North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Doreen Howard" <gardendiva@charter.net>]

Dave Griffin's post about zinc deficiency is very interesting.  I'll get some and spray ASAP--if it ever stops raining.  There are a few buds left on branches that haven't dried and fallen. 

 

BTW, I had no blossoms on my Montrose apricot this year, either.  I thought it was because I pruned heavily in early March to shape the tree.  This is its third season in the ground and it's about eight feet high and wide.  I grew it from a pit that Del Stubbs sent.

 

My soil is alevial; I live on a glacier moraine.  So I never thought about trace element deficiency and never tested for them.  They could be missing, as the soil previously supported heavily fertilized blue grass turf, before I stripped the sod to create an orchard.  And, the orchard is mulched with wood chips, 4-5 inches deep.  It may be that the process of breaking them down is also tying up trace elements.

 

Thanks for the information, Dave.  Inquiring minds are what make NAFEX a terrific information source.

Doreen Howard