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Post by MikeH on Nov 4, 2013 4:47:35 GMT -5
Nice green pasture, Richard. Makes one want to lie down.
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Post by richardw on Nov 4, 2013 13:23:37 GMT -5
Do you grow right around the trees or do you have leave strips/rows untouched? ,love to see some photos of how you do this steev.
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Post by richardw on Nov 4, 2013 13:36:58 GMT -5
Nice green pasture, Richard. Makes one want to lie down. Having an abundance of water only a few meters below ground helps,without this it would be starting to brown off by now And not having any snakes,ants or poisonous spiders in NZ means i can spend most of the summer bare feet,though i do have to dig up the odd thistle and chuck in the compost,the last thing you want to stand on. |
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Post by steev on Nov 4, 2013 18:06:31 GMT -5
I first ran out a drip-line, then planted trees 9 paces (~15') apart along it, another parallel tube ~15', and so for 5-7 lines. I till and plant veggies a 10' lane between these, leaving the ~5' strip under the trees undisturbed (except for planting narcissus for pretty and gopher deterrent). I throw weeds and slash in there to rot.
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Post by steev on Nov 5, 2013 2:28:05 GMT -5
The whole idea of seed-grown trees is interesting to me because I have ~16 acres of undeveloped land. I expect to establish planting circles, irrigated by rotary sprinklers, with trees for wind-shelter (and produce, one hopes) in the spaces between. Since I'm not set on profitting from these trees, I think I can fool around with seed-grown trees on spec; I can always make cider or use them for rootstocks.
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Post by trixtrax on Nov 5, 2013 3:29:56 GMT -5
An effective strategy I've seen to evaluate a bunch of seedlings quickly is to germinate trees and transplant into close rows. As soon as possible, take a small scion or bud, label and graft onto larger established mother trees on semi-dwarf rootstock. Fertilize the heck out of the mother trees which are pruned to only serve the grafts. This will push the grafts into production fast. Evaluate the fruit and keep the best seedlings. Rinse and repeat
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Post by richardw on Nov 5, 2013 13:23:12 GMT -5
I tend to work on the same basis as you steev,but have started killing and replacing the poor producers as well but i do like your system trixtrax,it seems every gardener has at least one thing they are not so good at, unfortunately grafting is mine,i'm bloody hopeless at it.
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Post by steev on Nov 5, 2013 14:50:51 GMT -5
A fair number of trees have lost their graft; this might be the Winter I'll stool the root-stocks, preparatory to grafting a lot next Winter, before grubbing out the stumps and replacing.
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Post by thehermit1000 on Nov 5, 2013 23:46:25 GMT -5
I know it's late in the year, but is anyone willing to send me a few apple seeds?
Hermit
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coppice
gardener
gardening curmudgeon
Posts: 149
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Post by coppice on Nov 11, 2013 10:53:06 GMT -5
I know it's late in the year, but is anyone willing to send me a few apple seeds? Hermit All my crab apples seeds are mixed together. Will they do? |
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Post by reed on Aug 19, 2014 10:52:38 GMT -5
"The whole idea of seed-grown trees is interesting to me" Where I live you occasionally see wild pears, peaches and apples or crab apples. Small apples or big crab apples, I don't know. They must have been left over from old trees a long time ago but you see them occasionally in spots where they could only have come up wild. They are all real small with real big seeds but they all taste really good. I have tried hundreds of times to sprout them in various ways. The only way that ever worked was to just plant them and don't forget where because they might come up a couple of years later. In years of trying I have less than a dozen trees. Does any one have advice on how to get more of them to sprout? |
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Post by copse on Aug 19, 2014 17:01:49 GMT -5
"The whole idea of seed-grown trees is interesting to me" Where I live you occasionally see wild pears, peaches and apples or crab apples. Small apples or big crab apples, I don't know. They must have been left over from old trees a long time ago but you see them occasionally in spots where they could only have come up wild. They are all real small with real big seeds but they all taste really good. I have tried hundreds of times to sprout them in various ways. The only way that ever worked was to just plant them and don't forget where because they might come up a couple of years later. In years of trying I have less than a dozen trees. Does any one have advice on how to get more of them to sprout? Several months ago, I ate a mediocre pear, and put six seeds in a ziplock bag of mildly damp potting mix. Then I squeezed the spare air out of the bag, and put it in the fridge. A week ago, I took the bag out of the fridge, and all six seeds had sprouted. I promptly broke the roots off one, and the other five are in pots growing on the window sill. |
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Post by mountaindweller on Aug 19, 2014 22:37:01 GMT -5
Some seedling apples may not taste because they are good for storage. Or maybe they are only good cooked. For evaluating an apple you must cook it too (thankfully my daughter likes cooking!).
Stupid council here declared apples as a weed and they are often sprayed or ripped out, I don't know what to do against that stupidity.
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Post by 12540dumont on Aug 21, 2014 18:22:59 GMT -5
My son is working on this project. We want apples only on their own rootstocks as none of the common apple rootstocks are worth a darn here. You can get drought tolerant or wet feet tolerant, but I need both, sometimes in the same year. Every tree we have ever planted that was grafted, died. Not to mention the bastard who sent me dead trees. (Wagon Wheel Orchard). Note the plug for where NOT to shop. Zack wants an apple orchard, so he's been collecting apple seeds and storing them in our fridge. Every few months he starts a tray. So far we have 5 little bitty apple trees and 1 cherry growing in a pot.
I'll have to try the plastic bag and soil mix..soon as there's room in the fridge. Richard, you'll have to send apple seeds one of these days. One of these days we'll have cider....
I hope my next farm comes with an orchard.
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Post by copse on Aug 22, 2014 3:10:37 GMT -5
I tried to do a fair bit of research on apple/pear seed germination. And my understanding was that likelihood of germination was linked to not allowing the seeds to dry out after removal from the fruit. In my case, I took the seeds directly from the pear, and put them into the bag in the fridge.
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