North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["del stubbs" <pinewoodel@hotmail.com>]

Here we bury water lines 8' down. While having the trench dug out of our 
pure clay, there were, amazingly, tree roots down there. If the antifreeze 
quality of cells works into the minus 0 range, perhaps water can be pulled 
up from deep down? Or is that the 'free water' that drys up in dormancy? Del


> I don't know if this applies to apples as the study was done on pine, but 
> for what its worth, I have read that small pine trees get their moisture in 
> winter mostly via their roots and even extract moisture from unfrozen soil 
> pockets if available.
> Larger pine trees get most of their moisture stored in their sapwood.
> Still puzzling to me though is how the water is transported through the 
> xylem if its 0 degrees outside. I believe it happens during warm spells.
> Most water is unavailable from the soil by the way, in our area from 
> December through March. The hardest time for trees to obtain water in 
> winter is late winter when the sun is warming up the upper tree and the 
> soil is still frozen.
> This is another reason that snow cover is great, not only to protect the 
> roots from damage but for water supply.
>
> Kevin Bradley
> www.edibleforestnursery.com

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