Hello fruities! I’m excited to be joining the forum as we work on getting our fruit tree nursery and fledgling apple orchard off the ground here in the San Luis Valley. Our challenges are aridity (about 9" annual precip), extreme evapotranspiration (7884’ elev, intense sun, high winds, and low humidity), wide temp ranges (incl winter lows to -30F), prairie dogs, and did I mention high winds? Yes, maybe I’m a little masochistic.

We planted 70 trees in the orchard last year (2024): ~60% I grafted the same spring, ~20% I grafted the previous spring, and ~20% I ordered. As of last fall, only one had died outright, though several grafts had clearly failed. We’ll see what made it through the winter! I’m a little concerned that I may have given foliar spray (very dilute cola) too late in the season - was hoping to boost roots, but I may have just promoted too much tender new late growth.

I have lots of general experience with soils, restoration practices/plantings, ecology, etc. and grew up on an old (non-productive) apple orchard, but I clearly have lots to learn about the nursery and orchard businesses and even specifically propagating and growing fruit trees! There seems to be a need for these services/products here, though, so I’m giving it a shot.

It looks like there’s a lot of wisdom on this forum. I’m looking forward to meeting and learning from you all, and hoping I might be able to contribute a bit, too.