Hillfarm
Member
I'm an avid reader of outdoor forums and this first time I have posted here. I have been reading most everything Paul Knox has written, over the past few winters, and have adopted most of his strategies on my farm. I wish I had found this, and HT forums sooner, and I probably would have planted things differently.
I have surrounded my rye/clover and brassica plantings with fruit, chesnut and hybrid oak trees. I did attempt to search out and request disease resistant cultivars before planting. I also tried to research the best rootstocks for wildlife plantings. (Planting seedling rootstock, like Native Hunter suggests, would have saved me much headache and research). So instead of ripping out my CAR ridden Honeycrisp, Goldrush, RC gold and other apples, (planted on B118 and M111 rootstocks), I tried to find a solution.
I have been spraying my fruit trees. Something I tried to avoid. I have been using one teaspoon of pure neem essential oil and two teaspoons of Castile soap/gallon of water in my sprayer. I use this spray as a dormant oil, an antifungal/antibiotic, and as an insecticide. I spray the ground around the drip line, the wood and crotches of the tree, and the leaves, when they beginning to break bud. I spray about three or four times a year, at most.
I dont have pictures of my trees, before and after, but I will post my Goldrush after spraying this season. This tree was the worst of my planting I have had so far. It appears, from my novice prospective, the trees are also must be gaining some immunity. The CAR is hardly noticeable. The neem oil even works well after the Japanese beetles defoliate the leaves in early July, to regenerate new leaf growth. Both of my Keiffer pears bloomed, the initial fall, I had planted them and last spring there were ten fruit trees in bloom. None of these trees had been in the ground much more than a year.
I also spread milky spore bacteria under the fruit trees to help with the Japanese beetle problem.
I don't use synthetic fertilizer, sprays, insecticides or chemicals. If there are any others here, who feel the same way, I thought I would share what I use, as a non-toxic option.
I also make and use an "organic round-up" to spray around my tree plantings. I will post a thread on this, and its effectiveness, if any are interested. But that, is for another thread.
I have surrounded my rye/clover and brassica plantings with fruit, chesnut and hybrid oak trees. I did attempt to search out and request disease resistant cultivars before planting. I also tried to research the best rootstocks for wildlife plantings. (Planting seedling rootstock, like Native Hunter suggests, would have saved me much headache and research). So instead of ripping out my CAR ridden Honeycrisp, Goldrush, RC gold and other apples, (planted on B118 and M111 rootstocks), I tried to find a solution.
I have been spraying my fruit trees. Something I tried to avoid. I have been using one teaspoon of pure neem essential oil and two teaspoons of Castile soap/gallon of water in my sprayer. I use this spray as a dormant oil, an antifungal/antibiotic, and as an insecticide. I spray the ground around the drip line, the wood and crotches of the tree, and the leaves, when they beginning to break bud. I spray about three or four times a year, at most.
I dont have pictures of my trees, before and after, but I will post my Goldrush after spraying this season. This tree was the worst of my planting I have had so far. It appears, from my novice prospective, the trees are also must be gaining some immunity. The CAR is hardly noticeable. The neem oil even works well after the Japanese beetles defoliate the leaves in early July, to regenerate new leaf growth. Both of my Keiffer pears bloomed, the initial fall, I had planted them and last spring there were ten fruit trees in bloom. None of these trees had been in the ground much more than a year.
I also spread milky spore bacteria under the fruit trees to help with the Japanese beetle problem.
I don't use synthetic fertilizer, sprays, insecticides or chemicals. If there are any others here, who feel the same way, I thought I would share what I use, as a non-toxic option.
I also make and use an "organic round-up" to spray around my tree plantings. I will post a thread on this, and its effectiveness, if any are interested. But that, is for another thread.
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