Hey everyone, finally got to digging this trench to replant my blueberry bushes, and the lecturer I saw at the garden expo gave me a link to the presentation! I’ll have to reupload it to google drive or something because I had to be granted access to the file on some service I’ve never heard of and now they have my email which I’m not stoked on.
Trench is about 14ft x 4ft x 10in (so far) and lined with landscape fabric. Digging it myself has been exhausting. The soilless media is half peatmoss (would have tried coconut coir but sourcing the quantity I needed was nearly impossible) and pine bark mulch.
Some context on the thought process here:
Last year I planted most of these bushes in a peat moss/ sand mixture in the ground. The bushes did well for a month or so then would start to show signs of iron chlorosis. Lecturer stated that the surrounding soil will neutralize even very acidic mixes within a few months, which I observed. It was also mentioned that for super clay heavy alkaline soils like mine, applying elemental sulfur is totally futile. And so, a trench is a seemingly perfect solution. The nature of being below grade protects the roots from temperature extremes, I don’t need to replant them once they outgrow a container, and the fertilization and acidification needs are much more manageable.
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Here is a link to the slides from the presentation
Good luck with that, even in my slightly acidic soil, ph 6.3, I havent had much luck amending it enough to get blueberries to thrive…
I came across some research out of Minnesota (north of Minneapolis near MN/WI border) where a guy is growing apricots/peaches under plastic tunnels. Some really good info on how to overwinter them inside the tunnels like putting a white cover over the plastic to block winter sun and insulate the inside. I think he said the outside low was -34F while inside he saw -13F. Also mentioned contender was more difficult because of a high amount of chilling hours needed.
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Finally had a 48 hour period in the forecast without ridiculous wind or a chance of frost or rain. Got most of the trees sprayed with oil. I skipped the copper since some of the trees are past 1/2" green. I did 1.5 Tbs of Indar just for kicks.
Big warm up coming, I hope to get myclo on in 7-10 days
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I’m growing carrots in pure pine bark this summer. I have never had success in my soil with carrots so we’ll see how this turns out.
Peach leaf curl is bad this year. I didn’t spray my one peach with copper and it wasn’t a good decision. I’ll probably just prune the tree back hard and hope for new growth.
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Another year of “condensed” blooming. Am. plums, pears, apples, crabs, and lilacs all blooming at the same time. I guess that is normal now. Serviceberries just finished blooming over the weekend.
Meanwhile Court Pendu Plat is just beginning to show a hint of green.
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everything is blooming together here also, only haskap I have that bloomed later is strawberry sensation, otherwise they all overlapped. Indigo gem, aurora, beauty, beast, blizzard etc. My bali cherry and other bush cherries are all blooming at the same time also, a little later than the haskap. I suppose the 90+ temps we are having just sped everything up a bunch.
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indigos, aurora and honey bee are nearly all leafed out and blooming. the rest are just starting. serviceberry and sour cherry are about 3-4 days out yet. 80 weds and thurs. will move them along quickly. plums, pears and apples near bud / leaf break.
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Spray is starting to get pricey for me. I have 50 trees ive been spraying with immunox and then immunox/sevin after fruit set. Sevin is pricey when your mixing 10 gallons a week, this will continue to go up. What is everyone using for insecticide? Plum crucilo is my main enemy. Imidan be more cost effective and kill plum crucilo?
I use Imidan but I have no idea how costs compare.
Do you do 1 tablespoon per gallon? Looks like 5lb of 70W is $100. Dont know what that translates to but i imagine thats a lot of tablespoons. Probably a lot cheaper. Right now its about $15 to do one 10 gallon spray for sevin. Seem to keep crucilo under control?
permethrin is pretty cheap, Im guessing it works on most insects…
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I’ve got it written on the tank, but that sounds correct. 1 TBS of Imidan and 1.5 TBS of Captan is my normal mix I believe. One dose at petal drop and another a month later keeps apples and pears fairly clean. Adding a 3rd shot in late July/early August along with some Indar (I’d have to look up the amount, maybe 1.5 tsp) gives very clean fruit, including very little flyspeck/sooty blotch.
I don’t grow stone fruit other than wild plums and those don’t get sprayed
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Never had it before, got it this year. I did spray with copper this spring.
Could you post a link of which bottle you use?
