North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[rmelrose@bluemoo.net]

Yes, thanks Rodney, I did eventually look at that URL. The `tunnels' seem a 
big
deal and I am into a lower-tech approach. The winter here does a number on
any structure and these do not look as though they would survive. I can
imagine them collapsed under a couple of feet of heavy wet snow with the
trees inside.

For some reason I have resisted the latex-paint treatment. I have instead
used a nylon wrap. This is only intended, by me I mean, to counter sunscald
(which can be a problem here). It also helps show the borers and I imagine
paint does at least as good a job so maybe I should switch. Does it really
have an effect in extending dormancy? How much do you paint if you are
covering the buds? I have only really bothered with the trunk up to maybe
the second set of branches (with the wrap I mean) -- are you painting the
whole tree? This could be a bit of a job with a full-sized sweet cherry. Do
you spray paint, perhaps we need pictures, a video even .... .

My experience, which is not really extensive, is that a mulch would have to
be thick to have any real effect on dormancy. I have put 8 inches or so of
wood chips, in Fall, around a couple of apricots in the hope of delaying their
flowering. Maybe it made a couple of days difference, but I was not really
convinced.

Why am I trying to grow sweet cherries (and quinces and medlars and several
other unlikely things) in Vermont? Well, that is where I am and that is
what I want! I do have a twelve foot `Yellow Glass' to show for my efforts
(and I did have a twelve foot Morello too) and in most years it gives a
good show in May. No cherries, but who knows when conditions will turn out
just right and there are pollinators close by now. Where I am, on a glacial
scree, blueberries are almost as daft a thing to try since the soil is very
alkaline. Still, with some effort, they grow and usually produce
abundantly. I am more disappointed at a second poor year for apples, even
worse than last year.

It has been said that I am a little stubborn; it is possible.

-- 
Richard Melrose


On 30 Jul, Rodney Eveland wrote:
> The tunnels aren't dug. They are constructed like a green house. If you
> look at the URL I sent they are talking a price per square foot of
> constuction that is about a fifth the price of a green house. The
> problem is that they apparently only do large scale, i.e. an orchrd of
> construction - so far nothing for the home gardener.
> 
> Have you tried painting any of your trees with indoor white latex paint?
> As I said, I painted my peach tree last fall with undiluted latex. The
> paint was so thick that some of the buds appeared to have a problem
> shedding it. However all of the painted buds survived our 25 degree
> frost that hurt other hardier trees than the peach so I am beginning to
> believe that painting helps. This fall I am going to paint half the tree
> with 100 percent latex and the other half with diluted 50/50 mix. As we
> have heavy clay soil, that helps delay breaking dormancy and I want to
> find out if the paint does too. I may even mulch with straw to keep the
> ground from warming up. I told you I don't water till Memorial day as I
> don't want any lush growth till all danger of frost has passed. Sweet
> cherries are such a prize that we do crazy things just to grow our own.
> 
> I forgot to mention. Why are you trying to grow sweet cherries in
> Vermont? Didn't anyone tell you that you can't grow sweet cherries in
> Vermont? You should stick to Blueberries. That's the kind of thing
> people say to me.
> Rodney Eveland ;-)