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: cover cropping for new orchard section? - 11 months ago
Hello, Have some updates on our understory cover cropping experiments this year. The area that we were able to broad fork in the fall on 2020 was quite nice to start planting into this past spring. We got a nice stand of peas and oats going. We were able to get 1 standard size and 5 semi-standard trees planted in mounds in that section. The mounds had compost, seaweed, and soil amendments.by Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: Pomace as understory mulch - 11 months ago
Hi Steve, We do have some mushroom updates, but not specifically with pomace yet. We wanted to try our hands at just growing mushrooms in an outdoor substrate situation first before adding too many variables. We had very good success with growing wine cap mushrooms in the wood chip mulch of our rhubarb, asparagus and blueberry beds (they do not receive any sprays). We also had very good luckby Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: Pomace as understory mulch - 1 year ago
That is definitely something to think about. I would think the reasoning behind throwing down compost over fallen leaves to help degrade them as quickly as possible as a technique against scab would be along the same lines of thinking? Composting the pomace first seems like it might be a critical step.by Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: Asian pear Scion Wood - 2 years ago
cool - I am going to email you! Thanks!by Molly DellaRoman - Asian Pears
Re: Pomace as understory mulch - 2 years ago
That is so cool is hear! I can't wait for pressing season now! We also have to spray more sulfur than we like but were thinking about it in sections where we are not spraying sulfur yet (where the trees are still young). We also have several acres of coniferous woodlot with many "hiding" spots for growing mushrooms in designated straw or wood chip beds/gardens which work well wiby Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: jugs of spinosad - 2 years ago
We have been very hesitant to add Entrust to our spraying regime but decided this year was the year based on the pest pressure we're having. Thanks for all the valuable info on timing here! Any other tips for Entrust newbies?by Molly DellaRoman - Spray Nuance
Re: cover cropping for new orchard section? - 2 years ago
We slaughtered the pigs at the end of November and seriously contemplated getting in there with the rototiller to get down some cover crop seed but I just didn't have the heart...seems like since that area was previously shrubby that there may be some fungi that we want to preserve. Instead, we went after it with a broadfork until the ground froze. It was rough, slow going, but I think weby Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: Pomace as understory mulch - 2 years ago
To take this a step further, we are thinking about inoculating wood chip mulch strips that we have in the orchard with culinary mushrooms. We're pondering if a woodchip/pomace mulch would support mushrooms. Seeing as we all have so much pomace, wondering if anyone was tried pomace in mushroom cultivation yet? Thanks!by Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: Giving pause with the paws - 2 years ago
Trying to connect with PawPaw growers in Maine...anybody out there? Thanks!by Molly DellaRoman - Paw Paws
Asian pear Scion Wood - 2 years ago
Hello, We are finding that our customers can't get enough Asian Pears. We currently have Chojuro and Nijisseiki. We would like to expand into other varieties but have a hard time finding scion wood. We have an excessive amount of Chojuro trees and would like to do some top working. Also, is anyone using Asian pears in a cider blend? Thanks for any leads!by Molly DellaRoman - Asian Pears
Re: cover cropping for new orchard section? - 2 years ago
Thanks again for your thoughtful response. We actually were thinking about running chickens through the areas the pigs didn't do a fantastic job, so we will thinking very carefully now!by Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: Profitable understory plants - 2 years ago
Thanks, Brittany! That sounds like an amazing set-up. We've been doing some more thinking about the area and have been leaning towards copious amounts of woodchips or straw and mushroom growing as well. The sulfur issue is a tough one for us, too. Anybody else out there intercropping with mushrooms? Thanks again! Mollyby Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: Willow Water and Systemic Acquired Resistance - 2 years ago
Interesting. Thanks for your response!by Molly DellaRoman - Just Talk
Re: Profitable understory plants - 2 years ago
Wondering if anyone has any follow ups to this topic 8 years later? I posted a few days ago about prepping land for an orchard extension, but another piece of this is having other crops in place until the trees start to produce. We already have installed raspberries in a newer section where we are waiting for plum trees to mature. I have heard of other orchards having success with asparagus betby Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: Orchard fencing - 2 years ago
Thought I would give an update to the SmartNet. As we don't have clearance around our orchard to run the proper equipment to install a heavy duty wire fence, we ended up going with a SmartNet system. Cedar posts (we're certified organic) and metal t posts were set in November and December of 2018 all around the outside of the existing fence. Netting was put up the following April. Wby Molly DellaRoman - Mammalian Tales
Re: Willow Water and Systemic Acquired Resistance - 2 years ago
Hello, Just found this conversation. Wondering if anyone has used willow water for recently bench grafted trees while waiting for them to take? We feel like the last few years, the root stock we've ordered from various sources (including Antanovka, M111, Bud9, G11 and even pear and plum root stock have had very poor quality root mass. Really puts the grafts behind and we've found weby Molly DellaRoman - Just Talk
cover cropping for new orchard section? - 2 years ago
Hi all, We are working on expanding our existing orchard. We weren't here for the initial planting of the understory way back in the 80's, but we have a chance now to "control" that in a new section that we're working on. We battled the shrubby forested area in 2018 and 2019 with brush hogging and weed whipping. This year we have had pigs rooting all season and hand pby Molly DellaRoman - Understory Management
Re: Burgeoning Apple Maggot Issues - 4 years ago
You make an excellent point...warrants more investigation.by Molly DellaRoman - Bug by Bug
Re: granulosis for codling moth - 4 years ago
Hi David, We've been using neem for apple borer but not as a foliage spray. Cost prohibitive for us at this point but we would like to get to that point. I have been emailing with our Extension agent and he informed me Virosoft is not registered to use in Maine, but I am double checking with our Board of Pesticides. He also does not believe resistance will be an issue because the wild poby Molly DellaRoman - Bug by Bug
Re: Burgeoning Apple Maggot Issues - 4 years ago
Just wanted to let you know about a conversation I just had with Arbico Organics. I was a little overwhelmed by the price of the nematodes so we started to talk about Trichogramma instead, which she said folks have had really good experiences with. That seems like a more cost effective approach and you don't have to worry about keeping the soil moist enough. Anybody have experience with tby Molly DellaRoman - Bug by Bug
granulosis for codling moth - 4 years ago
Bt no longer is good enough for codling moth at our orchard. We are going with either CYD-X or Virosoft CP 4. Anyone out there with experience with both? Pros and Cons? Tips? Thank you!by Molly DellaRoman - Bug by Bug
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