I’ve been working hard for two yrs to convert my greenhouse from 4 rows spaced 8ft apart to 6 rows spaced 5.5ft. That’s left me in the dust and dirt all that time. But today is bright and headed to dust free. I’m in progress at getting down new reflective fabric on the greenhouse floor. I almost went black but at the last minute found a new source of white fabric. The white makes me very happy due to extra light for trees.
Also set the trees up for both flood and drip irrigation. Pictures explain much better than I.
I’ll have it looking messy again soon. There will probably be potted fig plants down every row. But with the white fabric there should be light enough for everything.
Yes,looks super fruitnut.Is that Extenday?I’m looking for a material like it for my carport roof,where some potted Blueberries are growing.Something small though,like about 10x20 feet. Brady
Those are really cool pictures Steve. I am amazed at how well mannered your trees are. You must spend a lot of time maintaining them to keep them on 18" centers like that.
Fruitnut,
That’s incredible! It’s effecient, looks good, functional so I got to ask how long did it take to plan that out? That’s not the type of design you just jump in and put together. My favorite part is the watering system design.
Clark
There was no winter pruning. So far this spring I’ve spent about an hr pruning. That was to take out some excess growth on top that didn’t have any fruit set. Also to rework four Orangered trees that have flower buds but refuse to bloom. Not everything goes perfect despite my best efforts. Those trees will be reworked to other apricots that will fruit or to other stone fruits.
I’ll probably spent an hour or two taking wood out of the peaches and nectarines as the first part of thinning. That will be sometime in March.
It’s been an evolving project right up to date. The basins that allow flood irrigation started last yr and were deepened in the last month. That involved digging out about 2-3 inches of soil around the trees and piling it in the alleyways. That achieved about a 5 inch depth of basin for flood irrigation. There was a shallow basin around the trees in the past but nothing this deep.
I do like the basins and flood irrigation but will drip water some as well. The drip watering pattern would have made a nice picture. But it only shows up on dry soil and, of course, without the fabric.
I planted a row of 50 pears at the bottom of a large artificial hill this year. The hill is just north of the pears so it blocks wind and cold. Keeps the pears from drying out and prevents branch breakage. I may have created a cold pocket but time will tell. The ground on the south is soggy so the pears sit just at the bottom of the hill. During rains water runs down hill. During drought there will be water all the time. The kind of water management you did looks like a very well thought out water system and in time and money those systems are expensive. I did one for my mom where during the rainy system ditches filled with water until full and then overflowed and went to the next artificial reservoir. That was an outside system and used only rain water but there were hills of natural clay/loam in the middle which were always wet. The green beans produced in bushels there. In hindsight I would have done what you did and covered those reservoirs to prevent evaporation. Those are highly efficient water conservation systems you designed. I like the idea of enough water but with the outside designs I’ve made it’s either to much or to little so far. Unlike your design I’m only kind of in control but the weather is what determines much of my luck. My ponds are now full so things are changing. I hope to come up with an outdoor system that is a very large scale watering system will full sized trees.
