I was checking for some info about a knife sharpener and saw this little video.It will probably work in a pinch,if a stone or strop isn’t available.bb
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“Do not put off til tomorrow what you can do today!”
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Great tip. I’m also guilty especially during our hot summer time.
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Posted this tip in the grafting thread also. This is just a reminder to all the grafters , not to touch the cut surface of the scions or rootstocks because oils from your skin prevent the graft from taking. Sometimes i see pictures or videos of someone holding the cut surface and i know the graft will fail.
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Thanks for the tip. Graft failure can in many cases be attributed to overlooked handling techniques. If grafting inside I usually wash my hands before starting and also avoid touching the fresh cut.
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I have taken to carrying a half dozen or so brightly colored clothes pins in my pocket to mark my trees for further attention.
I am currently battling black knot and it seems that I always see a BK strike when I have no pruners on me or it is high enough up in the tree that a ladder is needed. I go back later and half the time I can not locate it again. So now, I mark the tree with a bright clothes pin and have little problem finding it.
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Hi Patrick do your borer fly traps attract any beneficials? Im always worried about collateral loss
Great idea. I have also started using clothespins for several applications. The ones I have are made from plan unpainted wood. Are yours painted or are they made from colored plastic?
Colored plastic, think these are the ones…https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XHD4QO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
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Funny . . . I’ve never noticed ‘these things before your post’! And we took a country drive last weekend - and low and behold - there were a ‘line of green things’ in someone’s yard!
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I’ve saved a lot of Popsicle and some corn dog sticks,to use for various projects.After recently getting a couple Japanese bonsai knives,to try for grafting,I was wanting to practice.Not feeling like going outside to cut material,some sticks were practiced on.They may not be exactly like the real thing,but a fair substitute.bb
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Great idea. Practice will increase success rate.
My tip today is to challenge you to try something different in your orchard. Just because there are good practices already established doesn’t mean improvements can’t be made. The improvement might just benefit you. I always have a few wild attempts in process. If it doesn’t work out just move on to the next idea.
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Bluebirds like to build a new nest each time they start another brood. When your young birds leave the nest take a minute and remove the nest. This also removes most insect pest left behind.
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On the note of practicing, remember:
Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanent! So pay attention to what you are practicing, and make adjustments as you go, before you make the wrong thing permanent.
Or:
Once you’ve done it wrong 100 times, you’ll do it wrong every time!
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And sometimes you get surprises. When I cleared out a bluebird nest in the early spring, I removed a nest of red squirrels.
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Two tips today.
Tip #1. If you’re bench grafting a lot of the same variety, it can save a lot of time and frustration to have everything pre laid out to minimize task switching. Here I have my tools, enough strips of electrical tape for my grafts plus extra, Parafilm, and my scions cut into sections with at least two buds, wrapped in Parafilm, and oriented the same direction. Rootstocks on the left, bag of moist shredded newspaper on the right. I’m still pretty slow at grafting, but this speeds it up some and gives me fewer places to make mistakes, so I can focus on getting the cuts and alignment right.
Tip #2: don’t assume that just because your toddler was content to hang out last time means she will this time. This was all put away two grafts and 10 minutes later!
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Great tips
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Do any of you that bag fruit end up with several unused bags when finished? I don’t like storing the extra bags for a year before getting to use them. My tip is to slow down preparing bags toward the end and use the drops to finish. When bagging is complete the ones that weren’t prepared can be used for typical household needs.
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My location has had a stretch of mostly dry weather and I think (not certain) my lower rate of fireblight strikes has been a result of dryer weather. My tip. The weather has changed and now we are getting more hot and wet days so I plan to check and remove anything that resembles FB immediately. I break it out and properly dispose as I go. I like breaking because I can tell by the way it snaps if the break is in healthy wood. Been doing this a few years and it appears to help lower the spread.
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